Cosmo Digital

The Good: Great use of Wisdom's character, excellent use of small details.

The Bad: Assumes the reader knows Wisdom's character, story ends too quickly, Wisdom doesn't smoke.


I am a huge Pete Wisdom fan. He is THE reason I originally got into comics ten years ago. As close as I can tell, I own every single issue Wisdom has ever appeared in, including the run on X-Force that Marvel tries really hard to forget ever happened. Since most of Marvel's unique, interesting, and non-superheroic superheroes disappear into limbo soon after they are introduced, I was extremely excited during 2005 when Marvel announced Wisdom would be part of New Excalibur. That excitement continued through to this year when I discovered that Wisdom would get his own miniseries. Although it is only a single issue in, the miniseries author Paul Cornell clearly has a good grasp of what makes Pete Wisdom's character so appealing to twisted people such as I.

Several readers of New Excalibur complained that the series should have a larger focus on the British espionage agencies that deal with superhuman or otherworldly affairs. This makes sense, for Wisdom is an agent of MI-13. While New Excalibur did not mention MI-13 at all, this miniseries is all about the agency and their dealings with the otherworldy and supernatural. Wisdom is the head of a group comprised of fairies, aliens, aging super-soldiers, and others. While not true espionage (at least, not in the first issue) this group does create a darker tone to the adventuring of superhero teams. Of course, it is published under MAX for a reason, even though there is not too much that would qualify it as such. While in some places it is a "bloodthirsty shagfest" (as the author put it), the few instances of cursing do feel somewhat out of place. This seems due to the fact that most of the characters are rather restrained, except for the fairy Tink, seen to the above-left.

Of course, the big question about any series focused on Pete Wisdom is how well the author captures the nature of his character. Pete Wisdom was created by author Warren Ellis during his run on Excalibur in the mid-nineties, and Wisdom was similar to other Ellis characters in that he was hard drinking, hard smoking, rude, smarmy, arrogant, and generally did not care about being a hero. Much of that dynamic has translated through to this series as well, as Wisdom's characterization remains essentially the same. Except for the cigarettes. I was somewhat suprised that Marvel's "no-smoking" policy extended even into their adult-oriented MAX line, but apparently it does. I guess that characters can kill and fuck like mad, as long as they do not light up a smoke while doing it. However, Cornell seemed to realize this is a point of contention with Wisdom fans, and so had him cough up a hunk of tar midway through the story as a tribute to Wisdom's chain smoking days.

Although the author did say that someone new to Wisdom's character can read and enjoy the series, it is clearly intended for fans like me who have followed Wisdom since his inception. While this is good for people like me, it could easily be a negative for those new to Wisdom's character and who have no idea about his history. This history is not stated so much through the plot, but rather through the excellent use of small details that fans of Wisdom will pick up on, and which make the story far richer for them. I was very suprised and delighted by the inclusion of the Crown Pub, which had been shown only in a couple issues of Excalibur during the mid nineties, and which acts as a gathering place for all the British espionage agents. While this instantly added more depth and background to the story, someone who does not know this would think it is just a random bar and thus would miss out on that element. Likewise, a mention of Black Air (Wisdom's previous employers and subject of a plot arc in Excalibur), and an apparently drunken phone call to Kitty Pryde (Wisdom's ex-girlfriend) also made me smile.

One of the few gripes I had was that the story ends rather suddently. Now, since this is a miniseries, I am somewhat suprised that the plot of the first issue ends at all. From various interviews, the author Paul Cornell explained that the first three issues will be independent stories, which will connect together during the final three issues. While this sounds like an interesting idea, the last few pages of the first issue seem rather choppy, as if the author wanted to write more of a conclusion to this story but really couldn't. Of course, the moral of this story remains intact: that kinky sex can solve all the world's problems. Remember, this is MAX for a reason. It will be interesting to see how this unintentional relationship between Wisdom and Tink plays out in the next few issues.

On the whole, I am happy with this issue, and still excited about upcoming issues of Wisdom. I know that some fans might get angry over Wisdom's newfound sense of fashion, but I am waiting a few issues before I make a decision about that.

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