Wolverine #2 Review!

Hello everybody, Donlinedude here and welcome to my review of Wolverine #2, guest starring the Not-So-Superior Spider-Man.

Synopsis:

This issue opens several weeks before Logan's fatal shooting of Daily Bugle reporter Monkton, with Otto Octavius, the so-called "Superior Spider-Man", fighting several lackeys of the Goblin King. He's joined by Wolverine, still clad in his old costume. The two wind up getting in each others way however and Logan soon finds a gun in his face. Otto manages to save him after some taunting from the henchman. Logan, briefly shellshocked by how close he came to death just then, says he came to find "Spidey" so they could talk. Otto isn't interested and leaves before Wolverine can finish his sentence. 

Back in the present day, everyone is naturally quite surprised that Logan just shot an innocent man in the head, though he seems pretty non-plussed about it, saying that he couldn't let Monkton feed them to the wolves. An impressed Offer invites Logan into his office, where they talk about how Operation Sabretooth is going (you don't say?). Turns out that Sabretooth has taken over every organised crime network that isn't affiliated with the Green Goblin. Offer plans to start dealing with Sabretooth in order to avoid such a takeover, which is why he gave Logan a job in the first place, since Sabretooth is obsessed with him and will likely agree to Offer's terms simply to find out what Logan is up to. The Reflex was sprung from the space jail as an olive branch to Sabretooth, who the Reflex works for.

Back in the past, Wolverine follows SpOck, who has caught up to the Goblin's henchman. Otto presumes that Wolverine is there on behalf of the Avengers, but Wolvie reveals that he was benched by them, adding that he's thinking of quitting. This throws Ock's focus off for a moment, which allows another thug to point a gun at his head, though Logan quickly dives in and takes the guy out, repaying SpOck earlier.

As the remaining henchman retreat, Otto tells Wolverine that teams get in the way of people dealing with their own problems (uh...what?). Logan replies that he came to "Spidey" for information about Sabretooth, saying that the Goblin and Sabretooth must have cut some sort of deal. SpOck answers that the question is tiresome as it just means that Wolverine is going to go on a lone revenge mission and thump his head against the same wall. When Wolverine tries to argue against this, Otto snaps that he knows Logan better than he knows himself, in fact, everyone does (pity they don't know more about you, then we wouldn't have to listen to your condescending, egoistic drivel, you jumped-up old fart!). Wolverine however just wants the information to share with his teammates.

Meanwhile, in Alberta, Canada, a letter flutters through the breeze towards the New Charles Xavier School for Mutants, specifically at Kitty Pryde, who is sat with her dragon Lockheed by the window. She catches the letter, which is written by Storm to her, asking her to at least speak to Logan as he needs her. Cyclops approaches, asking what the letter is. Kitty responds that it's nothing she wants to deal with right now, before crumpling the letter into a ball.

While hoisting Wolverine up onto a rooftop via webline, "Spider-Man" tells him that being a superhero is like being mad, trying the same thing time after time expecting differing results (well if that's the case then why don't you just quit and make it easier for the lot of us!). He also says that Logan shouldn't expect things to change for himself unless he can change his context, his mode of working, otherwise he'll just wind up getting broken, perhaps fatally this time, if he goes after Sabretooth again.

Wolverine responds that a lot of people thought "Spidey" had gone through some sort of breakdown, though his senses assure him that it's the same man in there. He says that "Spidey's" new approach seems to have worked for him, that it's freed him (I expected better of you Logan!), prompting SpOck to ask if Logan now desires to return to a feral state, to live without rules, to be "superior" to the herd (ugh). Logan replies that he'd like to, but he's confined by who he's with, suggesting he find a new group of people who wouldn't keep looking to him to be something he can't. Otto seems to be more interested however in measuring Wolverine, sarcastically remarking that he should continue with his "fascinating self-examination" (it's better than listening to your textbook narcissism!)

 In the present, Wolverine gets into bed with Pinch, talking about how today was tough, but the right thing to do. He tells her that this is better than how messed up he got, that maybe today was him freeing himself from obligations and honour, and he's glad to be here with her, which he punctuates by kissing her.

Back in the past, Otto says that if he doesn't know of any links between Sabretooth & the Goblin, but if he hears anything, he'll keep it to himself. He does have one thing to say to Wolverine about hanging onto ones own self, to ones purpose, rather than falling into self-hatred and death wishes. To him the answer is simple, just don't fall (Oh the irony!), which he punctuates by throwing Wolverine off the roof...

Thoughts:

In my last review I talked about how I thought that Logan's supposed turnabout as a low-rent supervillain would eventually turn out to be an act. This issue neither debunks or confirms that theory, but there's enough here to justify each. Wolverine going undercover in order to get to Sabretooth would fit in with how the character operates, and Paul Cornell is just careful enough with Logan's dialogue so as to preserve that sense of ambiguity. The fact that Logan is in a relationship with Pinch (whose name I missed last issue, along with the rest of Logan's new team) potentially goes against him being undercover, though this could also be an act to gain their trust, and we still have yet to see what happened between him and Storm in-between the last volume and this. We are treated to a few small, but well handled moments of Logan still adjusting to his new mortal status, which reinforces how alien the concept of being fallible is to him. 

Cornell has a pretty consistent voice for Superior Spider-Man, who has many dickish things to say to Wolverine. Normally I would ask why Wolverine doesn't just punch the guy in the face, but anyone whose read #16 of Avenging Spider-Man will know the reason why, and that was when Logan actually had the use of his healing factor and claws. I do have to question Wolverine's acceptance of "Spidey's" new modus operandi though. There's such a rich history between the two and while they do bicker occasionally, there's an unspoken respect between them. They even became blood brothers in Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine (which by the way is a brilliant story). Like I said before though, Wolverine could just be pretending in order to make his going rogue look legitimate. Whatever the case, I'm interested to see how the inevitable team-up between Wolverine and the Amazing Spider-Man will play out when Peter returns in April. Whether he's being truthful about his feelings or not, It would be quite a shock to Logan to find out he'd been confiding in Doctor Octopus all this time.

Ryan Stegman is killing it on this book right now! This issue is packed full of gorgeous detail like the last and it's always cool to see Stegman draw Spider-Man. The colours by David Curiel are somewhat muted and blend together, which I feel highlights the murky place Logan seems to be in right now. I wouldn't say this was quite as fun an issue as the first, but it's certainly still a really good read, the art itself justifies that. Logan's supposed fall to the dark side is unfolding slowly, but effectively, and the next instalment will hopefully build on that with the inclusion of Jubilee, and in the event that it doesn't...well, there's also going to be a giant robot involved, and they make everything better (right?)...

Score: 3.5/5.0