WWE #1 [Exclusive Review]: Capes & Tights — without the Capes.

Good sweet lord, it is refreshing to have a WWE comic to read that is not WWE Heroes (a 2010 attempt by the WWE to breach into the comic scene. Have you not heard of it? I’m not surprised…) It must be said that WWE #1 is a refreshing change.

Mick Foley pulls out all the stops and really lets his inner-nerd shine through, turning the stars of World Wrestling Entertainment into a gritty crime-noir. WWE Heroes was not well received, possibly because it was written by a wrestling fan.

Well, WWE #1 is written by a wrestling god.

Selling comics beats selling BBQ sauce, I can tell you that.

The New York Times best-selling author and former 3-time WWE Champion shows comic scripting promise from the opening, with art by Alitha E. Martinez (Batgirl) that does a respectable job of embracing a gritty noir vibe while still retaining the proper imagery that you would expect in a comic about WWE Stars. John Cena, Triple H, and CM Punk all look spot on; unfortunately many others don’t look quite as good. Can’t win ‘em all.

The displacement for the story is simple; $10,000,000 up and disappears from the streets of ‘Titan City. The reader follows the story through the perspectives of arguably the fed’s most popular superstars, Cena, Punk, and Randy Orton. Most angles have good vibes; some more reminiscent than others. The storyline surrounding the former “Doctor of Thuganomics” (Cena) is a semi-traditional ‘ex-cop’ angle; while “The Viper” (Orton) assumes the position of a slime-ball politician with questionable morals and motives (which sounds more like his boy Hunter). Fittingly, the self-proclaimed “Best in the World” (Punk) sections evoke a lot of Rorschach-esque, me-against-evil feelings. As you can imagine, everyone is very interested in the whereabouts of this particular “Money in the Bank”.

After all, who but Ted Dibiase couldn’t use another cool 10 mil?

Oh, Mick Foley.

THE CH.. COMIC IS HERE!!!

There’s no doubt the WWE comic tries a bit hard to include too many characters too soon. Over the course of these 23 pages, you are introduced to a litany of personalities. Some are more familiar than others, and some leave you wondering “Was that really necessary?” — and we’re not talking Dwayne Gill. Expect to see nearly all of your favorite current-gen Superstars; some of which look and feel very authentic. Others, however, have this Archangel baffled (Hunico… Really? REALLY!?). Overall, it may have been too ambitious to try to include 25+ different WWE personalities in the first issue, even without any signs of Mankind or Cactus Jack.

Ghostrider… BE. Jealous.

Indeed, character roles prevalent in pro-wrestling transition very well into the comic scene. Some characters fit into their roles seamlessly. AJ Lee as the “black widow” character naturally does a phenomenal job planting the seeds for chaos, deception and betrayal. Mock Republican Zeb Coulter as a prison warden is basically a perfect fit. Paul Heyman as a vindictive supervillain – duh, of course that’s going to work. Unfortunately, this can’t be said for all the characters. Some roles – like Detective Dolph Ziggler – seem a little forced. Thankfully the fight scenes in the comic are generous and entertaining, ripe with familiar “Attitude Adjusting” signatures and finishing maneuvers.

The difficulties that Foley (writing alongside Shane Riches) faces in trying to construct an entire city worth of characters is nothing to shake a kendo stick at. One can only hope that, soon enough, some legends might make cameo appearances in future issues — especially if one catches it from Mister Socko. In the mean time, readers will have to be content with “Cena-isms” sneaking in here and there, in which to Foley’s credit, cliches are successfully avoided for the most part…

And that’s a pretty Dude Love cool thing to be able to say about a comic about pro wrestling.

In conclusion, Papercutz’ WWE #1 is a refreshingly good read (especially when compared side-by-side to WWE Heroes, where Edge went to Mexico with Undertaker and found Rey Mysterio being sacrificed to the Shadow God or wtfever). It is easy to have some qualms here and there (like… why do Orton and Cena keep fighting people inside of wrestling rings? Are there just wrestling rings all over Titan City? That’s weird, right?). The art is also good for the first several pages, but then falls off as you get further in; hopefully they can keep up their game with the following issues.

With much promise, this comic debut offers plenty of reason to have faith in “Mrs. Foley’s Baby Boy”. Bang! Bang!

3 (out of 5) Bibles. A nice purchase for any fan of wrestling AND comics.

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