Broken Frontier

Pete Wisdom is back and it’s a good thing since England is heading towards a war with the realms of Faerie! Can the irascible Wisdom and a group of misfits save the day?

I will admit that I was a complete newcomer to the character of Pete Wisdom but the solicits for this book caught my eye. A mixture of fantasy and black-ops sounded like an interesting take. Additionally, writer Paul Cornell may be somewhat of a newcomer to the field of comic books but he is well known for some fan-favorite episodes of the venerable British Sci-Fi series Dr. Who. So how does this title stack up to all the other offerings?

Right out of the gate readers learn that something is very wrong in Great Britain. Long a place where the border between the magical realms and the "real" world are thin, now it appears that the faeries are making not-so-nice incursions and people are dying. So… who you gonna call? MI-13 – a secret branch of the British Intelligence Service specially dedicated to deal with threats that go "bump" in the night. Hand picked to lead this particular mission is the mutant and former member of Excalibur and X-Force, Peter Wisdom. This time around he is mixed in with an odd team that includes a Skrull who prefers to stay in human form, a renegade faerie named Tink, a Captain America analogue called Captain Midlands, and a clairsentient who can get inside others’ minds. Call them crazy but they’re about to take the battle to the other side…

In this initial outing Cornell manages to craft an entertaining, fairly stand-alone story. In fact, considering that this is a six-issue mini-series, it is surprising how well this tale stand on its own merits. It is also somewhat surprising how well Cornell’s writing mirrors that of Warren Ellis – there is a lot of the same sly and occasionally blue humor which mixes with a fair amount of violence. There are a few pacing issues as some parts of the story seem rushed and areas for potential details or deeper explanations are skipped over. Despite these problems, the story honestly hooks the reader, leaving them interested in seeing more adventures with this rogue as well as learning how his misfit team has come about.

Pencils for this mini-series are handled by Trevor Hairsine and his style emphasizes the scruffy nature of the characters. The action sequences, as well, are handled with explosive style, except for a couple of panels which feel oddly immobile despite the fact that all the characters are supposed to be rushing forward. Hairsine also does a fantastic job on the backgrounds, using a highly realistic style to generate a sense of place and time – even when dealing with the Faerie realm.

Despite a few glitches, Cornell and Hairsine have a great grasp of these characters and a solid sense of direction. Wisdom is a wild and funny romp with satire, sarcasm, and just a tiny hint of parody lurking around the edges. If you’re looking for a comic with some hard-edged magic then look no further.