“Life and Death in an Axial Age”: Grant Morrison’s wild script for ‘Wildcats’ #2
In 2006, DC Comics revived the iconic Wildcats super-team, pairing acclaimed writer Grant Morrison with fan-favorite artist (and Wildcats co-creator) Jim Lee. Although Morrison envisioned a twelve-issue Wildcats series that would re-define the characters, the series suffered delays and only one issue was published before cancellation.
However, in 2017, DC Comics shared Morrison’s script for an unpublished second issue in the book Wildstorm: A Celebration of 25 Years. This unused script offers a deeper look at Morrison’s vision for the series, featuring new villains, corporate warfare, alien conflict, political intrigue, and kinky titillation.
For some context, the first issue of Wildcats reintroduces established characters. The alien android Spartan, still CEO of the Halo Corporation, continues his mission of positive global change through the sale of innovative technological consumer products; Spartan also recruits shapeshifter Voodoo to a new covert Wildcats team. Skilled combatant Grifter appears to be a drunken former superhero living in a South American slum terrorized by monstrous bullies, while warriors Zealot and Majestic fight the menacing alien Daemonites on the planet Khera. Recurring villains Kaizen Gamorra and Helspont also make an appearance.
While the first issue depicts the current status of familiar heroes and villains, Morrison intended the second issue to showcase new antagonists and threats.
Morrison’s script for issue two — entitled “Life and Death in an Axial Age” — opens with a televised campaign speech from President Chrysler, “America’s Margaret Thatcher crossed with Hillary Clinton”; standing behind her is Jeremy Stone, the superhero and former Wildcat Maul.
Morrison raises readers’ suspicion of the president immediately with Spartan’s observation that Chrysler is lying; indeed, Morrison — who capitalizes his characters’ dialogue — writes: “MORE THAN LYING. EVERYTHING SHE SAYS OR DOES HAS BEEN SCRIPTED BY A TEAM OF EXPERTS.”
In a separate outline for the proposed twelve-issue series, also shared in Wildstorm: A Celebration of 25 Years, Morrison indicates that Chrysler is the “former superhero known as…,” but does not complete the sentence; he apparently intended Chrysler to have some background as a superhero. The series outline also indicates that she is a Daemonite spy.
Morrison likely envisioned Chrysler as a powerful adversary — a Daemonite ally and former superhero backed by the full might and resources of the United States. Likewise, although Stone’s relationship with Chrysler is not clarified in the script, the series outline indicates that Stone is Chrysler’s vice president, setting up a possible conflict between Maul and his former comrades, should they oppose Chrysler.
Morrison’s choice of the name “Chrysler” — an iconic American corporation — for an adversary suggests a thematic opposition to Spartan’s goal of changing the world through corporate benevolence. Morrison expands on this theme with the introduction of other corporate antagonists in issue two.
In Dubai, three business leaders scheme to stop Spartan’s commercial activities, viewing the financial success of the Halo Corporation as a hostile alien corporate takeover of the world. This trio is led by Verity Teal, the CEO of the global retailer Omnimart; Teal is described by Morrison as “Thatcher meets Hillary Clinton with a hot dash of British actress Amanda Donohoe.” The other plotters include Perkins Blott — a technology mogul that crosses “Branson with Bill Gates” — and media tycoon Cody Fremont, whom Morrison describes as a combination of “Rupert Murdoch and Donald Trump.”
Morrison, in one script, twice uses a Thatcher/Clinton hybrid to describe a powerful female adversary (first Chrysler, then Teal). Morrison has portrayed Thatcher in an unflattering fashion in his previous work, such as Zenith and Dare, and Morrison seems to use the former prime minister in issue two’s script as a recurring model for villainous women in positions of power.
Morrison also devotes significant attention to Teal’s sexual desires. At one point, she confesses to her comrades that she plans to turn the android Spartan into her “OWN PERSONAL SEX TOY.” She abuses her sexy assistant Wendy in the boardroom and in the bedroom. When Voodoo arrives in Dubai to infiltrate Omnimart, Teal (believing Voodoo’s cover as a mere superhuman prostitute) hires her and outlines her plans for the evening:
“LET ME TELL YOU WHAT I WANT, LITTLE SHAPESHIFTER. I’M GOING TO PUT MY BRAINLESS, DISORGANIZED LITTLE SECRETARY OVER MY KNEE AND SPANK HER… AND WHEN I REACH THE COUNT OF 10, I WANT YOU TO TRANSFORM INTO A GIANT BEETLE AND TAKE ME FROM BEHIND.”
For the subsequent panel, artist Lee is tasked to draw a closeup of “Teal’s cruel face, smiling.” And a few panels later: “Close on Wendy’s face, yelping in pain.”
On page 17, panel four, Morrison instructs Lee to draw a scene combining sexual ecstasy and horror:
“Close on a leering, ecstatic Teal. She looks Luciferic, lit from below as she raises her hand to strike. Eyes closed, head thrown back. Behind her, a massive blurred beetle shape.”
But even with her schemes, corporate power, and kinky desires, Teal is not the most horrific villain in the script. In an orbital prison, psychic supervillain Morton Zelig — also known as “Headfuck the Destroyer” — is about to have his personality altered by prison officials. Morrison describes Headfuck as an “unrepentant drooling rapist… a beardless Charles Manson with blazing eyes and the arrogant certainty of the insane.”
Headfuck vows to escape and enact revenge on his captors:
“I PROMISE YOU I WILL DESTROY EVERYTHING THAT’S GOOD AND HOLY IN THE WORLD AND WHEN I’M DONE MAKING YOU WATCH, I’LL HURT YOU SO BAD IT’LL NEVER GET PUT RIGHT.”
Even without Lee’s artistic rendering, Morrison’s words paint a chilling portrait of the new supervillain.
While Morrison introduces new villains, he also offers a variation of a classic. Zealot and Majestic join Grifter in South America, informing him that the Daemonites are trying to enhance themselves to survive a coming crisis that threatens the universe. They soon encounter a “super Daemonite” — a creature that, as Morrison describes it, “is to the traditional Daemonite what Superman is to an ordinary human.” The enhanced Daemonite is a formidable addition to the roster of adversaries that appear in issue two.
Morrison’s script for the second, unpublished issue of Wildcats presents more information about the new status quo seen in the first issue, and also provides chilling new villains that raise the danger level for the team. The script offers an interesting mix of action, titillation, intrigue, and horror, and it is disappointing that the comic was never published.
NOTE: The images above come from Wildcats (Volume 4) #1, the only issue of the series to be published, and are used here to provide some indication of the art style and characters that would have appeared in issue two. In addition to writer Grant Morrison and penciller Jim Lee, the credited creators for Wildcats #1 include inker Scott Williams, colorist Alex Sinclair, letters by Comicraft, assistant editor Kristy Quinn, and editor Scott Dunbier.
The images above are the property of their respective owner(s), and are presented here for not-for-profit, educational purposes only under the fair use doctrine of the copyright laws of the United States of America.
