Point Blank

Written by Ed Brubaker
Art by Colin Wilson

I managed to miss the best of the Wildstorm era almost completely. I'd given up on the earlier Wildstorm books back when they were basic 90's Image stuff, and somehow never realized that Alan Moore was writing WildCATS until after they were published. Likewise, when Point Blank came out as part of the 'Eye of the Storm' line, I saw Grifter and skipped it (although I loved Stormwatch: Team Achilles). Likewise, I never picked up Sleeper until the second 'season' began.

So, I'm coming at Point Blank from a backwards position. I've now read Moore's WildCATS, and half of Sleeper (soon to be fixed), and so my knowledge of characters like Tao, Carver, and Lynch is much more informed than Grifter's is in this book. That's actually an interesting perspective to read this from, as it helps make clear how well Brubaker was laying the groundwork for his later work, even though he didn't know at the time that he'd have the opportunity to return to it.

This reads quite nicely as an espionage/black ops story with just a hint of superhero about it. You don't need to know that Grifter (sorry, I hate the name Cash Cole) is part of a team of half-alien something or others; the story is both self-contained and referential to the larger universe it's set in. I really like the pace of the story, and the resolution is fantastic - Brubaker was trying some new things with this book.

The art is good. Some of Wilson's characters look odd in places, but he manages to marry the Wildstorm look to a more serious comic quite nicely.

Having now read this, I look forward to re-reading Sleeper, which I remember being a fantastic book. Anyone currently enjoying Criminal or Incognito should grab that immediately.