Fresh of the four issue mini that was Money in the Bank, WWE Superstars has moved to the next mini entitled, Haze of Glory. Sure the first series had its ups and down but overall it was a fun and surprising read. Can the writing team of Mick Foley & Shane Riches do “fun” all over again? Inside an arena that is hosting Monday Night Raw we find a thrashed wrestling ring, a wrecked commentary table, a paint covered diva in AJ Lee, a half shaven Punjabi Playboy in The Great Khali and that’s just the beginning. From the back, an enraged Mr. McMahon stops to the ring with Stephanie and Trips (Triple H) in tow. Wearing a ravaged suit, he fires the first three Superstars that he sees, in Daniel Bryan, CM Punk and Ray Mysterio blaming them for all of the mess. Before things go too far, Stephanie talks her father out of firing three of their most over baby faces in the company. Then from out of nowhere the sounds of Hornswoggle hanging from a lighting rig interrupts the conversation.
Demanding answers, Stephanie grills the three Superstars for an explanation. Punk, Rey recount the beef that they had with other Superstars earlier in the day. CM Punk remembers the face to face with Heyman, Axel and Brock; while Rey informs everyone about his aggressive run in with Alberto and Sheamus. Then the best part of the entire book is reviled when Daniel gives his version of what happens—in short it involves a Gorilla among other things. Now facing a two hour time limit before Raw starts and a new distraction for “The Viper” Randy Orton, the boys need to remember and figure out what happened.
There were a few things in the book that basically stole the show. It was awesome to see an opening ala Rod Sterling introducing the book. It looked great with art done but Miran Kim and it was almost shocking to see that kind of art quality right off the bat. But alas it’s very short lived as artist Puste takes over for most of the artistic duties. While that’s not a bad thing, it was just a hard transition and contrast of styles.
The one part that was beyond awesome was when the team is trying to figure out what really happened, The American Dragon tells the group of an epic battle that presented with a Dungeon and Dragons slash Boris Vallejo action fantasy flare that was drawn by Fred Harper. That was tremendous and made me think that I really wanted to see this story more than the bumbling “who done it” that the guys were up against.
While the presentation seemed to be aimed more towards kids in a humorous “Scooby-Doo” fashion, it didn’t really hit the mark. It’s a complete 180 from the gritty almost crime cop noir delivery of the first mini. So readers looking to see how the angles play out from the first series might be a little disappointed. But fans looking to see the recently married AJ and CM Punk doing a program in the WWE again can at least read this book and see them not interact with each other whatsoever.
Score: 2/5
Writer: Mick Foley w/ Shane Riches Artist: Puste Publisher: Papercutz/Super Genius Price: $3.99 Release Date: 6/11/14 Format: Print/Digital