Wetworks #2: Here's the full cover...

Here is the full sized version of the cover and a cropped portion of the cover before FX and final lighting...

This and some of the other covers you will see are cropped ever so tightly. That is because way back when, we were gonna do something the studio called "widescreen covers" where there would be blocks of color along the top and bottom of the comic book and the image layed in between the blocks of color. So as you see this cover is basically a square, as opposed to the usual "tall" rectangle covers are usually drawn with. They scapped that idea a long time ago (tho' after I drew the covers)so my covers were then cropped to fit on a regular tall rectangular cover...

Another bit 'o trivia, the cover to WW's #1 is a regular proportioned cover because it was originally drawn as a promo piece. Editorial liked it so much they rallied for it to be the cover to #1...

NOTES...

I don't know why the thumbnails of the last three pages of the second preface story didn't load? Yet if you click the links they will take you to the full size versions of those pages...hhhhmmmmmm....

Awhile ago I added two links...
Gallery-is a link to a great website that has been up for some time. It holds alot of my comics work. We will be using this site to showcase alot of new art...thanx a million to Rafa and Kyle...we owe you...

Gerry-Is the massive and massively important site of not only a good friend but someone who once was my art director when I had an advertising/Art studio now he has done tons of great comics inking over myself and Lienil Yu and has recently gone back to his first love of publishing great acclaimed indie books the latest of which is "Elmer" an intriging dissertation of human society featuring a sentient rooster. I point out his site because his site holds the Philippine Komix historical gallery holding and honoring the great Pilipino artist of the past who paved the way for us current pinoy artist...we must all remember them that came before us...

Last may I say that this blog is for me a personal trip...therapy. And it is dedicated and for those that are interested in the inner details and processes of "creating" a modern day comic book. At least the way I've been doing it for the last twenty years. So a warning to those that want to enjoy the Wetworks book on its own merits, this blog will take apart bit by bit every aspect of the process and will reveal (as with the last post) all of the many inner details of the story that did not and should not have made it to the final script but are apart of the process that we edited down to create the final version we now are seeing in print...

Preface #2: We are but Monsters...

Now the second story was written by Carey and I think you start to see how complicated yet subtle he can be. Which is why he is the perfect choice for Wetworks.



By this time Mike had had enough time to figure out his timeline for WW's. It was all approved and we were ready to roll. Since this was Mike's first pass at WW's I decided to let him draw first blood. Let him write whatever he wanted so I could see what his plans were and how well his ideas could be integrated into WW's. Other than just pointing out detailed minor difference's in each characters personality, that's about all I had to do with the tweaking of his plot. So now understanding what he wanted to do all of his decisions worked for me. That's where I decided to give him the space to establish his new characters and set-up a new storyline.

Again, let me reiterate and take the responsibility. I had a big problem with the original series going at break neck speed in terms of the story and the introduction of characters. I think you lose some potential impact doing things too quickly. So this time around I told Mike I wanted to do it in a proper pace and to do it as much as possible from Dane's point of view. If people think it's too slow and it takes too long to get to the old familiar characters it is all on my shoulders. Not Mikes, not the editor's...but mine...

Now on to the story...our story starts out with Bueller a Military wannabe. A desk job commander. As he is relaxing in his home and preparing his report and recommendations for whether Dane is reliable enough to get this mission done: finding the vampire responsible for breaking into one of our Air Force bases. It is obvious from his tone that he doesn't like Dane and in fact considers him a "freak" a "monster" because he has super powers. I thought Mike's introduction of this characterization of people like Dane was really needed and started to ground both the humans and the supers in the WW's world. The first page also establishes nicely that the infiltrator is a vampire since all of the base's camera's could not record an image of the infiltrator. Basic vampire lore...



Then we switch scene's and Bueller is seen (with full military escort) finally arriving at Dane's desert location to convince him to come out of retirement and take the mission. We've visually set-up that Dane and his crew are on an archeological dig. When in reality (tho' we don't say it because it's not important...but for the fans who want to know everything) the scientific dig is actually cover for the fact that this is one of the covert entrances to the new Wetworks complex. Notice I don't tell you where this site is exactly. Anyways before Bueller goes down to meet with Dane for the first time he instructs one of his men (a sniper of course) to go to a high location and wait for his signal. Bueller then proceeds down the sand steps to meet Dane seemingly deep in thought discovering something. Oh and the two leather clad people next to Dane are none other that Pilgrim and Jester. Fans of the old series will know that Pilgrim is the Wetworks team sniper and Jester is the #2 assasin, here they are on bodygaurd duty for Dane. Again all of this is not pointed out in the script or the plot. Has nothing to do with the actual story or pace, just added flavor for the background.



Now we have Dane and Bueller meeting for the first time. We've already established that Bueller thinks Dane is a freak, now we show that Dane has no regard for this "paper" officer. Yes Dane does his own research and knows that Bueller has no real military "credits" to his name, so thruout this scene Dane barely looks at Bueller and in fact keeps his back to him most of the time. Page three is also notable for having better shots of Pilgrim and Jester. This is the first ever present day shots of any of the old Wetworks teammates in new costumes.

Another thing very important about this page is the last close-up of Dane as he negotiates with Bueller. We see all up and down his face remnants of one long scar that wraps his face, and we see thin metal rods on various parts of his face. These are medical rods used to hold broken bones in place in order for them to heal. Again this is not talked about within the script or even written in the plot (I added it in) but this is a visual clue (again only for those old fans) as to an event that led to Dane losing then regaining his golden symbiote. It is also the one change I am making in the Death of the Blood Queen in the original series. The death scene as originally done is intact except for one scene insert. This reveal is planned for a future issue of the new Wetworks. And will reveal the only change in the Dane personality and his present day motivations.




Page four has our two military types negotiating terms namely Dane will hunt down this lone vampire (a simple mission for a man who brought a vampire nation to its knees) in exchange for the government using its scientist to revive Mother-One (found dead and mummified in the first Preface). Midway thru Bueller does his hand "signal" motioning his sniper to fire on Dane. Dane turns on his gold symbiote and "catches" the snipers bullet in his hand in mid-flight using his psi-powers he displayed in the first preface story. Bueller does this as his test for Dane, to see if he is all he is suppose to be, according to his files...



Then we "see" the bullet hovering in the air where Dane stopped it, it is shaking with pent up energy...Dane releases it and it continues on a new path redirected to hit one of Buellers Jeeps which in true comic's physics of course explodes. The explosion knocks the human Bueller off his feet but the super human Dane stands immobile against the exploding energy.



On the last page we see a humiliated Bueller on his butt reaching into his jacket for his pistol, Dane (with his back to Bueller) dares him to fire upon him...scene is abruptly cut we are brought back to Bueller in his house writing up his report (the location of the first scene of this story) and he reveals to the camera for the first time his other hand, his gun hand with a fresh new medical dressing covering his entire forearm, answering the question if Bueller had enough balls to "try" to fire upon Dane in the desert...THE END...

This story (of Mike's) handily introduces a whole lot of issues and a new character but does it on the surface simply and underneath carries alot of implications and set-ups. It sets-up the inner tension between Bueller and Dane and why. It set-ups the first seemingly "small" story event (capturing this vampire that infiltrated the Air Base) which will project the first few issues of the new Wetworks series you are reading. For new fans it introduces strange new things and people and powers...just introduces. And for old fans in brings back some old friends with some new iterations that opens up whole new questions about what happened between when we last saw them...cudos for Mike it does alot and does it well...

So there with both preface story's you have all you need to know to start off the new Wetworks series...

Preface #1: Mother Where art Thou?

Now we get back to the real stuff...In an effort to make this blog complete I will include commentary about the two preface stories that proceeded and set-up Wetworks:Worldstorm #1...

I wrote this one so it has all the old military flavors from the first three issues from the original series of WW's. It's in my blood, the only way I can write Wetworks. I see everything from Dane's point of view. the military point of view...

Believe it or not I had not yet met-up with Mike, let alone finalized any plan for how the new WW's book would shake out. So how do we announce reviving Wetworks without being specific as to what form the new team will take? In all the various ideas we came up with as to what the new Wetworks would be like we always came to the conclusion that Mother needed to play a major role. At the very least since all military research seems to be closely connected to something called "cross'communications" where all units will be engulfed in a flood of information, Mother-One was the best candidate to be able to realize that for Dane. So she needed to be the focus for the first preface story...plus we had hinted at a possible romantic link between her and Dane in the original series, so this seemed like the best place emotionally to start...

The only other thing that was certain in my mind was that Dane would be totally in charged this time around. After having the government try to control him, and then IO try to chain him, then Waering try to use him as a patsy, in the new series Dane decides his team is his sole responsibility therefore they will do only what he deems neccesary. So I began there...

How would Dane go about reforming his old team and build an organization around it?

With all of Dane's past involvement (Team 7, the Gen13 powers, IO, Raven, Wildcats, Waering, etc.) he has formed a massive and powerful network of proffessionals and rouges. Any of which would glady do Dane a favor or two. So he pirates anyone that he deems perfectly suited to his needs.

Dane has always been a man of a few words (tho' as we will see in the new series he has in his old age become abit more yakkier than his younger self) always a man of action people exposed to Dane seem to be quickly attracted to his command presence. Well that's how Dane sees it. Reality is he is a psi-power that is yet to be rated and classified. Being the personality type that believes in self determination, doing things for yourself, he doesn't believe in the supernatural, and therefore ignores any sign that he is a "magical" being. Regardless of his belief he is constantly "broadcasting" his psi-awareness around him. It works subtely, he "thinks" he needs a certain person to volunteer for a deadly mission, that person all of a sudden volunteers for said mission. His psi-power subtely suggesting to that person Dane's desires. All of his lifes successes are attribital to this one fact of his powers. Now let's think people...Dane's reputation as a military leader has been made upon taking the most dangerous missions, and soldiers gladly dying for Dane (look back at the first three issues of the original WW's series where Flattop and Crossbones gave their lives for Dane and the team so they could get out of an ambush) now what would happen to our leaders proud mind if he realized that no one ever "volunteered" for these deadly missions but were all "coerced" by his psi-power? Think of the guilt...

Guilt is the word that encapsulates the current Dane, and haunts the mood of this first preface story. His narration of this first story is moody and haunting (thanx for the wonderful script by Arcudi). Centering on his guilt that the team was last betrayed by their benefator Waering and Dane could not protect them. It is also melancholy.

We start out with a large jump jet landing on a desert plateau.

Trivia***This plateau and entranceway was born in the later issues of the first series, as we knew for certain that Dane's psi-powers were being enhanced by the symbiotes, it was getting to a point where if Dane ever got angry he could accidentally blow a man's brain to pieces. So how does Dane let off steam safely. So I thought of this desert plateau totally devoid of life (maintained that way by Waerings group) where he could vent his anger to his hearts desire and never worry about killing anyone. Not even a mouse. Within the adjacent mountain face is a hidden doorway leading back into the old Wetworks complex.

A robed figure leads a group of heavily armored soldiers into the doorway and underground complex. Yes these are human WW's soldiers. All ex-Delta Force. This also is a big difference from the original series. I knew I needed WW's to come back as the "A" team but I wanted them to have backup that weren't superheroes. So, they go into the heart of this underground complex and find a locked doorway and Dane in his dialogue announces he has found Mother-One. A telling point is when a soldier tells Dane that it will take a minute or two to get an explosives team there, Dane is impatient and tells the soldier to clear the door because he is about to blast it with his psi-powers. This eagerness brings back hints at a possible past relationship between Dane and Mother-One. One we always hinted at but never realized.

Upon blasting the door open we find a mummified and dead Mother-One lying next to a massive computer. We are told that this is the old Waering mainframe. The why Mother is found there goes again back to the old series. There was an issue where we find Mother-One may be demented. There is a scene where she is alone in her room talking to someone, that someone turns out to be the mainframe computer. It talks back to her conversationally but reacts to Mother-One as Rachels long dead mother. Waering had reworked Mothers memory long ago before she became WW's to thinking his mainframe AI was in fact Mother-One's own dead mother. An effort to control Mother-One, he knew how powerful she would become and so used this as a safety key to disarm her if need be. So in Mother-Ones last days she seeks refuge with the computer core she thought was her mother. In the last days of the Vampire wars the Waering complex was overrun by the Night Tribes. Mother-One fought a retreating action to the only secure place she knew, the mainframe AI'a main core. It was built to withstand any attack and did. Only problem is it was now a radioactive site and thru the years even tho' Mother was able to contact Dane's mind and lead him back to her, it also slowly killed what was still human in her, and so she died. Being also part computer herself she spent most of that time wondering what Dane would do next. She correctly knew Dane would restart Wetworks again so what would he need from her if he found her? A complete copy of the old Waering mainframe computer database/network. To use to rebuild a new complex. And one other thing...the last conscious download of her consciousness before she physically died. She somehow knew that Dane would try to revive her and would need this if she were to be the same...so Dane gingerly picks up Mother's decaying corpse, half-machine, half-petrified flesh, and within her petrified fingers is the harddrive with all Dane needs to start his Dream.

That ends the first preface story heralding the first news that Wetworks will rise again as a team.

Apologies for not having pictures...still hunting down hi-rez files of the original colored pages of this story. When I get them I will repost this with the pictures.

I do have all of the colored files of the second preface story. In my next post I will comment on that story and fill that post with panels from that story...

Then I will combine all the images in a flash movie for those adversed to reading...til next time people...

Wetworks:where are we?

There's seems to be (to put it mildly) a PR mix-up as to where Wetworks fits in to the Worldstorm relaunch and whether Worldstorm is a relaunch or what.

Let's handle that quickly, as stated Wetworks in this new incarnation is a collaboration by Mike Carey and myself. We started it awhile ago and then were asked to postphone it for what was then strictly a relaunch of only the original books of Wildstorm from the Image days. In the context that an event would happen prior to the launch of the new books that would render all continuity that went before it to naught. Meaning we would re-start each book as if new with whatever continuity we wanted to keep from the old books or not. It was to be a mature readers line so as to give creators space to really modernize the books.

That having been established we were told to write our books totally within their own world. Meaning it was decided editorially that there would be no need of prefacing or acknowledging the big event that would create this new status quo. There was actually talk of rewriting Wetworks issue #1 (four months after we did it) to incorporate said big event, but that was soon deemed unnecessary. So Wetworks proceeded.

But since we needed to postphone Wetworks to coincide with the new Universe

(I mean if we launched Wetworks months before the big event then when said event actually happened we'd have to start Wetworks all over again. If not we'd look silly being the only book that didn't react in some way to the fact that there was a new status quo. In essence we'd have Rebooted the book twice.)

All this time since Wildcats would return to be the flagship book everything about the event and relaunch would center around this book. It was therefore promised to keep Wetworks in the tail end of the relaunch's if not the last as originaly planned.

So it was decided that in between said big event and way back when there would be released small back-up stories to gear up the audience for the new Wetworks books. Ergo our preface lead-ups to the launch of the book, which were originally written for issue one.

Now we jump ahead in time to two weeks before Wetworks is scheduled to come out and we find due to circumstances Wildcats is not ready but Wetworks is so to my surprise Wetworks is the first book in the relaunch and labeled such. The book that was decided a year ago would not need to acknowledge the Worldstorm event.

So Wetworks (the most thought out and planned of all the books, years in advanced) gets slapped for not having aything to do with Worldstorm and therefore not being planned and in fact being downright confusing.

Now these things happen, we're all human so you take what you can and make the best out of it. So we plow ahead with Wetworks as planned as per how Mike and I have mapped this whole Wetworks tale.

My only real regret is to not have pushed for the republishing of the back-up preface stories that set-up issue #1. I am working on that, even if I have to make a flash storyboard using those panels and retell those short stories online. For clarities sake and for the total package it should be done. At the very least the TPB should have it all in it.

(to be continued)...next post retelling of the back-up stories...