“The Wild Storm: Michael Cray” #1

Michael Cray is dying, but maybe there’s still time for him to use his particular set of skills to leave the world in a better place.

Cover by Denys Cowan, Bill Sienkiewicz, and Steve Buccellato

Story by Warren Ellis
Scripted by Bryan Hill
Penciled by N. Steven Harris
Inked by Dexter Vines
Colored by Steve Buccellato
Lettered by Simon Bowland
Cover by Denys Cowan, Bill Sienkiewicz, and Steve Buccellato
Warren Ellis’s critically acclaimed relaunch of THE WILD STORM gets its first solo spinoff series! Michael Cray, professional assassin, has been betrayed by International Operations and has an alien life-form in his head that’s either killing him, transforming him, or both. The only thing that can bring sense to his life is for him to do what he does best: kill the wrong people for the right reasons. But Michael needs support and resources to hit back against I.O., and he gets them in exchange for working with Trelane, taking out her targets, his way. First up? A sociopathic Silicon Valley billionaire by the name of Oliver Queen!

When the Wildstorm revival was first announced, it was noted one of the first spin-off titles would be a reboot of the “Deathblow” comic, now known as “The Wild Storm: Michael Cray.” I am not an old school Wildstorm reader, but a cursory glance at the character revealed some high-’90s sensibilities that didn’t immediately reveal why Michael Cray of all characters would get a 12-issue solo series and not a team like Gen13. But, like everything, “The Wild Storm” related, it’s all part of the plan.

This series was seeded over the first six issues of “The Wild Storm” making it one of the more proper spin-offs I’ve read in comics. It didn’t just materialize but is a reaction to events in the main book. That may sound like reading the first trade of “The Wild Storm” is required for this. it isn’t. But that also wouldn’t hurt. However, writer Bryan Hill (“Postal”) and artist N. Steven Harris do an excellent job in this first issue building Michael Cray and this maxi stand on its own. Sure, there are a couple of specific plot bits I wished they’d mentioned, but issue #1 of this series is the fullest examination of Michael Cray the man we’ve gotten so far and that’s what matters.

With this being a spinoff of “The Wild Storm” the art team of N. Steven Harris, Dexter Vines, and Steve Buccellato uses the visual language laid down by Jon-Davis Hunt, but twist it into their own dialect. Much like how there is an overall shared visual language to the various MCU and DCverse properties. Compositionally, Harris sticks to clear, often symmetrical, page designs that give everything a nice flow. If two people are talking about something, he’ll often visually sandwich it between stages of the conversation. He adds a bit more flair to it, little interstitial panels to show specific details for emphasis as well as the use of full page splash imagery. The design work in this issue turns down the contemporary sleek sensibilities of artists like Hunt or Jamie McKelvie, and turns up the distorted cartoon factor. Leading to darkly humours imagery like Michael Cray karate kicking a flaming man off a skyscraper or somewhat anatomically vague ones where Cray’s neck acts like that of an owl. Steve Buccellato has colored both titles so far, and in “Michael Cray” he is backing everything with more saturated colors compared to the smooth gradients of the main title. These visual factors setup the book to stand on its own but still feel connected to sometime larger.

In “The Wild Storm” all that was known about Michael Cray was that he was the best hitman I.O. had to offer, and that his failure to take out tech icon Jacob Marlowe helped to kick off the mess that series is dealing with. The opening pages of his series show us the history of this killer, and how it was developed out of very simple phrase his parents told him. Harris and colorist Steve Buccellato juxtapose and mirror images across Cray’s lifetime, showing a crescendo of violence of all kinds. “This world can be fun, but it isn’t kind.” He says to himself every day in the mirror. That seems like the best descriptor of the overall state of this new Wild Storm universe. It has many objects, characters, and ideas that are fun but there’s a mean streak to the world.

Since parting ways with I.O., Cray has taken a gig doing what he does best with the equally mysterious Executive Protection Services. That name is one of the plot points I wish the book was a bit more explicit about, the name of this new company isn’t stated in the issue but does appear in the environment. Ms. Trelane is offering Cray the opportunity to use his particular set of skills to kill the “right” people this time around. One of those right people is Silicon Valley jerk Oliver Queen! At least at its start, this series is setup to be something of a Michael Cray kills the DC Universe.

As gimmicky and potentially grimdark that premise maybe, it may provide a nice overall structure for the series as Cray works through the DC pantheon. The fact that the “right” people to kill are Elseworld DC characters also ties into operational theme of the series: the world maybe fun but it isn’t kind. In a theoretically better world, it wouldn’t need men of violence like Cray to try and tilt things more toward the fun side. Interwoven throughout Cray’s briefing and intel gathering is this worlds Oliver Queen turning the issue into a study in the character of Cray and Queen. Much like his mainstream counterpart, Oliver Queen survived a shipwreck on an island and came back as someone else, something else. Now he’s been mixed with the fringe libertarian ideology that underpins much of Silicon Valley thinking with a not so healthy dose of sadomasochism. Cray’s history shows how the phrase his parents told him developed a code of adventure and doing right be the people at large. Oliver’s history shows how a traumatic experience turned him into a reflexive sadomasochist (ala Rambo) who can only meaningfully communicate through pain and bodily degradation as part of a cycle to prove his worthiness. “Pain brings clarity.” He declares as he hunts the most dangerous game.

While Harris’s design work has a more cartooned look to it, his design for Queen is an interesting mix of Mike Grell and the more streamlined look of “The Wild Storm.” Queen is scraggily bearded but his costume has a slightly over done sleekness to it. His beard sets him apart from the clean environment around him and calls back to his time on the Island, or its facsimile the Sanctuary. This is an Oliver Queen out of balance.

“The Wild Storm: Michael Cray” #1 does everything you’d want out of a first issue. It cleanly sets up its own little corner of the world and develops a supporting character from one series into one that can carry his own maxi series. If the methodical planning of “The Wild Storm” makes reading it issue to issue feel unfulfilling, this structure should provide a more enticing episodic approach. There are some minor things the issue could’ve done better, in particular Hill and letterer Simon Bowland differentiating character voice during a conversation that is intercut with another scene but it isn’t too egregious. Going in I wasn’t sure why the character of Michael Cray would headline a series, but now the case has been made and it’s a good one.

Final Verdict: 8.0 – The “Michael Cray” creative team starts off on strong footing and starts the character on a path of dealing a Deathblow to all sorts of well-known, but twisted characters along the way.