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Wise Son: The White Wolf
From the pages of Blood Syndicate, Wise Son is profiled in this 4-issue miniseries that reveals the private struggles and true nature of Dakota's toughest super-powered gangster. It's Wise Son's 20th birthday, and while he's celebrating, a skinhead and a Muslim minister are brutally murdered as the threat of a race war looms over Paris Island. Ho Che Anderson writes and pencils this thought-provoking and ahead of its time miniseries.
128 pages, Single Issues
First published January 1, 1997
About the author
Ho Che Anderson
72 books14 followersHo Che Anderson was born London, UK, but moved to Canada with his family when he was five years old. He was named after the Vietnamese and Cuban revolutionaries Ho Chi Minh and Che Guevara. He has become one of the most prominent artists of black American comix, and is affiliated with Fantagraphics Books. Ho Che Anderson authored the impressive comix biography 'King on Martin Luther King', and the erotic 'I Want to be your Dog' in 1996. He co-produced the grungy subculture series 'Pop Life' (1998) in collaboration with fellow artist Wilfred Santiago.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 31, 2022
"I just can’t take him seriously. He’s so lost, he’s like a little boy trying so hard to be tough—trying on so many new ideas, and none of them fit properly.”
It’s Wise Son's 20th birthday but all that comes to his mind is death, and with Tech-9's death specifically on his mind, he worries about when his own time will be up and decides he needs to take some time away from the Blood Syndicate to work on himself. During all this, tensions are rising on Paris Island, as a gang member from the local white supremacist group, the Children of the Ivory Fist, begins to instigate trouble in a Black neighborhood on Paris Island. He ends up dead, leading to a brutal retaliation attack on a black Imam.
As racial tensions begin to rise, and the attacks and animosity continue to grow, Wise Son has to deal with the chaotic events of his own life and discover just what kind of man he wants to be. Will Wise Son emerge from the gauntlet of his fears a stronger, changed man, or will he stay the same misogynistic, selfish, and angry child forever? And even if he can change in time, will his actions help stop the Children of the Ivory Fist from destroying his home, Paris Island, in a wave of gruesome racially motivated murders? Or will he just add fuel to the flames?
Ho Che Anderson writes, pencils, and inks this 4-issue Mature Readers Only miniseries from Milestone comics, with what ends up being easily one of the best miniseries I have ever read. Following a truly complex character, while also covering serious topics with nuance, Ho Che Anderson knocks it out of the damn park with this outstanding miniseries. You can tell every panel and page has a specific purpose, and nothing in this story is in here for the hell of it. It's also nice to see Anderson nail all of the Blood Syndicate's characterizations since I'm a huge fan of that original series, and it's very easy to fuck up writing them properly.
If you can get your hands on this, I’d recommend it to any and everyone, especially fans interested in Blood Syndicate. The only thing that may hold some back from enjoying it is the horrific violence and constant use of racially charged slurs. There are a lot of them, with the N-word (hard r and everything) being used constantly throughout these issues. The book is also disturbingly gory, with most of that gore coming from the brutal racially motivated murders that are shown on panels in full detail. There is an amazing character study with some solid discussion on the serious topic of race relations, but it can only truly be enjoyed if you can stomach everything I just mentioned. And it can be hard at times to do so just because of how real this book feels, but that shouldn't be a surprise since it's a Milestone title. Just be aware of that going in. This series, along with everything that came out of the original Milestone, is mad ahead of its time and makes me sad that Anderson’s recent Devil’s Reign Luke Cage story got canned. Hopefully, Milestone 2.0 doing well will get this book reprinted ASAP.
It’s Wise Son's 20th birthday but all that comes to his mind is death, and with Tech-9's death specifically on his mind, he worries about when his own time will be up and decides he needs to take some time away from the Blood Syndicate to work on himself. During all this, tensions are rising on Paris Island, as a gang member from the local white supremacist group, the Children of the Ivory Fist, begins to instigate trouble in a Black neighborhood on Paris Island. He ends up dead, leading to a brutal retaliation attack on a black Imam.
As racial tensions begin to rise, and the attacks and animosity continue to grow, Wise Son has to deal with the chaotic events of his own life and discover just what kind of man he wants to be. Will Wise Son emerge from the gauntlet of his fears a stronger, changed man, or will he stay the same misogynistic, selfish, and angry child forever? And even if he can change in time, will his actions help stop the Children of the Ivory Fist from destroying his home, Paris Island, in a wave of gruesome racially motivated murders? Or will he just add fuel to the flames?
Ho Che Anderson writes, pencils, and inks this 4-issue Mature Readers Only miniseries from Milestone comics, with what ends up being easily one of the best miniseries I have ever read. Following a truly complex character, while also covering serious topics with nuance, Ho Che Anderson knocks it out of the damn park with this outstanding miniseries. You can tell every panel and page has a specific purpose, and nothing in this story is in here for the hell of it. It's also nice to see Anderson nail all of the Blood Syndicate's characterizations since I'm a huge fan of that original series, and it's very easy to fuck up writing them properly.
If you can get your hands on this, I’d recommend it to any and everyone, especially fans interested in Blood Syndicate. The only thing that may hold some back from enjoying it is the horrific violence and constant use of racially charged slurs. There are a lot of them, with the N-word (hard r and everything) being used constantly throughout these issues. The book is also disturbingly gory, with most of that gore coming from the brutal racially motivated murders that are shown on panels in full detail. There is an amazing character study with some solid discussion on the serious topic of race relations, but it can only truly be enjoyed if you can stomach everything I just mentioned. And it can be hard at times to do so just because of how real this book feels, but that shouldn't be a surprise since it's a Milestone title. Just be aware of that going in. This series, along with everything that came out of the original Milestone, is mad ahead of its time and makes me sad that Anderson’s recent Devil’s Reign Luke Cage story got canned. Hopefully, Milestone 2.0 doing well will get this book reprinted ASAP.
November 17, 2023
Wise Son is a member of the superhero gang / team Blood Syndicate, and the publishers handed then reins of his miniseries to independent comics creator Anderson, a surprising but effective choice. This is certainly far afield (both in subject matter and presentation) from a standard superhero comic, but it's an effective narrative as the main character passes through his personal trauma in order to investigate a corps of white supremacists who are murdering Black Muslim preachers in his neighborhood.
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