Stormwatch 2: Enemies of the Earth

Comic Info

Stormwatch (3) #7

Reprints Stormwatch (3) #7-12 and Red Lanterns #10 (May 2012-October 2012). Stormwatch monitors the Earth and those who might threaten it…be it from space or alternate dimensions. Daemonites plot an invasion of Earth and Stormwatch also finds themselves in conflict with the Red Lanterns. Plus, Stormwatch could lose one of their most important members…but will they even know it? While the battle to protect Earth is going well, who is watching Stormwatch?

Written by Peter Milligan and Paul Jenkins, Stormwatch Volume 2: Enemies of Earth is part of DC Comics New 52 relaunch following Flashpoint. Following Stormwatch Volume 1:  The Dark Side, the collection features art by Ignacio Calero, Daniel HDR, Sean Parsons, Julio Ferreira, Miguel Sepulveda, Mark Irwin, Andrew Pepoy, Sal Regla, Walden Wong, Eduardo Pansica, Eber Ferreira, Rob Hunter, and Will Conrad and issues in this collection were also collected as part of Red Lanterns Volume 2: Death of the Red Lanterns.

Stormwatch was one of the comics that initially made me interested in the New 52. I liked the idea of WildStorm comics being merged into the DC Universe so characters from Stormwatch, Gen13, and WildC.A.T.s inclusion in the DC Universe “proper” were an interesting idea. This adds to the fact that I actually read Stormwatch and The Authority regularly so I was familiar with the characters.

Stormwatch (3) #10

The problem with Stormwatch is that it doesn’t feel like it necessarily fits in with the DCU. Stormwatch was about big thinking and superheroes opting to change the world instead of just protecting it. With other characters like Superman on Earth and even Martian Manhunter as part of team (he leaves this volume), Stormwatch seems improbable since other heroes would find out about them and would step in (DC actually introduced a faux Authority called the Elite in the pre-New 52 universe).

The other problem with Stormwatch is that the characters are very hard to grasp. Someone like Martian Manhunter has been around for decades, but Jenny Quantum, the Engineer, Jack Hawksmoor, Midnighter, and Apollo probably aren’t familiar to the casual comic reader and may not be familiar to fans of DC or Marvel. Their powers are abstract and hard to pin down (they do a really interesting breakdown of Hawksmoor’s powers in this volume).

With the complications of Stormwatch’s purpose and characters, Stormwatch 2: Enemies of Earth isn’t a very attainable comic book for what the New 52 was supposed to do. It was meant to be a jump on point for readers and this feels much more like an older style comic (it doesn’t even feel like an Image Comic which often initially put art before substance). I wish that Stormwatch could get traction along with the other Wildstorm characters, but it seems like it could be an impossibility. Stormwatch 2: Enemies of Earth was followed by Stormwatch 3: Betrayal.

Related Links:

Stormwatch 1:  The Dark Side

Stormwatch 3:  Betrayal

Red Lanterns 2:  Death of the Red Lanterns

Stormwatch 1:  Force of Nature

Stormwatch 2:  Lightning Strikes

Stormwatch 3:  Change or Die

Stormwatch 5:  Final Orbit