Wanted by Mark Millar, J.G. Jones Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Wanted
Book Review: Could have been a classic, but R-rated content spoils it
Summary: 4 Stars
The concept alone gains it 4 stars, but the excessive profanity turns a possibily legendary tale into a juvenile outing worthy of Kevin Smith.
Millar crafts an excellent story and creates well rounded characters out of even the most mundane villains whom he choses to parody. The problem is they all speak like a bunch of teenagers, who just learned to swear and feel that it elevates their "bada**" image to do so. There isn't even any shock value, it's just annoying.
It really is a shame, "Wanted" could have been on par with "Watchmen"(please forgive me), by working adult situations into comic book lore elevating it to real-world status. But again, it comes out like the 13-year-old step-brother of "Watchmen".
That being said, the plot points are engaging and the art is fantastic.
Anyway, Junior High fan boys will most likely hold it in high esteem, but for the rest of us we can remember Ultimates and Civil War as high points in Mark Millar's career.
Book Review: Dark and fantastic
Summary: 5 Stars
What if superheroes really existed? What if supervillains really did too? What if the supervillains all teamed up and killed off the superheroes, and then used their advanced technology to make everyone in the world believe that heroes and villains are a thing of fantasy, as well as the kind of technology it would take to wipe your brain of its memories? What if all crime in the entire world, all governments-everything, was controlled by these supervillains and you didn't know? What if you suddenly were told that you got to be one of them as well?
These questions essentially make up the premise of "Wanted." Wesley Gibson, your average underappreciated, depression riddled cubicle rat with a cheating girlfriend, has a bomb dropped on his life when he learns that his deadbeat father was one of the greatest supervillains of all time, and one of the "fraternity" a group of villains who essentially control the world. Did I mention his father's supervillainry led to him accumulating a fortune, and that he left it all to his illegitimate son? Oh wait, but there's a catch. In order for Wesley to inherit his father's wealth, he must first take up his father's old costume, his weapons, and his identity, and prove that he's worthy of it all. Everything is not well in the world of supervillains though. Wesley is thrust into their realm at a time of great unrest. Things are moving, but where are they moving, and who is behind it?
If you're looking for a dark story with a cynical, satirical edge, this is the place to go. Millar grounds the story in ours, allowing his average American character to go about criticizing what he sees as a boring, monotonous world where we can expect to be pushed around, spit on, and degraded by everyone around us. Besides the cynicism, though, is a great sort of right-of-passage story with a twist...its about a villain, not a hero. So how does the son of a villain go about proving that he's worthy of his father's fortune? If you want to know, read this book. You won't be disappointed.
Book Review: Disappointed
Summary: 1 Stars
Much happier with the movie than the source material. I do not recommend this graphic novel.Book Review: Don't Get It
Summary: 1 Stars
First of all, after reading I developed such a hatred for this book I couldn't forget it, which of course makes that aspect even worse. It was in the back of my mind until I saw a trailer for the screen adaption (which looks different enough to be appealing--more about the greater good without super villains or heros). After reading some of the other reviews and after reading the story, everything sits in contradiction.
The super villain angle would actually be an interesting look into an old genre, but really what we have here is some black and white characters being evil for evil's sake. Wesley, the protagonist (or whatever he is) has no development past being a murdering rapist, and this comic pretends to be about living against the norm. Or maybe just having the power to deal with your problems with humanity in a logical way because of money. I really don't see the connection between freeing yourself and becoming evil (and not even developed evil), especially when freedom involves enslaving other people to your whims with the justification of the "sheep" philosophy (see Animal Farm or Pink Floyd). It really didn't say anything about super villains. I can think of many works that deal with the "bad guy" and their motivations, which is what needs to be explored in such a piece. Read Lucifer if you want to see the complexities of evil.
I don't really know why I completed this book. I guess I thought with my past with literature the main characters aren't supposed to stay flat from the catalyst to the climax. I didn't expect anyone to change sides, but maybe some sort of message. Something. I thought maybe I wasn't reading something endorsing super villains or murdering your best friend or people in general for that matter. The end just felt like a joke. It felt like I read something by a man who blames his own repression on the world and the people around him therefore he's going to shoot up the office and call it freedom.
I saw some titles like Watchmen and Preacher, which really makes me frown because those books are riddled with characters beyond complexity and depth where this one throws in fan service and one dimensional characters. I just don't get it.
Book Review: Every other complaint aside...Wanted isn't entertaining.
Summary: 1 Stars
There is something eerily reminiscent in the style of Wanted to the writings of an adolescent school shooter. At one point in the story, the main character brags that while some of the other characters can ride sound waves or walk through walls, he's just good at killing people, and that's fine with him. Swell. From start to finish Wanted is an adolescent power trip for disturbed teenage boys. Anyone else is going to find the graphic novel either dull or silly (at times it is both).
Every page of Wanted is pervaded with a palpable feeling that the writer has seen Fight Club a whole bunch of times, and is determined to bring the super-cool underground sensibilities of that mass-market mega-blockbuster to the pages of comics. Fine. Be prepared for a lot of swears, and even more violence. That wouldn't be a deal-breaker if the story were in any way interesting, but it isn't.
The plot of Wanted revolves around a loser main character who suddenly finds out that the world is run by super-villains, and he is heir to the throne. Murder, rape, and general mayhem ensue. The idea that super-villains have won their war against heroes is a good one, and begs the question, what next? What do super villains do when they win? Apparently they set up a bureaucracy and then make a lot of money. OK. If that's all they wanted, why didn't they just get jobs in the field of finance? If this sounds boring, then guess what? It is! The author tries to liven things up with random murder and rapes, but the attempts feel increasingly forced.
Wanted is a poor, violent, vulgar graphic novel. But worst of all, it is boring. Go read Watchmen or the Sandman books instead.