Prior to the launch of WildStorm's EYE OF THE STORM line, Joe Casey and artistic collaborator Sean Phillips turned historical lynch-pin WILDC.A.T.S - a super-hero team in the vainglorious nineties tradition - into a character study with the central premise, 'What happens after a hero conquers evil?'

The series showed the seemingly virtuous super-heroes breaking down into alcoholism and boredom, or in some cases looking towards loftier goals. It was a gritty, well-paced piece that produced some interesting, albeit sales-challenged work. Cancelled due to apathy from the long-term superhero readership, it was then relaunched as WILDCATS VERSION 3.0 as part of WildStorm's Eye Of The Storm mature readers line-up.

For the creative team, the move seemed like a no-brainer. "The 'Mature Readers' label frees me up creatively in so many ways that have nothing to do with what's generally associated with a comic book geared toward an adult audience," says writer Joe Casey.

"The evolution was perfect," adds artist Dustin Nguyen. "The history is solid and the characters are some of the best to work with. Plus, you know... Jim [Lee] made them."

"The relaunch was, first and foremost, an attempt to raise sales in a volatile marketplace," admits Casey. "What Sean and I were doing on volume two was getting great critical response, but the sales had evened out. It was up to me to find a new focus that would justify the relaunch creatively." The free-wheeling of it's previous incarnation would have to give way to a more goal-driven title, which Casey describes very simply as, "The Corporation as Superhero".

"I think most writers shy away from corporate culture simply because it's a daunting subject. It's huge in scope and you really have to do your research if you're going to adequately portray it," explains Casey. Turning the book into a dry treatise on the economy would have scared off more readers than the previous volume, so WildStorm brought in it's secret weapon, Dustin Nguyen, "[He's] consistently doing jaw-dropping work, month-in, month-out."

Says Nguyen, "I think with WILDCATS, I've had a little more time to get used to the characters, develop them, and eventually, it changed my entire storytelling, pacing, the way I execute the look and feel of the book." Previously best known for his JET miniseries and his fill-in arc on the notoriously late final story of the first volume of THE AUTHORITY, he had shown potential, but nothing on the scale of his work for WILDCATS.

"I did something I do with every artist I'm going to work with, I sat down and studied what he'd done up until that point," says Casey. "I looked at every piece of his art I could get my hands on, from unpublished pages to character sketches. There was so much potential just in the work he'd done so far."

One of the standout artistic achievements of the title is the covers produced by Nguyen and designer Rian Hughes. "Those two really knock themselves out on these covers, and it definitely shows in the final product," says Casey.

"It basically starts out as a few thoughts thrown in from Joe, Rian, Ben [Abernathy, editor] and myself," says Nguyen. "Then we vote and narrow and narrow some more, then the final vote kicks in. I scribble some stuff, then Rian scribbles some more, then Joe, then Ben... Then it gets printed. Easy as that!"

Casey claims he doesn't feel beholden to the traditionalist action-driven view of the title, "I feel like we include action in the book when it's either necessary or appropriate to the story we're telling. Personally, that's my only criteria." Long-term Casey-collaborator Sean Philips is renowned as a Vertigo artist easily able to handle emotive characters, but how would Nguyen cope with the challenge? "In my opinion, I think Dustin handles the character bits with far more skill than the action set pieces," says Casey, "The way he makes these characters come alive on the page is what allows me to more fully explore the relationships between them."

With a great artist, a central position in a newly launched line, and, the freedom of the mature readers label, Casey was given the potential to take a new look at the classic archetypes. "When a young kid reads a comic book, a good, ol' fashioned slugfest can work as a metaphor for the struggle between good and evil... If it's done well. With adult readers, you can - hopefully - be more subtle."

Nguyen agrees, "Half the main cast are ordinary people put in extraordinary situations. ...It's probably one of the few books that's putting the 'mature' part of 'Mature Readers' in tastefully. We don't yell at you for no reason."

"With a Mature Readers label, I can really aim high when it comes to characterisation and how these people talk to and relate to each other." Casey says, "I can really dig out my inner Chaykin and write real conversations. I feel like I have the freedom to try things, push the envelope, et cetera." However, this new line doesn't offer complete freedom, as anybody working within a large corporate entity will know. Ben Abernathy, editor of the title, has offered them as much support as possible in dealing with delicate issues.

"There's been one or two bumps in the road, just in trying to accurately depict [that] the world they live in - in DC Comics-land, where the almighty Potential Lawsuit rules all - that world can't be our world." Casey brings up an example, "Hence, Larry King isn't Larry King in issue #6... Even though it's obviously Larry King. I swear, that kind of shit drives me nuts."

Despite lower than expected sales, DC has continued to support WILDCATS and its sister titles in the Eye Of The Storm line, SLEEPER and STORMWATCH: TEAM ACHILLES. BRAND BUILDING, the collection of the first six issues of WILDCATS VERSION 3.0 marks the title's best chance to pick up new readers. The bookstore market is one that both Nguyen and Casey are eager to support.

"I think it reaches out to way more readers, people that like to read, but not collect," explains Nguyen. "To make comics available in bigger book stores such as Barnes & Nobles and Borders only expands readership."

Casey echoes the sentiment, "What I like about the American bookstore market is that it operates without many of the prejudices that exist in the Direct Market. It just seems like a more level playing field where good work can rise to the top on its own merits."

If BRAND BUILDING is a success, it'll be third time lucky for WILDCATS.

John Fellows works in the television industry providing assistive services to the deaf community.

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