Stormwatch #2

Harry Tanner does what he does best, Adam makes his sales pitch to Apollo and Midnighter, and things generally go from bad to worse.

The Good

Like this cover a great deal more than last issue's.

I'm glad that Al Barrionuevo has come on this book as co-artist. Honestly I wouldn't mind him staying on permanently. He draws in a style similar to Sepulveda's so their a consistent look and tone to the book throughout which is quite difficult to achieve on a book with multiple artists. Barrionuevo's figures are much more to my liking though. They're more solid and weighty.

I really enjoyed the intro to this issue with Adam. Cornell does a good job of showing rather than telling us who Adam is throughout the issue. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing more of his (very, very) expansive history delved into as the series progresses. And his interaction with Apollo and Midnighter did of good job of establishing him as an experienced and capable leader.

The tension between Adam and The Engineer boils over and explodes this issue and it makes for quite a bit of intrigue. Especially with what goes down between Harry Tanner and The Scourge of Worlds later in the story.

I really like the way that Cornell's handled Manhunter in this book thus far.

As of now Harry Tanner is my favorite character in this book. I loved the way that Cornell flips the possessed/turned teammate trope on it's head in this issue. Stuff like that needs to be the norm for this book for it to capitalize on it's potential. Tanner's interaction with the Scourge of Worlds was excellent and really fun to read. And the reveal on Harry's powers was well handled and really plays up the medieval cosmological angle Cornell's going for.

Cornell does a good job of showing how Stormwatch can operate in the shadows of the DCnU very naturally and humorously. Poor, Poor Fox

The Bad

The story's still in set up mode as of now so there's not a great deal of action this issue. So yeah, that cover sadly doesn't happen.

Sepulveda's art improves this issue and looks less digitized, but nonetheless looks rushed. I really hope he gets it together because he's disappointed me on this book thus far.

Midnighter looks terrible, I will mention this until his costume is re-redesigned.

Speaking of Midnighter's redesign. I hope Cornell doesn't keep writing him this way, he really is a creeper. And that line about coming out...sigh, no Cornell, no.

The Verdict

The dialogue in this issue felt 1,000 times more natural than the stilted, expository kind that permeated its predecessor. I can definitely feel the book developing a distinct voice with this issue. And the overall art was definitely improved. Stormwatch is one of the DCnU's titles with the most potential and this issue definitely manages to fully display many of the things that can elevate this book from good to great. For me this one's a buy.