Mark Millar's "Wanted"

For Valentine's Day, Jenny got me the Wanted trade paperback by Mark Millar with art by JG Jones. (Yes I realize that I have a cool wife). But I've been wanting to read it because the movie is being adapted for silver screen this summer. I saw the trailer and it looked pretty cool. I heard it was based on a graphic novel so I thought I should check it out.


It was a pretty engaging read. It was definitely a lot darker...more adult-orientated than the comics that I normally read. But it was a good read.


The story stars Wesley Gibson...a twenty-something year old in a dead end office job...in a relationship where his girlfriend cheats on him with his best friend...and he also happens to be a hypochondriac. He's pretty much a nowhere man.


But come to find out...his father (who he has never known) turns out to be the world's deadliest assassin. And when he is murdered, Wesley is drafted to take his spot. Who is Wesley drafted by...that would be the fraternity of Super Villains that secretly run the world.


In this self-contained comic book universe (not DC or Marvel) the Super Villains (who teamed up and put their resources together) have not only eliminated all of the Super Heroes but have also completely erased any memory of them as well. The fraternity of Super Villains secretly pull the strings of modern society. When Wesley's father is killed the fraternity drafts him to take his spot. Basically the mini-series plays out Wesley's initiation into this underground world.


Like I was saying it was a pretty hardcore read. This isn't a comic book for kids...by any means. Although this particular universe is unique to itself it does in a lot of instances satirizes the DC comic book universe. Their are several allusions to Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. And the villains themselves are based on versions of many of Superman and Batman's enemies.


The story works on several levels...as a straight ahead action story...as a satire on DC's world...but also as a satire on the nature of modern comic books. The villain revolution takes place in 1986...and resulted in a grim and gritty world devoid of hope. That date in real life signified a shift in what comics were and have become. That was the year that The WatchmenThe Dark Knight Returns were released. As most people know those two comic books revolutionized the comic book and comic book collecting. One result of that were comic books that were more grim...more gritty...more adult. In essence Millar is cleverly stating a scenario for why that happened or could have happened. I thought that was pretty cool.


It's a clear that the movie...and I've read where Millar seems to be OK with this...is not going to be a literal adaptation of the comic book. From the trailer it is clear that a Super Villain conspiracy has been replaced by an assassin conspiracy. What intrigues me even more is how they are going to play with the Wesley character. He's not a likable character in the story. He's not a hero or even an anti-hero. If anything he's basically a nihilist. It is going to be interesting to see how they interpret the character.


It should be interesting.