Review: Stormwatch Vol. 2- Enemies of Earth

Quick Summary

Pros: The dysfunctional family aspect of the cast is excellent. There are a few good storylines throughout the book.

Cons: The Red Lanterns crossover feels meaningless. The second half of the book is filled with lackluster stories that don’t seem to be going anywhere.

Overall: Though not a bad book, this volume fails to anything with the setup and introduction given to it by the previous volume. Changes in creative teams and unnecessary crossovers also hamper the work and make it harder to appreciate. There are still some good moments here and the characters themselves are enjoyable but the book as a whole does not stand well on its own.

Story

While Stormwatch Vol. 1: The Dark Side laid the groundwork for better stories in the future, Stormwatch Vol. 2: Enemies of Earth fails to capitalize on this and ends up being another volume of introduction, once again, saving the bigger stories for future volumes. This is partially due to a creative shift from Paul Cornell, author of the previous volume, to Paul Jenkins and Peter Milligan; however a pointless and somewhat intrusive Red Lanterns crossover can also share in this blame. All of this disarray creates a book that fails to tell one solid story and instead tells multiple independent stories that do not setup or build upon each other at all. Hopefully, with the creative team stabilizing in the next volume, this series will get back on track in the future.

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The beginning of this book is probably the best part of this collection, as it features Stormwatch at their best. The team goes head to head with weird villains and pseudo-logic that writer Paul Jenkins impressively manages to make sense. There is a bit of action, a bit of suspense, and an ending that is completely unexpected.

The highlight here though, is the team chemistry. Stormwatch has become a weird and oddly dysfunctional family. The Engineer and Martian Manhunter have a parental relationship with Jenny Quantum, teaching her match and bribing her with the promise of a puppy, while the rest of the team bickers like siblings. Yet things like Jenny Quantum’s near death and the overall wacky team dynamic prevent them from being a true family, like the Fantastic Four. That’s more than alright though as it adds a unique twist to the team and allows them to brand their own identity.

In the middle of this collection, there is a two issue crossover with the Red Lanterns series. This starts with a battle between a Red Lantern and Apollo and ends with an all out brawl between the entirety of Stormwatch and the Red Lantern leader, Atrocitus. There are some great moments here, such as Midnighter nearly receiving a Red Lantern ring and some cool fight sequences, that are sure to provide some thrills for action seekers.

However, besides this, the entire crossover feels completely hollow. Both Stormwatch and the Red Lanterns leave the encounter with nothing of value and neither plotline is advanced at all. Stormwatch gains some information about Lantern rings but that’s about it. There is a hint that a future encounter between these teams will happen again, yet this is never delivered. All in all, this portion of the book is alright but will be instantly forgettable after reading.

The next chapter of the book sees the rise of a secret group of Neanderthals, called the Hidden People, who want to devolve Homo sapiens in order to become the dominate species. The story is about as ridiculous as the premise sounds so readers can expect it to be pretty uninteresting. It also is a one-and-done type story that comes out of nowhere and sets up nothing.

The final chapter mirrors this format and dedicates itself almost entirely to saying goodbye to Martian Manhunter, who leaves the series at this point. This goodbye is a little too long and drawn out for my taste, especially since he doesn’t seem to have a strong connection with anyone other than Jenny Quantum. However, the issue does manage to set things up for a future confrontation involving Harry Tanner, who has been absent since Vol. 1, so that provides some hope for the next storyline.

(spoilers end here)

Art

Ignacio Calero provides the majority of the artwork in this book. Similar to the story, the artwork here falls short of good but manages to avoid being bad. The main problem lies in consistency. Calero draws people and faces that vary from page to page in a way that can become annoying while reading. Miguel Sepulveda also provides some art to the book, which ends up being some of the better looking pages. They still don’t look fantastic but they are at least consistent and more closely mirror the tone of the book.

Continuity

Stormwatch Vol. 2: Enemies of Earth starts right where Stormwatch Vol. 1: The Dark Side (Review) left off.

The story here is continued in Stormwatch Vol. 3: Betrayal.

This volume also references and continues the stories from other comic books, detailed below:

• The Engineer brings up the fact that Midnighter recently went on a mission for Stormwatch. This happened at the end of Grifter Vol. 1: Most Wanted (Review).
• While in Gotham, Jack Hawksmoor mentions the city talking about owls. This is due to the events of Batman Vol. 1: The Court of Owls (Review) and Batman Vol. 2: The City of Owls (Review).
• There is a crossover with the Red Lanterns series in the middle of this collection. To understand this crossover, fans can read Red Lanterns Vol. 1: Blood and Rage and Red Lanterns Vol. 2: The Death of the Red Lanterns.
  • Blood and Rage will give the history of the Red Lanterns and the origin of Atrocitus.
  • The Death of the Red Lanterns will explain the mystery of Abysmus and the current condition of the Red Lantern Corps.
• The Untitled are given a very minor reference in this volume. This is a group that starts appearing in Red Hood and the Outlaws Vol. 1: REDemption (Review).
• The Justice League International make a brief appearance near the end of this volume. Though they don’t really have much impact on this storyline, OMAC’s presence indicates that this is the version of the team seen in Justice League International Vol. 2: Breakdown.
• While not directly stated here, after this volume, Martian Manhunter goes on to join the Justice League of America in Justice League of America Vol. 1: World’s Most Dangerous.