REVIEW: WWE Then. Now. Forever. #1

Boom Studios has teamed up with WWE to bring two worlds together, Comic book fans and Wrestling Fans. If you have either read a comic book or watched a wrestling event such as Raw or Smackdown, you know that both provide twists and turns that you don’t expect. Some of them may be good, and some may be not so much. With this preview of a line up of various books, we get a glimpse of what Boom and WWE have in mind spotlighting some of the big names in the industry. From The Undertaker, to Seth Rollins;
Stone Cold Steve Austin to Sasha Banks, and A New Day to Triple H. We get a healthy dose of current lineup to the WWE Legends, which to be honest the WWE should really rely more on their current roster rather than the star power of the Legends. I think it diminishes the potential the current superstars have.

I will admit, being a wrestling fan I had my hesitations regarding this book when it was first announced, and to be honest those hesitations turned out to be right. That being said, the writing in the book is adequate for what it is, and the artwork is good and is able to capture the energy that comes from the squared circle and the story that’s told in the ring. But where my gut was right was in the hope that Boom would come up with a new story line that has not been seen in the ring before to make the book exciting. At least with the Seth Rollins story, that was not the case.

In fact, they took a story that happened two years ago. June 2, 2014 if you want to get particular. For a non-wrestling fan, this may be beneficial for them who may not follow WWE storylines it brings you up to speed with what’s going on. But on the other side of the ring, we all know what happened, why torture us and tell a story where we already know what happens? Either way it’ll be interesting to see if the creative team at Boom Studios will take control and swing the story in a different direction to bring some new flavor to this, or will the creative team at WWE wield their power to really control every aspect of the book. As a wrestling fan, I won’t be one bit surprised if the latter of the two options becomes the reality. Having watched wrestling as long as I have, it takes a lot to really shock me with a heel turn etc, and I suspect that the book will be do same in either taking a while to really shock me.

The other previews that we get include a story about Sasha Banks and a girl who has hopes and dreams to become a diva as Â well. The writing on this definitely had that feeling of propaganda mixed with artwork that looked like an over abundance of water-color paints that soaked through the paper. While I know that the company wants to reach out to the female crowd, and give young girls new role models to look up to, I feel this approach would have been more effective saving it for a separate issue all on its own rather than putting it in a preview issue that unless girls are hardcore wrestling fans and comic book fans, it’s going to be overlooked as it battles the likes of Batgirl, Wonder Woman, Spider-Gwen & Gwenpool just to name a few.

The same goes for A New Day. This faction in the WWE appeals to kids indeed with all of the shenanigans they cause in and out of the ring, but seriously guys?
This short story or whatever you want to call it looks like it was imagined by Dumbo when he was trashed and seeing pink elephants. I understand the appeal that they bring, but if you’re trying to get the attention of any wrestling fan to read the book, this is not the way to do it. In fact it was almost as painful to read as it is watching their promos at live events. So if the goal was to translate how ridiculous this group is from the ring to the pages of a comic book, then mission accomplished.

At the end of the day, if you’re new to the world of professional wres… uh I mean sports entertainment, then this will help you understand the way it is both in and out of the ring with how the characters are. But for the devout fans who have lived through the 90s, the attitude era and the monday night wars to the current PG era, this may or may not hold your attention long enough to get to further issues later on. Either way it’s gonna be a slobberknocker of a series whether that’s a good thing or bad.

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

Publisher:Â BOOM! Studios
Writers:Â Dennis Hopeless, Ross Thibodeaux, Rob Schamberger, Derek Fridolfs
Artists:Â Dan Mora, Rob Schamberger, Rob Guillory, Daniel Bayliss, Derek Fridolfs

Author Profile

The Random Dude Josh Einfalt

Growing up, I'm a stereotypical nerd. I love comics, superheroes, video games, you name it I love it. Except tofu, that stuff is just different. Fast forward a few years, Now I'm living my dream where being a "nerd" is cool, and I have the wonderful opportunity to do exactly what I want to do; Read comics, play video games, and show off my passion for geek culture for the world to see and not care what critics may think. Aside from reviewing games, comics, being a member of the Undercover Capes Podcast Network and Geekery Magazine, I love sports of all kinds, and especially following all of my teams from the great state of Colorado. Being random is what I love doing because it why not be random, it makes life interesting. Make sure to also follow me on Twitter for updates on live gaming streams on other shenanigans at @TheRandomeDud3.