Wildcat #1

22 Oct 1988 - 04 Nov 1988; Cover price 40p.
32 pages. Colour & B&W.
Fleetway Publications.

Edited by Barrie Tomlinson.

Free poster.

Cover by Ian Kennedy.

Contents:

.2 The Battle to Survive... Introduction. a: Ian Kennedy.

.3 Turbo Jones UNTITLED w: UNKNOWN; a: Ian Kennedy.

.8 Joe Alien UNTITLED w: UNKNOWN; a: Massimo Belardinelli.

11 Kitten Magee UNTITLED w: UNKNOWN; a: Jose Ortiz.

16 Joe Alien UNTITLED (cont.)

18 Time-Warp Data Link feature page (uncredited).

20 Loner UNTITLED w: UNKNOWN; a: David Pugh.

25 Wildcat Update Next issue information.

26 Final Mission w: UNKNOWN; a: Horacio Lalia.

32 Kitten Magee pin-up. a: Jose Ortiz.

While it may be a delight to look at, there are minor storytelling elements which show that this is aimed at a younger audience than 2000 A.D., but even with the (extremely) soft SF angle it is a great introduction to a universe obviously thought about in some detail. The larger page size benefits the artwork, and Ian Kennedy surpasses himself with a cover which is filled with interesting detail.

Turbo Jones, expedition leader, searching for humanity's new home in the wake of Earth's destruction, finds himself (and his men) captured by an alien race upon landing on the strange planet they have discovered. Taken to an alien city, he is informed that the Supreme Monarch wishes to question him, but things go sideways when an alien riding a flying beast arrives. It's a fine, if rather pedestrian, script, which rushes through plot points in order to keep the pace moving.

Then to Shuttle Wildcat Two, with Joe Alien - last surviving member of his race, magna-intelligent, natural leader, and brain power so immense that he was fitted with an external brain pack at birth. The main problem with having an external brain pack is superbly demonstrated straight away, when he authorises a crew-member to briefly remove it, rendering him a gibbering idiot. It is obvious that this is going to be a recurring problem for the character, and demonstrates what the age-range of readers was expected to be.

Joe's group discovers hallucinogenic plants which quickly turn out to be man-eating ones. The rest of the crew don't seem too upset that Davis is missing (did he break wind in the shuttle? Hog the broadband?), while problems continue in the form of an approaching tree as camp is being readied for the night. The colour pages don't greatly increase the appeal, though the inclusion does allow for some inventive palette choices.

Meanwhile, Kitten Magee, taking Shuttle Wildcat Three, journeys to the planet's tropical jungles with her all-female crew. It is less that the genders are treated equally than it is Kitten not liking men. For a title which skewed younger, the suggestion here will probably have bypassed the audience. Casandra Cardeti makes the rookie mistake of wanting to be the first to step foot on the planet's surface, and is immediately grabbed by a giant tentacle. It turns out to be a giant slug-like creature, and is rapidly dispatched.

The violence on display, as with the dialogue ("I'm sure we'll find more weird things for you to play with"), is portrayed casually, with the focus on Kitten's competence in the face of seemingly overwhelming odds. With help like Casandra, Kitten had better be good... The questions raised by the setting are ignored (why would the slug hand over food?), and jewelry is shown to be functional items rather than mere decoration. All very paint-by-numbers, but done with enough panache to get away with it from young readers.

There's an odd final panel, hinting at forthcoming plot developments, where an obese alien on a floating platform calls Kitten - safely out of earshot - "My pretty one." It always bothered me that alien concepts of beauty would cross species-lines in such a way that he could view her as anything other than a hideous alien creature.

Loner, who, appropriately, works alone, arrives at his destination aboard Shuttle Wildcat Four. He is the most stereotypical character in the title, going so far as to name his firearm, an antique six-gun converted to fire assorted bullets a-la Dredd, "Babe." Fortunately, the strip is rendered in loving detail by David Pugh, who provides a solidity and realism to the world around the character. The main problem with a solitary character, cut off from communication by terrain, is shown clearly in the numerous thought balloons which pepper the pages.

A rockslide sees him travel beneath the surface, where he discovers that luminous rocks act as an artificial daylight, and encounters small Furby-like creatures which are capable of giving electric shocks. Which knock-off Furbies are also capable of. So blatant is the cute-factor that toy tie-ins were the only possible reason the little critters are prominently showcased.

Final Mission, the complete story, closes off the first issue. Commander Lancelot Knight, the Wildcat's pilot, discovers a strange craft nearby. It turns out to be Explorer III, one of the most famous spacecraft of all time, launched in 1999 with a crew formed of all the super powers, with a symbolic task for international peace to explode Earth's last nuclear weapon in space. A message from the ancient ship is received, and Knight (recklessly) suits up and goes exploring. He's confronted with the ghosts of the crew, and asked to help detonate the warhead so the crew can be at peace.

There's no real sense of a command structure in place, nor indication that all that remains of humanity are aboard the Wildcat, which makes taking matters seriously more difficult. It isn't so much that the writing is sloppy (the pacing of the stories is solid, and the dialogue often very amusing), but that the rush to set up external conflicts has muted some of the possible internal strife.

The title would have benefited from being more ship-bound at the beginning of the series, with exploration growing organically from the storytelling, and stronger ties between the individual characters. Without having a sense of the desperation for a new homeworld, the scenes on the planet appear to be the main crew mucking around planetside while everyone waits, twiddling their thumbs, aboard the ship in orbit.

Wildcat is frustratingly inconsistent, but wonderful to look at.