Wanted
by J.G. Jones, Mark Millar
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Book Reviews of Wanted
Book Review: WANTED by some one else.
Summary: 1 Stars
Wanted is the harsh realization that if you are alive and you are productive then you are in fact an utter tool. Don't you know to take complete control of your life you have to be a killing, raping, pedophile? I suppose one can argue the nature of man is pure evil but giving this story any thought would just make you an even bigger tool.
Wesley is a loser, he realizes by inhabiting his father's legacy he won't be a loser anymore. That's pretty much it.
I think I missed out on enjoying this book. As a 12 year old (maybe younger) I could see myself reading this and thinking WOW COOL HE BLEW THAT GUYS HEAD OFF AND HE SO GROWN UP FOR USING THE F WORD ALL THE TIME!!! But, alas I am much much older and don't really find cursing and killing all that shocking in comic books. Usually in comic books people being killed is a huge issue but everyone being killed here is a faceless after thought. Like I'm suppose to feel anything when a storm trooper dies? It's just really really tame for today's times.
The fact that Wesley look's just like Eminem made me catch on pretty quick that if your over 12 year's old then this isn't for you. I've read in other reviews that this is comparable for Fight club. If that true Mark Millar should have called it Tyler Durden for Dummies.
This is me rolling my eyes at over hyped torture porn not with standing the tides of time. This is me laughing my butt off at people thinking the F word sets them free. This is me missing my child hood and days of pointless crap being entertaining. This is me happy about checking this from a library rather then paying for it. This is wonder how in the heck an Eisner winner like Brian K Vaughn would write a forward praising a 5 year old's torture family. This is me laughing at all the people that enjoyed this piece of garbage and laughing at you as I insult your pathetic book. Hey! I can relate to Eminem after all!!! oops, I mean Wesley.
Book Review: I loved it
Summary: 4 Stars
A lot of people who've reviewed this work seem to be sickened by the pointless violence and the depravity performed by the main character, all of the characters in fact. That is the point. These villians aren't noble, they're fascists, psychopaths, thrill-seekers, rapists, robbers and murderers without restraint. Some are more of a direct threat to humanity than others. It is an interesting view into the premise of villians actually winning and would happen.
I thought the characterization was great. I found Wesley's transformation from a weak, mudane nobody into a remorselss violent criminal without restraint to be entirely believable. When someone has been kicked around and hated for so long, and then given the training, the encouragement, tools and free license to unleash themselves-Guess what is going to happen. He or she isn't going to hold hands and be nice. Why should he? He doesn't have to.
I was really intrigued by the fate of that world's fallen heroes and how Millar modeled them on their counterparts from our world. It gives an overall theme of hopelessness that adds almost "What if?" real-world feel. Something he is also accomplishing with his current 1985 series from Marvel. I found the image of that world's Superman-analogue debilitated and Mr. Rictus' speech during the "dynamic double-act" to be especially chilling.
The only thing that I felt wasn't strong was the framing story of The Killers father and his role in the last issue. I didn't feel that containing a secret that big was believable. Also, Wesley might have been just a little too unstoppable in the end. I can forgive that though.
This is a very entertaining book and great read.
I encourage anybody to at least give it a shot. Especially if you like super-hero comic book fiction.
Book Review: A foul, mean-spirited, juvenile, masturbatory mess.
Summary: 1 Stars
I probably would have loved this book when I was 14. Now I'm all grown-up, I can see it for it is.
In a nutshell, it's a foul-mouthed, nasty, bleak, violent, racist, homophobic piece of gutter-filth. And I'm not some cuddly Christian screaming censorship, either.
The characters are barely sketched, never mind realised. They have literally no depth at all. The plot's single conceit is that the protagonist - an abject loser - must overcome his tendency to be taken advantage of by murdering, raping and stealing his way to the top of the villain tree. The dialogue reads like an extremely poor Tarantino rip-off, the sheer number of F-words seems to be comic-book shorthand for 'edgy'. And the book's final message is literally tacked onto the end.
Its ideas aspire no higher than characters called 'Sh*t-head' - a living amalgamation of the faecal matter from the world's 666 most evil people - and 'F*ckwit', a glyph of a character that manages to be both badly written and horribly offensive. He has Down's Syndrome. That's about as intelligent as it gets. How very inventive of you, Mr Millar.
I stuck with it in the hope of some pay-off. Perhaps it was all an 'ironic' joke? Perhaps it had a really great point to make? Perhaps all that over-laden 'darkness' and unfunny 'black comedy'? No, there is no point.
God knows what Millar was thinking as he wrote it, and God knows what Top Cow/Image were thinking when they published it. You're only going to like this if you think F-words are clever.
Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with darkness or offensive humour, I just happen to like it to be used with intelligence and wit. This mess of a book has neither. It's a faeces-smeared middle finger to taste and good storytelling. Appalling.
Book Review: Every other complaint aside...Wanted isn't entertaining.
Summary: 1 Stars
There is something eerily reminiscent in the style of Wanted to the writings of an adolescent school shooter. At one point in the story, the main character brags that while some of the other characters can ride sound waves or walk through walls, he's just good at killing people, and that's fine with him. Swell. From start to finish Wanted is an adolescent power trip for disturbed teenage boys. Anyone else is going to find the graphic novel either dull or silly (at times it is both).
Every page of Wanted is pervaded with a palpable feeling that the writer has seen Fight Club a whole bunch of times, and is determined to bring the super-cool underground sensibilities of that mass-market mega-blockbuster to the pages of comics. Fine. Be prepared for a lot of swears, and even more violence. That wouldn't be a deal-breaker if the story were in any way interesting, but it isn't.
The plot of Wanted revolves around a loser main character who suddenly finds out that the world is run by super-villains, and he is heir to the throne. Murder, rape, and general mayhem ensue. The idea that super-villains have won their war against heroes is a good one, and begs the question, what next? What do super villains do when they win? Apparently they set up a bureaucracy and then make a lot of money. OK. If that's all they wanted, why didn't they just get jobs in the field of finance? If this sounds boring, then guess what? It is! The author tries to liven things up with random murder and rapes, but the attempts feel increasingly forced.
Wanted is a poor, violent, vulgar graphic novel. But worst of all, it is boring. Go read Watchmen or the Sandman books instead.
Book Review: Artful, but not very deep
Summary: 2 Stars
I am not sure how I feel about this Graphic Novel. On the one hand, I did find that it engaged me and disturbed me. So its kind of like a controversial photograph or piece of art. If it makes you think, or illicts a response, it has done it job, even if you do not like the response it makes you have.
On the other hand the story line reminds me of the PO'd emo teenagers I know in high school. Its all about the bad guys winning, it is about the nastiest, most vile parts of human character holding sway in a world where the evil can act with little or no consquence because they have remade their universe to their whims. BTW some of this was done in the late 80's and early 90's in the comics to. Where the villians win. Personally I find this an immature writing style. Its easy to shock with profanity and nudity and leave the reader feeling down. Its much harder to help the reader escape reality and feel good, without being cheesy or campy. That is the challenge of super-hero story telling, show a world where good trumps evil. If I want to see a world where evil wins more often, I can just watch cnn or Fox news.
In any case the story is for the mature, as there is a great deal of profanity in keeping with the character of a world that has been remade by the vile. Sorry but just because its a 'comic book' does not mean it has be aimed at 8 year olds. Just for kicks I dare you to read this along with the Old Man Logan novel by marvel and see if you notice the paralles.