Wanted by Mark Millar, J.G. Jones Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Wanted
Book Review: A foul, mean-spirited, juvenile, masturbatory mess.
Summary: 1 Stars
I probably would have loved this book when I was 14. Now I'm all grown-up, I can see it for it is.
In a nutshell, it's a foul-mouthed, nasty, bleak, violent, racist, homophobic piece of gutter-filth. And I'm not some cuddly Christian screaming censorship, either.
The characters are barely sketched, never mind realised. They have literally no depth at all. The plot's single conceit is that the protagonist - an abject loser - must overcome his tendency to be taken advantage of by murdering, raping and stealing his way to the top of the villain tree. The dialogue reads like an extremely poor Tarantino rip-off, the sheer number of F-words seems to be comic-book shorthand for 'edgy'. And the book's final message is literally tacked onto the end.
Its ideas aspire no higher than characters called 'Sh*t-head' - a living amalgamation of the faecal matter from the world's 666 most evil people - and 'F*ckwit', a glyph of a character that manages to be both badly written and horribly offensive. He has Down's Syndrome. That's about as intelligent as it gets. How very inventive of you, Mr Millar.
I stuck with it in the hope of some pay-off. Perhaps it was all an 'ironic' joke? Perhaps it had a really great point to make? Perhaps all that over-laden 'darkness' and unfunny 'black comedy'? No, there is no point.
God knows what Millar was thinking as he wrote it, and God knows what Top Cow/Image were thinking when they published it. You're only going to like this if you think F-words are clever.
Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with darkness or offensive humour, I just happen to like it to be used with intelligence and wit. This mess of a book has neither. It's a faeces-smeared middle finger to taste and good storytelling. Appalling.
Book Review: A fun story of anti-heroics
Summary: 4 Stars
At times the creators of Wanted get a little caught up in what might be their own pretensions. However the story moves along pretty well with enough unadulterated violence to keep it colorful. Obviously this book is meant for a mature crowd but older audiences might not appreciate the cynicism.Book Review: A great read
Summary: 4 Stars
Having run across a reference to the graphic novel I picked this up. The artwork is incredible and the story line is well done. The anti-hero theme is one that's been done before but they managed to make a great new version that's not overly mythical or buried in mysticism or philosophy.Book Review: A subversive masterpiece certainly not for everyone
Summary: 5 Stars
It's kind of amazing the type of reactions that Millar and Jones' "Wanted" evokes in people. Some people absolutely despise it. Other people absolutely adore it. I personally think it's wonderful, but I also understand why a bunch of people don't like it. Let me explain.
Upfront, let's say this: This is a book about villains. They're going to do villainous things. They aren't going to hold hands. They aren't going to be nice people. They aren't going to have a change of heart. They aren't going to see the error of their ways. Not because they couldn't, but because they don't care. Many of the criticisms people have leveled at this book take that one thing for granted. They want the protagonist to be a nice guy (he isn't), they want him to do good things (he doesn't), they want the story to have a happy ending (the jury's sort of out on that one). Make no mistake, this is not intended to be mainstream fiction. And to me, that's part of the appeal.
Wanted is the story of Wesley Gibbs, an office drone who's been walked on his entire life. He's been kicked by nearly everyone who could have a chance, and twice on Sundays. His girlfriend is sleeping around on him, his boss is abusive without cause, and Wesley takes it, because he can't envision any other way to live. Until someone comes along and tells him he's the son of the greatest killer who ever lived, and that he's just inherited his legacy. And while he fights it at first, he comes to embrace it, and that's where things start getting complicated.
I don't want to walk you through the book. I don't want to tell you that you should like it, because, frankly, I understand why a lot of people wouldn't like this book. It's violent, it's unsympathetic to, well, everyone, it's remorseless, it's brutal, it's needless cruel... but that's sort of the point. While I see a lot of people in other reviews comparing "Wanted" to "Fight Club" (fair) and "The Matrix" (not really applicable), in many ways, "Wanted" is an extension of some of the ideas presented in a much older book, "The Lord of the Flies." What DOES happen in a society without rules? What would you do if there wasn't a law you had to follow? What would you do if there wasn't anyone to tell you no, or stop you from doing whatever you put your mind to? The easy answer is to say that you'd just go on living your life, but with some improvements, but at the cost of what? The world is about systems. Give yourself a ton of money, money goes down in value, suddenly you have less money than you intended. Don't want to pay a speeding ticket? Now you're breaking laws, just because you can. Millar takes that concept and runs with it about as far as he can, then keeps running past where it was before.
If "Fight Club" wasn't your cup of tea, then steer clear from "Wanted." If you're looking for something with a positive message, steer clear of "Wanted." If you want a story where you agree with the actions of the protagonist, steer clear of "Wanted." It's not a book for kids. It's not a book for people who want a story that holds their hand the whole way. It is, to borrow a phrase, very bad men doing very bad things. Again, I return to my original point -- this is a story about villains.
With all that said, Jones' art is fantastic, the dialog is crisp and leaps off the page, the characters are memorable and the story is a wild roller coaster ride that asks the question "When there are no rules, and the only people who can tell you no are your fellow degenerates, what do you do?" It's uncomfortable, it's vile, it's twisted, it's darker-than-dark... and that's why I love it, and why most of you probably won't...
Book Review: Action packed swear parade!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
The begining of this book starts with an average guy and his boring life. Then when he goes to get his usual sandwich one day he meets a girl named fox and the action never stops. The tempo of this book is somewhere between a coked out dishwasher and a cheetah on speed. The story moves along beautifly, and the end has a great twist. I also love how alot of the characters have similarities to existing dc and marvel characters. Along the same lines the unique characters in this story are classic.