Stormwatch #26 Review

Written by: Jim Starlin
Art by: Yvel Guichet
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: December 4, 2013

No Penicillin For You, Earth

The Stormwatch team head through space to see what the Kollective have done in the past and why they are now targeting Earth.  Meanwhile, Earth is already becoming assimilated by the Kollective and the team must make a decision on whether or not to attempt an alliance with Extrememax.  Also, Jenny Soul can't clear her head, Weird plays the harp and Lobo is pissed off.

Not much goes on in Stormwatch #26.  Jim Starlin attempts to show the reader the horrors of the Kollective by showing Worlds they have taken over.  I have to admit, my reaction was lukewarm at best.  Yes, they are anti-tech zealots, but they don't seem like the worst big bads in the Universe.  They don't kill little babies, they just convince you not to vaccinate them.  Sort of like Jenny Mccarthy.

The lack of a threatening villain is far from the biggest offender Stormwatch is guilty of, however.  No matter how much Starlin tries, the team itself is too large and uninteresting.  Good team books rely on the interaction of the members, but it's hard for the reader to care when they don't care about the team.  Seriously, Jenny Soul, Weird, Hellstrike, A.I. and a bunch of others I can't even remember two minutes after putting the book down?!  That's hardly a stellar roster.  Throw in the worst representation of Lobo I've ever seen and you do not have a winner, my friend.  I like Apollo and Midnighter, but their relationship is shoved down the reader's throats and they don't do much more than lay naked in bed.

In past issues I thought Yvel Guichet was a little hogtied with his art.  The team usually is hanging out in Skywatch and you can only do so much with spaceship corridors.  However, this issue involves a couple alien planets that Guichet draws as generic as possible.  Oh well, back to the corridors for you, Yvel.

Bits and Pieces:

Stormwatch #26 continues the trend of the series which means it is not good.  We get to see the underwhelming plan of the Kollective and the bare chests of Apollo and Midnighter...again.  Seriously, not much happens in this issue and I can't recommend it to anyone.

2.0/10