DC Comic’s long forgotten imprint WildStorm has sat disused and forgotten since it was closed in 2010. DC has announced that it is reopening the imprint, likely due to the massive presence of comics in modern culture and the success of the newly launched Young Animals imprint, being helmed by Gerard Way. Veteran comic writer Warren Ellis has been tapped to curate the new face of this old imprint.
An official announcement is scheduled for Oct. 8, 2016 during the “Meet the Publishers,” panel at New York Comic Con, but we do know a little information now. The imprint is set to debut in mid-February of 2017 with a regular monthly book titled The Wild Storm, written by Ellis with art by Jon Davis-Hunt. This is expected to reset the WildStory universe and provide new versions of some popular characters (Grifter, Voodoo, The Engineer, and more).
DC acquired the imprint from Jim Lee and Image comics back in 2000, when comics were not nearly as common place as they are today. In the remaining years before the imprint’s closure they put out an impressive collection of books, mostly dealing with superheroes and their exploits. WildStorm has hosted well renowned writers such Alan Moore, Sam Keith, and Ed Brubaker. Information on what writers will be joining in this revival is limited now, but we’re sure this will be covered during their official announcement.
Ellis, the prolific writer behind popular comic books like Transmetropolitan and The Authority, is certainly ambitious. He’s no stranger to experimentation, and habitually takes on multiple large projects at once, but he usually delivers in terms of quality and thought provoking storytelling. With a such a strong history behind him, I can only expect even bigger things from Ellis, and maybe a Global Frequency revival, since it looks like I still have to wait for Doktor Sleepless.
