Wisdom [Paperback]

I'm not the world's biggest reader of comics by a long, long way, so it's only through some unusual circumstances that I won't go into except to say that being British and fascinated by Marvel's stable of characters and their usual bias toward American national characters was interested to see if this could buck the trend.
On first read through I was left slightly unfulfilled and disappointed. Toward the beginning of the collection here, particular the first two issues I struggled to actually follow what was going on and by the time I figured it out was left disappointed by how simple the initial solution seems to be.

Wisdom being issued under Marvel's MAX imprint there are gratuitous references to sex actually quite frequently that rarely ever seem very natural. Often the storyline seems to have been deliberately shifted to try and meet the requirements of the MAX classification which seems to me to be of detriment to the series, but then I suppose that may be overreaction on the part of someone who has become accustomed to the opposite effect on the main imprints.

Titular central character Pete Wisdom is just about the only cast member to appear regularly here and more than a handful of times outside of this mini-series but does so with extremely inconsistent art, appearing to have noticeably different hair colours and styles almost every issue as well as consistently seeming to be a different character to the usual chain smoker we're used to. Paul Cornell's Pete Wisdom seems to be relatively successful with the fairer sex and very unnaturally forced into the role of title hero, oh yeah and (from memory anyway) he only references the fact that he's a chain-smoker once. Perhaps most surprisingly Cornell's Wisdom appears to be a generous character who thinks of others before himself in ways that most other portrayals of the character would never dream of.

So, what of Marvel Britain in Cornell's series? All I'm going to say is, if you don't want to accept that in Marvel's world all supernatural occurences is Britain are 'magic', while the rest of the world gets vaguely plausible pseudo-scientific back-stories to everything and anything.

It's not bad overall though, once you've gotten comfortable with the idea of Britain being a scientific joke in the Marvel world and just having 'magic' then it's rather enjoyable, but it does best in its comedy aspect. The highlights are the references to popular culture, particularly in the Welsh issue that dictates its soundtrack and any scene that involves John (Lennon) the Skrull. Actually, by the end I was hoping for a solo series for John the Skrull, shame that didn't happen. How about a John the Skrull: First Class? Even with the series' comedy angle and references factored in though, I can't bring myself to review this mini series as anything other than neutral. It's definitely a series that improves a little on the second read through as the reader becomes more in tune with the mood and new characters and takes time to appreciates the art more. Also, the latter half is much better than the first half, probably partly because of the same reasons, but I wouldn't describe this series as 'essential' by any means.

Probably best suited to die-hard fans of Pete Wisdom and Paul Cornell only with the possible addition of the contingent of people who long to discover what Marvel Britain would be like if written by an actual Brit (but I can save those people some time by telling you everything is 'magic', inspired by literature or historical events/personalities and that there's apparently a total void of technology in Britain).

Wisdom is a freewheeling modern fantasy comic with an overtly British flavour. Although the debt to Grant Morrison's Invisibles is plain, Paul Cornell has produced an original take on the oddball-super-team-fights-multi-dimensional-foes trope. Its USP is the mashup of British elements: the secret service, folklore and literature, Ripper mythology and, oh gosh, even the embarrassment that is Captain Britain. This is all accomplished in a way that doesn't insult the reader's intelligence and which throws in multiple references and humourous asides that anyone versed in UK culture (highbrow and lowbrow) will appreciate and which combine to lift this comic well above the average fare. Given the fantastical basis, most of the characters also have some depth and interact and talk in a recognisable manner. Excellent artwork by Hairsine, Garcia and Neary adds real dynamism and detail to the tale, as well as graphically depicted violence.