Wolverine Wednesday #74

Wolverine #47

Writers: Benjamin Percy & Victor LaValle | Artist: Geoff Shaw | Colourist: Alex Sinclair | Letters: Cory Petit

As the cover promises Laura takes the lead role for the majority of the issue. And all I can say is it’s about damn time! I have been waiting for her to play a part since the first issue. With the way this story arc has been structured it is effective to have this little detour with Laura in the driving seat. Remember we left the last issue with a strong cliffhanger so to suddenly veer off in this direction shows the strength and the confidence of the writing duo. On the subject of our dynamic duo, after 7 issues I finally noticed that on the cover either Percy or LaValle’s name is first. Indicating who is the lead, in the case of #47 its LaValle. I still think it’s more fun to guess though! Again we don’t get a tonne of Wolverine and Sabretooth in this issue, but by now if you aren’t on board with the structure of things perhaps ‘Sabretooth War’ isn’t for you. I am really enjoying how they have kept Quentin Quire around as a clever plot device. It does show the more well-thought-out and cunning side of Sabretooth’s plan, outside of just maiming everyone. There are a few pages again devoted to the exploits of The Exiles. On a personal level, I would have happily swapped this time to more time spent with Laura. But as the Exiles pages are action heavy it does breeze by and they have proved themselves very effective as a team by making it to Wolverine and Sabretooth before anyone else! I have to admit I did dig Nekra’s no-mercy attitude. She really has no time for Sabretooth or Wolverine. Oh and Ship displayed some sassiness to her teammates which was a nice little moment of humour in this otherwise dark issue. So there is one more major plot point, which of course I will dance around and not spoil. Again though as well as showing the confidence in their storytelling, it also shows the density of the overall narrative that a big reveal like this can take place before the midway point of the issue. The ending we do get is much more low-key. Right from the off with Laura’s arc the level of blood and violence is dialled up again and it completely serves the story. After some quieter issues, it was good to have it back, with the writers and artists showing restraint and balance of its use. I like how the opening sequence ends with a blood-splattering slash and on the page turn, into the Sabretooth/Wolverine segment, it opens on a blood splattering slash. Right down to the detail that on each action the roles are reversed. Shaw displays excellent choreography in his fights scenes, in particular the Laura and Savage ones that bookend the issue. There is a half-page splash towards the start with Laura at her snarling best. There are some panels that evoke both Alien and Wolverine in the tunnels under the Hellfire Mansion. The highlight is the brutality of the final showdown between Laura and Savage which reaches its climax over a great two-page spread. It is two big images that are dissected by smaller panels that dictate the page and detail of the fight. Shaw shows good character work too, his facial expressions for both Laura and Nekra are very strong. Again I see some Chaykin in his unmasked Wolverine and he shows a nifty hand for character design when it comes to the issue’s big reveal. This was a solid issue in this already epic arc. As I have made clear I really enjoyed bringing Laura to the fore. Percy and Lavalle continue to balance action, violence and a compelling story. Nothing they write is going to waste, everything means something and will lead somewhere. With only three issues left where they will led is anyone’s guess.

Wolverine #48

Writers: Benjamin Percy & Victor LaValle | Artist: Cory Smith | Inker: Oren Junior | Colourist: Alex Sinclair | Letters: Cory Petit

This issue very much had the feel of the precursor to the final countdown, as Percy and LaValle move the chess pieces around. The issue sets off strong, making up for the low Wolverine/Sabretooth page count last time out by going two-fisted on its opening. The first page gives us monologues for both characters as images run parallel on the page. Then on the page turn we get two beautiful splash pages showcasing a brief history of each character. Story, art and colouring really work in tandem to show the reader the distinction between the two foes. The who history of the Wolverine and Sabretooth feud is summed up at the end of the five-page sequence with Wolverine saying he has something to fight for, whilst Sabretooth is alone. The big cliffhanger from #46 is finally explored in much more depth here. Wolverine is depowered and his internal monologue does give a great insight to how he is dealing with this turn of events. Wolverine has of course lost his powers before, but in those stories it has always felt like a gimmick. People will accuse me of bias as I feel Percy can do no wrong, but I genuinely feel this one page of monologue does more justice to Wolverine losing his powers than any of those other stories combined. I do concede that if this had perhaps been brought into the story earlier and been the main anchor of things it would have been a tougher sell. Percy and LaValle must have enjoyed the happy creative coincidence as Forge’s de-powering weapon has recently featured in X-Men ’97 so it is fresh in fan’s minds! Another turn of events that I enjoyed was the fact Wolverine is now working side by side with The Exiles. It showed a different side to all the team members as we haven’t seen them interact with anyone else in the arc and now here they are with the titular hero. Just picking up on a visual from this sequence, the story takes our team far North so it calls for them to wrap up warm. Everyone gets a thick winter coat, like in the 90s when all The Avengers had leather bomber jackets. The thing is you can still see elements of their costumes, so it’s cool but not very practical! Smith continues to show his prowess as a very strong Wolverine artist. His opening of Wolverine in the treatment room is so close to how Shaw left it in the previous issue. I am now confused as to who I originally said gives me Howard Chaykin vibes? I like how he is able to switch between a highly rendered Wolverine for the bulk of the story and then when called upon for a flashback for instance he makes it more animated and softer around the edges. One drawback is that his rendition of the new character isn’t as strong as Shaw’s. I will put that down to Shaw having the benefit of having drawn him first and suiting his style better. But that same character fighting the Stark Sentinels and eventually commandeering one in a lovely animated sequence is a high point of the issue. It feels weird to say this issue still feels like a building block when there are only two issues left. But that’s exactly what it is, by issues end the is some sense of all the threads pulling together. And there is an excellent final visual cliffhanger. Like the depowering it is something that could be seen as a gimmick so hopefully Percy and LaValle use it to good effect and it doesn’t dominate the final two issues. We aren’t in the end game yet, but we are very close!

Deadpool/Wolverine WWIII #1

Writer: Joe Kelly | Artist: Adam Kubert | Colourist: Frank Martin | Letters: Joe Sabino

The spirit of ’90s comics are alive and well in this comic! Not surprising really as Deadpool and Wolverine were two Marvel characters that could go toe-to-toe with the Image stars of the era. I always feel you can go into comics wanting to stay in your comfort zone of what you enjoy reading, or you can go into it expecting to get a certain amount out of it. Then there are the times like I had reading this comic where you come out the other side completely enjoying it despite it not being any of the previous two things. I love that this wears it’s 90’s heart on its sleeve! I mean come on it starts with 3 horizontal pages! As with all true 90’s comics art is the driving force and when Adam Kubert is your artist it certainly brings a high degree of star power. Kubert has of course as recently as last year done a Deadpool and Wolverine team-up in the main Wolverine ongoing. Here he takes everything he did there and turns it up to eleven. Having him depict Wolverine in the blue and yellow this time out really hit the nostalgia for my early days collecting back issues. Kubert kicks things off with an absolutely kick-ass cover! If this was the ’90s you would want it on your bedroom wall as a poster. And while we are meant to be talking comics here it does certainly whet the appetite for the tone we hope to see in this summer’s blockbuster. One big difference between this and his work on the Wolverine ongoing is that this is much more bloody, more akin to what is going on in the pages of ‘Sabretooth War.’ We see Kubert doing styles I’ve not seen from him before, just look at those 3 horizontal pages and you will be in full agreement. It is all very inspiring to see an almost reinvention on the page. There is a delightful cartoony moment of Wolverine riding a motorbike, and eating a doughnut. My favourite part was a sequence of Wolverine stalking across a rooftop. He starts with an establishing shot of the city, followed by a close-up of the roof in question. Then there are four silhouettes set against neon pink squares that show Wolverine in a variety of acrobatic poses before we see the end result of him knelt menacingly on said rooftop, eyes on the target. I don’t know if it was intentional on Kelly’s part, but this does read like a comic that came out at the peak of the 90s boom. By that I mean it is very up and down, it has tendency to jump around without any in-depth explanation. The issue starts out really well, with Kelly displaying a great grasp of Wolverine’s voice via the internal monologue. This is a strength I always look for whenever a new writer comes on board. In the opening he does actually present the seed of what would be a compelling solo Wolverine story. But that is not why we are here. Soon we are catapulted into a crazy adventure. I have noticed in Deadpool/Wolverine stories that it is always Deadpool and the plot devices of his world that infiltrate the more serious sensibilities of a Wolverine story, rather than vice versa. I did find it slightly odd Wolverine was taking the lead in the narrative despite Deadpool coming first in the title. That is obviously just for alphabetical purposes rather than giving any indication of the story direction. In fact Deadpool isn’t in this first issue a great deal. Again another strange creative choice considering the reason this series is coming out this year. A comic of this nature was always going to come out this year with the hype around the movie and I was always going to pick it up. While I was not entirely satisfied with the outcome of this issue it is only three issues and I feel there is just enough set-up to see some improvement next time out.

Weapon X-Men #2-#3

Writer: Christos Gage | Artist: Yildiray Cinar | Colourist: Nolan Woodard | Letters: Clayton Cowles

I wanted to review these two issues together and I hope the reason is clear, but mainly it’s so I’m not repeating myself too much. Right off the bat, I am going to say this is my sleeper hit of the year! I was full of praise for the first issue and now I want to take a step back and see if I was being biased or not! By reviewing these two instalments together, by the end of the series I want to answer more conclusively if this series is accessible to a wider audience and if and why they should give it a go. Before I get into the meat of the review there are two elements I want to pick up on that I didn’t mention last time out. First off, on the credits page of each issue we get an image of the central character in a retro pop art style, with muted colours made up of large dots. You know the look. It would have been really cool if the whole book had been done like this in my opinion. Secondly, at the end of every issue Gage does an extended version of the old-style editors notes. This is a really handy device for a story with lots of characters and realities to deal with. Every time I have found myself reading it and flipping back through the story to absorb all the detail. Earth X Wolverine is the focus of this interview and the opening few pages are used to flesh out his back story for new and old readers alike. I didn’t know this was the formula in the first issue so the intro to Weapon X Wolverine from AOA felt more like the overall introduction to the whole story. And this is only a four-issue series so one character is going to draw the short straw and not get the limelight. #3 hands the spotlight over to the new creation of the series Jane Howlett. I can’t believe I didn’t pick up early on who she was going to be. I love all the care and attention taken to fit her into the Origin story in place of James Howlett. The reason this story is moving at such an entertaining rate is because of the economy of storytelling. Every issue calls for a new reality to be established but Gage isn’t getting bogged down in massive world-building. It is a quick introduction to the players we need in place before some action and a quick resolution. Perhaps one negative readers will aim at the story is the story device of Onslaught having hid in plain sight in all three issues so far. Reviewers less generous than me will call it lazy storytelling, whilst it could be seen as necessary to maintain the pace needed. The alternate reality we go to in #2 hits at just the right time with X-Men ’97 being on everyone’s lips at the moment. The little continuity twists Gage makes give the reader hits of nostalgia as well as providing something new and interesting. He completely shifts things up with the reality we visit in #3 being a far cry from the X-Men/superhero-related stuff we have seen so far. We are three issues in and visited three realities, with one issue to go we are going to get a fourth to go along with the conclusion. The third issue ended with a great twist, which leads into the final issue. I have no idea where we are going but it is going to be frantic. Over on art we have two great covers both by Dike Ruan and Neeraj Menon, two names I’m not familiar with. #2 is the stronger of the two as while it showcases our central character this time around, the photo frames around him do also pay tribute to all the alternate Wolverines. The cover for #3 unfortunately falls into the hole of being a good picture that doesn’t represent the story within. A kick ass cover of Jane Howlett would have been much better in my opinion. The little tweaks Cinar makes to the alternate universe X-Men raise it up to the next level. As always with alternate reality stories the attention is in the details and that goes for both art and writing. Apparently, all artists like drawing dinosaurs and a quick detour to the Savage Land gives him a chance to prove his artistic chops. One element that shows Cinar and Woodard working in tandem is the opening sequence in #3 where they recreate the Origin aesthetic with a subtle grey tone. His action is well balanced with the talking head moments and I really like his ability to give near equal page time to such a vast amount of characters. These two issues for me continue the high standard of action and intrigue set out in #1. I really hope now all involved can stick the landing!