WWE Superstars #2
Written by: Mick Foley (with Shane Riches)
Art by: Alitha E. Martinez
Colored by: Jay Jay Jackson
Lettered by: Tom Orzechowski
Published by: Papercutz
Cover Price: $2.99 (for digital version)
Warning! This review contains quite a few spoilers!
Before I start, I have to say that I am still reeling over the news that CM Punk left the WWE. Many times this review almost turned me ranting about that, but the terrific guys over in the wrestling section have been doing a great job with that story, so I wouldn’t be adding much to the conversation. So I will just stick to the comic.
Summary (contains spoilers): In the first issue of WWE Superstars, former police officer John Cena had just been released from prison after being sentenced because $10 million went missing under his watch.
Meanwhile, the crooked Randy Orton is working on becoming district attorney, and anarchist CM Punk is building up an army to “Take Back the City.” All three of these men have ties to AJ Lee, and everyone believes she knows where the $10 million is hidden.
At the end of the first issue, AJ was kidnapped by the Bella Twins, and John Cena gets tossed off a balcony by Mark Henry…because that’s “WHAT HE DOES!” Cena manages to land without taking a scratch thanks to a conveniently-placed palm tree. The police arrive on the scene to take down Henry and tell Cena that AJ had been kidnapped.
Randy Orton finds his car graffitied by Daniel Bryan, and the two of them have a brief fight. Orton reminds Bryan that he is the law in this town, but before he can be arrested, Bryan has vanished.
Punk continues to build up his army, adding Kane and the Big Show. He is harassed by the Shield, until Orton arrives to take them out. Orton believes the Shield knows where AJ is. Cena arrives on the scene, but Punk says he can’t trust any of them. He goes off to find Rey Mysterio, a masked private detective.
The heads of all the factions are brought together for a big meeting at the Fandango club. We get introduced to a lot of characters here, but it’s not clear how a lot of them fit the story. Vince McMahon says that everyone must find AJ as it “right for business.”
Later, Orton and Cena are both ambushed separately by followers of Bray Wyatt, and the issue ends with the two of them stranded together out in the desert.
I know that description probably sounded real odd, but if you read the book, it all makes sense…well…mostly.
Review: My favorite scene in this book was Bray Wyatt’s speech after knocking John Cena out:
I had a huge fan of Bray Wyatt, and it’s always nice to see Cena do the job…as rare as that might be,
I have to admit, I am two issues into this book, and I still have no idea how I feel about WWE Superstars. It is weird and quirky, which I love. I do think that Mick Foley is trying to introduce a little too much at once, and it ends up diluting the story some. I still have no idea what purpose Goldust served in the “big meeting,” though it was cool to see him there. I think this comic would be much better if they focused on a few characters at a time.
For example, I loved the page that introduced Rey Mysterio:
But too many characters just show up with just a quick line or two of narration that makes it hard to figure out exactly what role they are playing in the story.
Another thing that isn’t really clear is exactly how “wrestling” fits into this world. Randy Orton gives a campaign speech in the middle of a wrestling ring in the first issue and Cena’s “bio” in the story mentions him as a former WWE champ. Is this like Cop Rock…they are cops who happen to wrestle on the side?
I do think Foley creates a real cool world here. The different factions and how they work together and against each other gives some real depth to something that could have been real simplistic: bunch of big loud guys searching for $10 million in stolen loot. I am reminded by IDW’s KISS series, it is clear that the creators are fans and love slipping in little in jokes. They are also taking the material serious but still having a lot of fun with it, which is a tricky balance to pull off.
I also love that the series is cheaper digitally than in print. The first issue was 2 bucks digitally, even though the book has a $4 cover price. This issue was $3 digitally. I don’t think anyone else is doing that, EVEN THOUGH THEY SHOULD!
I keep wanting to say that I don’t like the art on this book, but I am not sure that it all that fair. Often it becomes confusing who is in each scene, and at times characters seem to appear from nowhere.
There is also a sequence towards the end of the issue where I have no idea who I am looking at. The character looks like John Cena…but John Cena had already been knocked on in a different location on the page before. And there would be no reason for Kane and Big Show to be attacking Cena in this scene.
But I am not sure it’s fair to criticize Alitha Martinez on these problems. To be honest, most guys in the WWE do look kind of generic these days. And the writers seem to be trying to squeeze too much in too few pages, which causes some weird sequences with characters appearing out of nowhere.
I know it sounds like I am overthinking what should just be a simple licensed comic, but that is the problem. WWE Superstars is right on the borderline of being really good, so the little details that make me dislike the book are particularly frustrating. If this was a bad comic, it would be easy for me to ignore. If this was a great comic, it’s easy for me to buy every month. But a comic in the middle like this just bothers me. I hate being indecisive.
I have liked these two issues quite a bit, and it seems like there is a lot of room for WWE Superstars to grow. The letter page hinted at an “Old School” storyline starting in issue 9 featuring WWE Legends, which I am definitely looking forward to. I would not list this as one of my favorite comics every month, but I also will admit freely that I like this book and have no interest in dropping it.
Final Score: 7.5: Good enough for me to keep buying this series, but could definitely be better with some tweaks.
