DC COMICS/WildStorm
WRITER: Keith Giffen
ARTISTS: Lee Garbett, Trevor Scott
COVER: Mike McKone, Lee Garbett

Characters from the DC universe begin appearing in the WildStorm universe, setting the stage for a confrontation between two very different types of super-beings.

Many things go unexplained in this issue. A Silver-Age version of the Justice League and a Wolfman-Perez version of the Teen Titans brazenly appear in the Wildstorm Earth but they act like they are brainwashed. In contrast, small groups from the Legion of Superheroes and Justice Society try to slip into the WildStorm world unnoticed and appear to be in full control of their facilities. So what is going on here?

The story is aimed at WildStorm readers. Little attempt is made to brief the new reader on who the Authority or Stormwatch are, or why they don't recognise such well-known figures as Superman. There is a little bit of hubris-- or perhaps short-sightedness at work here. The creative team seem to think that the WildStorm heroes are now so well-established that they don't even have to be introduced to the DC readers who might pick this up. This crossover should be an ideal opportunity to pick up new readers for the WildStorm titles and yet, this issue makes DC heroes look like new-comers while the Wildstorm characters are treated like the old guard.

Despite the violence on the cover, the story doesn't have much action. The Titans take on Majestic and a few of his allies but the rest of the DC heroes seem to be working on something more complex in this new universe. The mystery of what the DC heroes is up to is  intriguing but it also makes for a very slow-moving story, especially considering this is suppose to be the first part of a massive clash of universes. The art team also appears hard-pressed to capture such a wide cast and a wide variety of settings in the limited space of one issue.

Story and art in this issue are still serviceable. What is lacking is a sense of importance which would mark this mini-series as an actual event, much like JLA/Avengers. Right now, it looks like just another cross-over, albeit a rather star-studded one. Just to show how casually the editors are treating this miniseries, they actually stick in a back-up story that has little connection to the main adventure. This issue gets only two and a half stars out of five.