Wildstorm

[New World Order]

So the only books I collect from Marvel are Black Panther, Black Panther & the Crew, Ultimates 2 (Black Panther is my favorite character) and Mighty Captain Marvel (Love Alpha Flight). I'm a huge Moon Knight fan, but that series is done after #14. My favorite DC characters currently don't have monthly books (The Question, Animal Man, JSA, Swamp Thing). Also a BIG Milestone fan, but there seems to be no movement on that front.
I'm looking at getting into the WildStorm Universe and I know the new Warren Ellis series is getting positive reviews. Was curious what everyone's opinion on it is so far. I would also be very interested on receiving recommendations on past Wildstom collections I should pick up (Stormwatch, Authority, Gen13, Wildcats, Planetary, DV8, Mister Majectic, Wetworks, etc...).

[EmeraldGladiator]

So the only books I collect from Marvel are Black Panther, Black Panther & the Crew, Ultimates 2 (Black Panther is my favorite character) and Mighty Captain Marvel (Love Alpha Flight). I'm a huge Moon Knight fan, but that series is done after #14. My favorite DC characters currently don't have monthly books (The Question, Animal Man, JSA, Swamp Thing). Also a BIG Milestone fan, but there seems to be no movement on that front.
I'm looking at getting into the WildStorm Universe and I know the new Warren Ellis series is getting positive reviews. Was curious what everyone's opinion on it is so far. I would also be very interested on receiving recommendations on past Wildstom collections I should pick up (Stormwatch, Authority, Gen13, Wildcats, Planetary, DV8, Mister Majectic, Wetworks, etc...).

eh I am going to give it a chance but it doesn't seem to be giving me the Wildstorm I want. As in most things Image I prefer the generation 1 versions. This title seems to be more based on the later volumes that I wasn't as invested in. As for my favorite Wildstorm books, the original Lee/Choi version of the Wildcats, the original version of Stormwatch. the first three arcs of the Authority and Planetary which is a separate but beautiful story.

[Calvinr]

The wild storm has been very solid for the opening two issues imo, but it's very much still in the world building stage at this point.
I feel your pain with the lack of Milestone movement lol, but am willing to wait, those characters deserve a great creative team so there's no need to rush.

My recommendations for the older wildstorm material would be 'the authority' (issues 1-12) by Warren Ellis, available in trade also Stormwatch (also by Ellis) which leads into the authority and also Alan Moore's WildC.A.T.S run (although you may struggle to find copies of this in trade or issue form) and finally 'Sleeper' written by Ed Brubaker is a classic.

A lot of the books you mentioned are very good aswell particularly 'planetary' but it's worth maybe checking the general consensus in reviews before you grab what your not too sure on.

[manduck37]

I have no real prior experience with the Wildstorm Universe but I'm enjoying the new Wildstorm series. It's pretty new reader friendly. So you're safe diving into it with that. From the earlier stuff, I've read and absolutely loved Ellis' The Authority and Stormwatch as well as Planetary. The entire series of Planetary is collected into a beautiful hardback omnibus that is easily worth every penny. I just loved it.

A lot of people speak pretty favorably of Mister Majestic too, though I haven't read it. So I can't say for sure, other than to say I've heard good word of mouth.

[poroto678]

I would recommend Warren Ellis' Stormwatch and The Authority without a second thought. It's absolutely amazing, even though I considered the Wildstorm Universe to be completely lame at first. Also The Authority has volumes written by huge writers like Ed Brubaker, Mark Millar and Grant Morrison. It's totally worth it.
If you like anti-heroes, it doesn't get any better than that.

I really dug Wildcats 3.0, too. It wasn't mind blowing, but definitely very good.

Personally I find Planetary a complete Masterpiece.

Finally, it's not set in the Wildstorm Universe but it was published by them: Ex Machina. Brian K Vaughan knocking outta the park, as usual.

[t hedge coke]

Ellis' Stormwatch, which was a good mix of politically-minded action pieces. Most of the first two years of The Authority are slambang stuff. The Establishment is funny, weird stuff. Adam Warren's Gen 13 and related minis and short comics are fantastic, sharp satirical action comedy, and Gail Simone's later run is sound, funny, mean, and inventive. Planetary is beyond amazing and ought to give you something new with every revisit. WildCATs tends to be a case of you either love most of it or you... just don't like much of any of it. Two-Step is super fun, silly, weird romance with giant genitals in suitcases comics. Barbara Kesel's Savant Garde is a brilliant adventure book. And, D'n'A's Majestic is fun, but I think it relies on a lot of previous-knowledge/other comics to really work.

The thing to remember is that this is an entire shared universe (and some standalone and alternate realities), by a ton of different folks, so there's... a lot, and everything varies. Tone, style, maturity... everything.

So, rather than rec one or two things hard, I'm going to suggest you just eyeball covers, preview pages, or names you recognize, and go with what looks like it's going to appeal most. There's bound to be something.

[Bradford]

If only Wildstorm was able to get Alan Moore's permission to complete the 1963 mini-series.

[Tetragrammar]

I'm looking into reading more Wild Cats. Can anyone help me out here? Is Joe Casey's run worth reading? I was looking at the trades of his run. I saw I believe four volumes and two larger volumes titled 3.0 Year One and 3.0 Year Two. Do those two volumes recollect the four smaller volumes or are they all completely different? Thanks.

[Ascended]

Planetary is absolutely worth reading. That series belongs on the list of all-time greats right next to Watchmen, Dark Knight Returns, etc. Simply amazing. I believe there's a new omnibus or something that comes out this summer but I could be wrong.

I was a fan of the WildCATS volume.....4? The one where they left superheroics behind and it was all corporate thriller/suspense stories....not sure which volume that was, actually. But it was fun.

Basically anything Ellis did for WildStorm is worth reading. The downside is that, all these years later, his Authority doesn't stand out like it used to. The genre has caught up to what he was doing a decade or two ago but his Authority and StormWatch are still excellent.

And you're not likely to see anyone else recommend this, but take a look at a trade called WildCATS: Nemesis. Its not on the level of some of these other recommendations but it's a lot of fun and the title character is a blast; sort of a Catwoman style personality combined with old school Wonder Woman style powers (back when she couldnt fly) and a Batman style collection of tools and gadgets....except they're high-end alien technology. And replace the magic lasso with a sword.

[BFF]

Anybody still reading? Issue #5 dropped today.

I still really like all the world-building that Ellis doing. This is a weird, sci-fi, dangerous, spy universe that I want to spend a lot of time in.

Can't wait for the other books in this universe to ramp up. Not sure when that will happen.

[Ascended]

I've fallen behind on my reading and have a pile of books to catch up on, but the new WildStorm is still on my pull list, and the last couple issues are still in that pile waiting for me to have a spare afternoon.......

[Calvinr]

Anybody still reading? Issue #5 dropped today.

I still really like all the world-building that Ellis doing. This is a weird, sci-fi, dangerous, spy universe that I want to spend a lot of time in.

Can't wait for the other books in this universe to ramp up. Not sure when that will happen.

Am still reading,,,and I'm loving the new modern take on the characters, it's still in the world building stage but it's fantastic,,,very very solid

[Stryfe8]

absolutely love it.. as a fan of the original version, i get to enjoy this different take on them from the ground up, and at the same time,its reader friendly in an x-files sort of way

[BFF]

Am still reading,,,and I'm loving the new modern take on the characters, it's still in the world building stage but it's fantastic,,,very very solid

Indeed. Ellis world-building is almost always worth waiting for.

I remember with Planetary I didn't have a full picture of what was going on until Issue 12 or so, but Planetary was awesome.

I think this will be, too.

[Qwerty]

I have no clue what is going on with this book. I picked it up due to the heavy solicitation ads in the back of my dc books and the interesting art. Never really read warren ellis or at least never searched him out for his name. I think he did some ultimates stuff i read.

Is the book only 24 issues? Thats what the count down seems to indicate. PRETTY SURE i can stick around that long but not sure I care to stick around for ever