Wolverine Wednesday #61

Wolverine #32

Writer: Benamin Percy | Artist: Juan Jose Ryp | Colourist: Frank D’Armata | Letters: Cory Petit

Are we going to have to start calling this series Beast Goes Full Evil? At this point I think Benjamin Percy is the only writer I would trust to have a comic called Wolverine completely dominated by Beast and his continuing journey to the dark side. It has been going on for three issues now and it works. Beast is the center of attention in this book right now and Percy is killing it! Not to completely scare fans off, Wolverine does make a fleeting appearance in this issue in true Wolverine fashion. Barging in on the Quiet Council and telling them exactly what is what and how he is going to put things right. Though out reading this issue I did keep asking myself how and if this ties into ‘Fall of X’ or is this story simply the ‘Fall of Beast’? To me it feels more of the latter. Maybe it’s because as a reader of Marvel for the last twenty years I expect to see a ‘Fall of X’ banner on every issue and it isn’t present like on ‘X of Swords’ and the recent ‘Judgement Day.’ To be honest I am not even sure if ‘Fall of X’ has even started yet, how deep in are we? X-Force solicits for this month boast a new team make up so maybe there is some trickle-down effect? Again not wanting to scare readers off this is totally enjoyable as it is, it doesn’t matter if it is connected to the wider X-verse. If I could recommend any writer right now doing good work at the ‘Big Two’ it’s Percy. In this issue Percy puts a lot of pieces on the board that you feel are going to be brought more to the fore as the story develops. I really liked the introductory sequence as it added to the darkness of Beast’s plan and further expanded on the larger X-verse in a very simple way. The visuals for the opening are straight out of some cult British horror movie the masses haven’t seen. If you have been reading Wolverine from the beginning of Percy’s run you will be very familiar with how he weaves his tapestry by now. Maverick makes a timely appearance in this issue and you don’t need a big introduction. By now with his semi-regular appearances in the series you know his motivations, you don’t need to be sold on him being in the issue by solicitations. When you see his little headshot on the credits page as part of the cast just sit back and enjoy. His appearance is going to be both important and kick ass! Now I want to talk about the cover as it’s not something I have done in much detail before. The cover is by Leinil Francis Yu as they have been for a few issues now, firstly it is such a contrast to the interior art by Ryp, but in a good way. This cover fills the brief of a good cover nearly perfectly. My only quibble is that the colours are a little dull. If you saw this on the shelves and only had a brief or no interest in Wolverine it would at least make you curious. Why are there so many Wolverine’s decked out in the old X-Force outfit? Why is there one Wolverine in the tan and brown? It even has a ‘Wolverine vs Weapons of X’ banner in an era where cover text is largely absent. Again a phrase like ‘Weapons of X’ is drawing you in. It has ties to the old stories and it really stands out because it is in the old Wolverine font, contrasting with the new font on the header. As for the interiors, there is plenty for Ryp to sink his teeth into. I saw some Tweets recently saying the idea of the giant Skull walking into the sea in the previous issue was stupid. I have to say I still love it and am glad it is still going strong and playing an even bigger role this time around. Essentially it is the Bond villain secret base on acid. There is a call to Lovecraft with some of the story beats and definitely with the art in some sequences. In a nutshell, the art is big, brash, bloody and eerie. Ryp seamlessly goes from one to the other as the story ramps up to a violent clash towards the end of the story. Honestly, I read this whole issue cover to cover with a great big smile on my face. It is fun and entertaining and you really don’t need much more than that.

It is now time to go back for a retro review…

Wolverine #35 (1990)

Writer: Larry Hama | Artist: Marc Silvestri | Inker: Dan Green | Colourist: Glynis Oliver | Letters: Pat Brosseau

This is the first part of a three-issue story arc ‘Blood & Claws’ with this issue titled ‘Blood, sand and claws.’ Cover dated January 1990. Another Wolverine story, another bar fight. Once you have seen one you have seen them all, but I have to confess to actually enjoying how differently this one comes to a conclusion. Right off the bat Hama is throwing lots of good ingredients into the mix. We have Puck, Lady Deathstrike and Silvestri drawing Reavers just for starters. I always forget till I reread this issue that Puck’s mutation actually turned him into a dwarf. So if you are unaware of this or forgetful like me when the story kicks into gear it catches me out every time! An early sequence in the story has policemen called Akira and Tetsuo, as well as there being a reference to Astro Boy. I am without a doubt certain that Otomo’s Akira had an influence on both Hama and Silvestri. So while the story does start in very familiar circumstances for Wolverine readers it suddenly becomes something else entirely and it completely works. Without spoiling too much there is a time travel element and after that the best way I can describe it is it has a Young Indiana Jones vibe to the whole thing. By that I mean we have our main protagonist interacting with real-world people in unreal circumstances, in this case it is Ernest Hemingway. How many X-Men fans or comics fans in general in 1990 knew who Hemingway was? Re-reading this I got the impression Silvestri really enjoyed drawing the Reavers and Lady Deathstrike stuff much more than the bar fights and the talking heads pages. Whenever Deathstrike is on the page it comes alive as he channels his best Barry Windsor Smith tech. To me it feels like the art team is being more expressive whenever they are doing the Reavers or Deathstrike. The pages that feature them appear to have bolder colour choices and pay more attention to both lighting and shadows. Throughout this issue there are lots of good examples of open panels. Seeing as the first ever Wolverine mini-series was made famous by Miller’s open panels it is a nice little nod to the past. What I really like about them is their placing within the page and how they are used to enhance action and scene setting. So far the random number generator has been very kind in delivering good issues. It was a joy to revisit this unique story from Wolverine’s past. Reading it made me want to read the whole arc but I want to keep a fresh, unbiased view in case they pop up on the generator anytime soon.

Where’s Wolvie?

I introduced this feature two months ago and then forgot to do it last month! Typical!

• Captain Marvel #49 Cover Appearance Wolverine (Laura) – Cover Artist: Juan Frigeri Writer: Kelly Thompson Artist: Sergi Davila
• Storm #1 Cover Appearance Wolverine (Logan) – Cover Artist: Alan Davis Writer: Ann Nocenti Aritst: Sid Kotian
• Wolverine #33 – Writers: Benjamin Percy & Gene Luan Ying Artists: Juan Jose Ryp & Peter Nguyen
• X-23 Deadly Regenesis #3 – Writer: Erica Schultz Artist: Edgar Salazar
• X-Force #40 – Writer: Benjamin Percy Artist: Robert Gill