Wolverine Wednesday #89

Ultimate Wolverine #9-#10

Writer: Chris Condon | Artists: Alessandro Cappuccio/Alex Lins | Colourist: Bryna Valenza | Letters: Cory Petit

We now know that Ultimate Wolverine will finish with #16, and the Ultimate Universe as a whole will end in January. So yes, we are in the endgame now! Over the course of the first 5 issues of the series, Chris Condon set a very high bar in storytelling. For me personally, I did feel things had stagnated slightly in the previous issues. But now with the end clearly in sight, these two issues provided two very different, but much-needed shots in the arm. The first shot in the arm comes in the form of the action packed in these two issues. Don’t get me wrong, the last issue knock-down with Archangel wasn’t exactly lacking in the action stakes, but here the action seemed to have more intent and purpose. #9 kicks off well into a new mission for the team, and the plan is later explained via a flashback. What really drew me in was the inclusion of this universe’s version of Sentinels. In the regular 616 they do seem very underused at this point. Remember, in the animated series they were the go-to and would return regularly. I want my comic story arcs to replay the hits, and this links into my criticism of Deadpool/Wolverine later. Having this iconic villain appear here gives Cappuccio the chance to give them the Ultimate Universe facelift and he doesn’t disappoint. There is even a little plot point where he gets to go super crazy with design. As he has throughout the series, he delivers on atmospheric locations. The establishing shots of the Sentinel facility are top-notch and really get the reader sucked into the world. Shout too to Bryan Valenza, who has been pivotal in creating the feel of the series. In this issue, once the facility is under siege, injecting orange flares to highlight the damage and increase tension is spot on. Condon and Cappuccio both provide elements that really help drive the action. First up, we see Wolverine revert to his silent nature. In the exposition of explaining the mission he has an input, but once it’s underway he the mission is all that matters as he hunts and kills through the pages. In Cappuccio’s case, it comes in the panel layouts. In the closing moments he cuts between a variety of panel sizes to dissect the action (pun intended) unfolding. Lastly, I want to give some love to Cory Petit, probably something I should have done a lot more of in this series. Once all hell has broken loose in the facility, naturally an alarm sounds. Petit uses the “BWAA, BWAA” sound effect. First of all, you immediately hear the sound from the Death Star. But what really makes it great is that at times he uses it as the panel border to accompany Cappuccio’s fast cutting between the action. It really helps build to the climax. Across the board this is a return to strong storytelling for this series. So of #9 was the shot of adrenaline the series needed, #10 provides an emotional arc, but it is as much needed as the adrenaline shot and as well executed. As we know, everything in the Ultimate Universe is upside down. Left is right, black is white. Sabretooth and Wolverine are friends after months of trying to kill each other in regular continuity. It is a refreshing take; they are more than friends. They are brothers in arms from a previous war all part, that was all part of the world building. I am going to have to go into spoiler territory to really get across how good this emotional character beat is so…. Remember when Sabretooth was introduced into this series protecting Artie and Leech? Well, he wants to leave the war and continue protecting them, give them a chance at a good/normal life. Come on, that is amazing, made twice as amazing because it is Sabretooth! This emotional hook is the driving force behind getting to this issue’s climax. It is also just good storytelling for the journey towards the finale of it all. It can’t always be action, action, action. Condon serves up something very real and thought out. There is some dialogue between Sabretooth and Wolverine which is reminiscent of that between Wolverine and Cyclops in the Schism event a few years ago. The element of children caught in war also unfortunately reflects real events we are currently seeing on the news daily. Alex Lins returns to art duties. Whether this was planned as he drew the introduction of Sabretooth, Artie and Leech in this series and universe. Or it was a happy coincidence due to deadlines. Like I previously said, Lins is very different to Cappuccio but is still a good fit for the universe and again, perhaps more suited to the character-defining stuff than the big action. Not to compare the two in direct competition, but Lin’s’ talking head pages certainly have more life and fluidity to them. That said, this time round he does provide some well-choreographed action, some of which is even violent to a tasteful level. Like Cappuccio when the action is ramped up he opts for lots of smaller panels to control the pacing of said action. His takes on Magik and Colossus are really strong. Strongest of all perhaps is his Sabretooth. He comes complete with ponytail and gives up a lumberjack/Viking vibe. Two really strong issues, which were a joy to read. Something I didn’t mention and something that applies to both is the world-building. We are ten issues and nearing the end, but Condon is still putting in all these little details to flesh it out. Little nods and winks to regular continuity that I really appreciate. While I don’t want this series to end, I do feel we are in a good place now to end on a high.

Deadpool/Wolverine #9-#10

Writer: Benjamin Percy | Artists: Josh Cassara/Robert Gill | Letters: Joe Sabino

I’m sure I have previously stated when this serious was announced how excited I was. Then I was reading these two issues I was finally able to put into place why the expectation didn’t meet reality. When it was announced, my mind went to the old school of monthly comics, with shorter story arcs. Perhaps the title characters would alternate who was the lead protagonist. Perhaps there would be arcs where they flew solo. All ideas that went through my head. Instead, we got a ten-issue epic made up of the highest of highs (which were all sadly from the visuals) and the lowest of lows, which was the drawn-out and muddled storytelling. Percy’s work on the Wolverine ongoing was always at its weakest when the story arcs went over four or five issues. That being said, he usually stuck the landing and here he unfortunately doesn’t. You can always make the argument that perhaps this would read better in one sitting. This, however, is a bigger argument for another time, and all I can say is that overall, month to month, things felt muddled. Two things that I didn’t get along with and, perhaps from a personal point of view, took me out of the story. Firstly, as previously mentioned, Wolverine was underutilised, often serving as Stryfe’s lackey. I genuinely think a Deadpool/Maverick buddy/cop series would have been better. Then, as for Stryfe himself, it was revealed at some pointthat  it was actually Apocalypse masquerading as Stryfe. Why and how? I couldn’t tell you. Perhaps this was intentional as the series wore its ’90s heart on its sleeve throughout. And for this I do applaud it. Maybe that is also why the art took precedence over storytelling. Cassara handles action very well. I think it is fair to say he is one of the leaders in that field currently. His character design is always fun and I have always been a fan of his locations and creating a good sense of the character’s surroundings. Especially when a story is cutting from one location to another in every issue. He also has a good understanding of when to go big, with pages showing a lot of energy. It is a shame that #9 had a fill-in artist in the shape of Robert Gill. They are big shoes to step into and I don’t know much about him. All I can say is that he does his best Cassara impressions but lacks all the bells and whistles. I would like to see him over a longer period of time and showcase his own style. Every review of every issue I seemed to mention that it felt like Percy delivered a script packed with cool elements for Cassara to draw. The duo have shown a working synergy before that has executed good storytelling across the board. However, it feels like the approach they took this time round didn’t lead to a good story. While the story was punctuated with cool elements as an overall piece, for me, it fell short. In a few years’ time this might be a series I revisit and in one reading it might be a good read.