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June 14, 2005
WANTED: Grand Theft Auto in Alternate DC Universe
WANTED
The story centers on Wesley Gibson, a sad sack of a man in a dead-end job with a best friend who constantly shags his girl every time he turns his back. Just like the Matrix, however, Wesley finds that he’s been living in a false reality. This was a world in which there used to be super-heroes, but that all ended in 1986 when a “Crisis” like event wiped them all away. Long time DC readers will remember the issue of Crisis on Infinite Earths when the super-villains teamed up to strike at the heroes in the middle of the war with the Monitor. In the world of WANTED, you can think of it like the villains won and the Monitor just went away. A crippled Superman-like hero is in an old folks home and he’s not in play at all for this story (let’s see what happens if there is a sequel). They’ve duped the entire world into forgetting the truth, and Wesley finds that he’s the son of a super-villain called the Killer (think Deadshot from Batman and Suicide Squad). This super-villain mafia (made men and women who can plunder, kill and rape to their hearts content) induct Wesley into their ranks and he gets personal attention from the sexy Fox (think Catwoman). Wesley pals around with other thinly disguised villains such as Professor Solomon Seltzer (Lex Luthor), Doll-Master (Toyman), Imp (Mr. Mxy), Sucker (Parasite), Fuckwit (Bizzaro), Shithead (Clayface) and Deadly Nightshade (Poison Ivy). But in every story, there must be a conflict. In a world without heroes, the conflict comes from the villains fighting each other. There is a “Council of Five” of criminal leaders who divided up the continents among themselves. One of them, Mr. Rictus (the Joker), isn’t too happy with getting Australia to run and wants more, more, more.
WANTED has a terrific premise and it really takes off like a rocket—despite a stumble on the launch pad when Millar mentions Wesley’s “African American boss”. It’s when it comes back to Earth that I have a few problems. When Wesley becomes the new Killer, he seems to become the most unstoppable force in the world; he fires guns that never run out of ammo and he never misses. I never felt that there was any moment he was really in danger. Deadshot, by contrast, is a far more interesting character, because he does fail at certain times (John Ostrander posited that it’s for an emotional reason). Likewise, Wesley’s father (the original Killer) is a much more complicated figure, and he makes Wesley seem like Melba toast. The ending of the story causes the most problems; there’s a sum of ten million dollars involved, and it doesn’t quite seem like enough money for a man who will run an entire continent. There’s a final resolution to Wesley’s relationship with a loved one that doesn’t seem right. And the last two pages are an insult to the reader, which again is a nod to Trainspotting, which made fun of sleepy, materialistic suburbanites. I don’t know if I find the page upsetting or if I just think Millar made a blatant theft from his favorite film.
Despite this, I can give WANTED a nod to certain readers. If you always enjoyed DC’s villains and wanted to see a mature “Elseworlds” take on them, then you’ll love this as well. Or, if you always thought the standard super-villains in most comics were just too dumb to ever go for the jugular vein, and don’t mind graphic language, sex, and violence, you might go for this as well. For me, I’m in the former camp, I’m just glad I waited for the trade. But this definitely isn’t as good as Millar’s other work: The Ultimates Vol. 2: Homeland Security
