Wanted (2018) Kindle & comiXology

WANTED is the sort of guilty pleasure reading that, if I were still a kid, instead of this disturbing graphic novel, I'd rather my mom found my stack of dirty magazines. I'd rather my friends found a coffee table book of mine full of figure skating imagery. WANTED is so polarizing. While it's hard to question the craftsmanship and execution and sheer ba11s that went into it, the provocative content may turn off waves of readers.It's a twisted love letter to the losers of the world, them what get sh-- on all the live-long day. Wesley Gibson is a meek, asthmatic cubicle drone, a neighborhood pansy, a whipped boyfriend whose girl regularly cheats on him with his best friend. All his life Wesley Gibson has been a worthless meatsack. But that's about to change.The death of his estranged father proves to be the pivotal moment. It introduces Wesley to the global criminal underworld of the Fraternity. It opens his eyes to a secret truth, that once upon a time costumed meta-humans had existed, but that, back in 1986, the supervillains banded together to finish off the superheroes. Villains have been running things ever since, on the sly. And, thanks to the Fraternity's access to super-computers and magical seven-dimensional imps, history was rewritten. You and I don't at all remember this reality except on a subconscious level, strained thru the mediums of comic books and old television shows.Wesley learns that his father was codenamed the Killer, the world's most dangerous assassin. His father had amassed a huge fortune, but in order to inherit it Wesley must take his father's place, must become the new Killer.WANTED reads like something you scrape off the bottom of your shoe, and I mean that as a compliment. That's the subversive vibe Mark Millar was going for. It's a harsh and uncensored examination of one man's extraordinary heel turn. Wesley's story appeals to the dark side in all of us. Wesley Gibson, under the auspices of the Fraternity, begins to live out his fantasies, some of which are pretty depraved. He finds an instant aptitude for villainy. He unearths latent abilities. He discovers he's an impeccable marksman. He never misses. Sucks for his victims. Where others may regard his evolution from wimp to supervillain as a downspiraling and cautionary thing, Wesley instead sees it as liberating, being unshackled from his inhibitions. The stuff he does won't endear him to you. He crosses the line too often and without remorse. But, damn, he's a fascinating character. I'm sure Millar and awesome artist J.G. Jones intended Wesley to look like a certain controversial white rapper from Detroit.The Fraternity's five families have carved up the planet into five demesnes. The story conflict surfaces when dissension divides the houses, when the leaders of two of the territories rebel against the status quo. Wesley ends up on the losing side of the uprising and rapidly finds himself on the villains' most wanted list. He's gonna need more guns.Millar writes with vividness and audacity and originality (I chuckled at the concept of Sh--head, a villain composed of the excrement from 666 of the most evil asshats in history). And yet you won't even have to squint hard to recognize the many allusions to classic comic book characters, some more obvious than others. WANTED is an explosive read. In the end, it's hard to have a rooting interest because it doesn't present one single likable or redeemable character. Strictly by default, I found myself cheering for Emine-- er, Wesley. Dude is the closest to a point-of-view character in this series. WANTED is recommended for the unsqueamish and for those not easily offended. If you like stories that poke fun at superhero tropes, there's something here for you, too. But reading this may stain your soul just a bit. It's okay. The anti-hero can shoot the wings off of flies. Isn't that worth the price of admission?This trade collects WANTED #1-6 and the supplement WANTED: DOSSIER (which features character profiles). As a bonus, there's also Mark Millar's intro, a cover gallery, character designs, deleted scenes, and the evolution of Millar's story from script to finished page (using pages #19-20 of issue #5).

The story line is fun and kept me interested. I kept being taken out of the story by So Many homophobic comments, names and sodomy/rape being mentioned. Graphic novels and comics are notoriously sexist and this is not an exception but the homophobic content that saturated this book was weird and distracting.

NO SPOILERS:Lets get some things out of the way: this is an adult comic. These are /bad men doing bad things/. He becomes what any normal person would call a sociopath, but this comic is really about the 'big picture'.NO BULLET CURVING! I knew this wouldn't be exactly like the movie, but.. I really thought that the bullet curving was something thought up by a comic book writer. That was the reason I bought this, along with the scene where they shoot each other's fired bullets. But nope, none of that.They are NOT ASSASSINS. They're slayers.NO LOOM OF FATE. I mean, really? Even that was thought up just for the movie?Fox is disgusting ghetto talking trash. Not the sly assassin from the movie.Wesley... kinda looks like Eminem. Just a note.I don't mean to sound shallow, but there were relatively few action scenes. It felt talky and slow paced more than a few times.Once you accept these things, it is a fun ride, and if you enjoyed the movie, you will enjoy the comic. I dont know that it was worth 13 dollars to me, but it was a good read.And lastly, as a product of a single mother, I really enjoyed this book's message. That's all I'm going to say. You'll have to read it to understand. :)

Now I get why fans of the "Wanted" comic find the movie less than satisfying, although on BluRay it's an irresistible ride and (no disrespect intended) with better music.Darker and more comic-oriented than the movie adaptation, the "official" story of our hero and his genetic heritage is deeper, stranger, more daring and even funnier. Often laugh-out-loud funny. And the only thing that will slow down your read is the gripping art, for which you will find extremely entertaining commentary in the feature-rich appendix.If you like Millar, grab this one. If you think "Kick-Ass" was not rough enough, grab this one. And if you REALLY, REALLY LIKE "Wanted" the movie, strap this on as soon as possible.

I don't mind a comic focused on villains, but the writing still seemed juvenile and a tad sociopathic. Yes, villains do bad things, but villains who are bad "just because" and engage in horrific behavior without cause aren't interesting. The only two villains of interest get snubbed in favor of a loud-mouthed sociopath of a "protagonist." One might say that the state of disarray and wanton violence in super villainy is a reflection of what happens once the villains have permanently won, but there's not really enough evidence in the writing to suggest that's what Millar was going for.

This is a clever and entertaining book. The climax leaves a little to be desired actionwise but it is strangely heartfelt and complete otherwise. A world without heroes...at least this makes it seem more entertaining than the one we live inm

Generally people who are uncomfortable with taking insults for their hobbies and fanboi-isms are generally going to dislike this book. There is an interesting universe constructed here, with a fairly interesting plot, and through the sex and violence there is deeper meaning here as well. But most people won't see it, they will focus on one aspect or another. I think to enjoy it, you have to appreciate all parts of it. Not unlike enjoying A Clockwork Orange (the novel or the film), there is definitely a message from writer, and it's meant to shake you from a sleepy modern life rather than lull you into a happy place.

An ingenious and darkly humorous deconstruction of the entire super hero genre. Definitely NOT for kids and infinitely better than the film. The tone is closer to Watchmen than the Avengers and is all the better for it.

Absolutely brilliant read. Gives a great twist on the 'superhero' genre. Not for the easily offended though! A solid read from Mark Millar with brilliant art work by JG Jones. My one complaint would be the front cover featuring the terrible knock off movie of this classic read.

Great story really dark fantastic graphic novel

Has a real nasty streak to it. Unlike the movie and not very enjoyable

In good condition as described.