Wolverine #3 Review!

Hello everybody, Donlinedude here and welcome to another delayed review. This time of Wolverine #3, the third part of "Rogue Logan".

Synopsis:

We pick up right where the last issue left off, with Wolverine heading towards some serious Facetime with the asphalt below, courtesy of the "Superior Spider-Man". We quickly learn that this is really more of a twisted joke on Otto's part, as he shoots out a webline, leaving the now-marginally annoyed Logan dangling upside down just inches from the pavement. Wolvie soon gains the momentum to swing towards and grab a nearby pipe, which allows him to reach up and pull himself free of the web. Landing on his feet, he's met by Jubilee, who tells him there's an "X-Men emergency".

Flashing briefly back to the present, Logan suddenly wakes up while in bed with Pinch, claiming it was a nightmare. When asked what it was about, he replies that it was a memory of the day that finished his old life and brought him where he is now. Pinch responds with "again?" indicating that this isn't the first time Wolvie's mentioned this day, to which he replies that it feels like he'll never past it.

We then flash back to that very day, with Jubilee driving Logan to the site of the "X-Men emergency", where Storm and her team are battling a load of killer robots with Sentinel tech. Logan asks "Jubes" if she should really be out in the sunlight (referring to her recent conversion into a vampire), but she answers that Beast has her covered, steering the conversation over to his current predicament by asking if he and Storm are okay. Logan replies that he doesn't know what he's doing now, also saying that he needs to change something and things with him and Storm are "complicated", leading Jubilee to sarcastically remark that the normal life she'd love to have is apparently "a terrible fate". Wolverine then asks how she found him, only to learn that Beast put a tracker on his belt in case he got into trouble, since he's a lot more vulnerable now. Annoyed at this, Logan is then contacted by the director of S.H.I.E.L.D, Maria Hill, who asks that he join her in the alley opposite. As per her instructions, Logan leaves the car, lying that he's "going to pee".

It turns out that Hill has a mission for Logan that involves going after Sabretooth. He instantly refuses however, referring to Kitty Pryde and the events of Killable before saying that he isn't going to go on "some crazy suicidal quest". Maria however, interrupts him, saying that she doesn't plan crazy quests, that she wants to send Logan on a mission to save the world and get to see Creed captured by S.H.I.E.L.D, not the one-to-one death match he's so keen to tell her he's not after. She adds that it even suits and takes advantage of his new predicament, but Logan snaps back that he's sick of people working around him, and that he'll deal with his situation or die trying (You had to say it, didn't you).

Back in present day, Logan leaves the bedroom and heads for a nearby room, where Lost Boy is playing video games. Logan joins in and after a bit o' banter, he asks why Lost Boy chose his codename. The answer is pretty straightforward. He liked the "The Lost Boys" movie. Logan chuckles that he almost though the kid really had a backbone, but he does have enough of one. As for him, he has someone else's.

In the past, Wolverine heads for the robots in a beserker rage, un-sheathing his claws despite the pain of doing so without a healing factor. Jubilee tries to help him at Storm's request, but Logan insists that he's fine. The robots then pick the moment to combine themselves into one, giant robot (can you say Constructicon?). Storm then gives a speech to her teammates, that they need to combine their forces together, telling Logan that the X-Men works with someone whose lost their powers all the time. The robot lifts it's foot, preparing to crush Wolverine, who despite Storm's warnings, stays rooted to the spot. Thankfully, Jubilee dives in, pushing Logan out the way of the giant metal foot impacting with the sidewalk, saving him from being reduced to a colourfully bloody smear. Unable to cope with the situation, Logan runs from the battle while the X-Men begin to attack the robot as a team.

Some time later, Logan arrives at the Jean Grey School. As he steps inside, he's greeted by Quentin Quire, who informs him that Storm wound up reduced the robot to scrap. Rather than respond, Logan simply walks past Quire, who trails off mid-sentence and remarks "guess I don't have to be on your case all the time". Entering his room, Logan is surprised to find a present waiting for him, his new armour, courtesy of the Superior Spider-Man. Attached to the suit is a note addressed to him, saying that it's from "a friend". Logan reads the note with a smile (you wouldn't be smiling if you knew who really wrote the letter dude).

In the present, Mystique, the Silver Samurai, Lord Deathstrike and several Hand ninja have gathered at an undisclosed location. Mystique shares her opinion with SS that Sabretooth's defeat of Wolverine has changed him for the worst. Silver Samurai agrees, suggesting that he's lost what used to drive him. Mystique also mentions an object that Sabretooth is after, saying he doesn't even know what it does, but he seems to think that it will solve his very life. At that point, Victor Creed, having heard them, enters the room in a business suit (yeah, it's a weird image), saying "Oh ye of little faith...I now know what we're after. It's the power to remake the world in my own image. I'm going to become God." (That doesn't sound ominous at all.)

Thoughts:

While last issue sagged somewhat in the fun factor, the third issue of Paul Cornell's rebooted Wolverine series regains the momentum of it's opening, and then some. We're treated to some really entertaining stuff here, and considering the dark themes this comic is dealing with, that's a good thing to hear.

In my previous reviews I've talked at length about how I believe Wolvie's turn to the dark side is nothing but a sham in order to get to Sabretooth. Once again this issue neither confirms or denies that, with the appearance from Maria Hill adding to the plausibility of Logan going undercover. Regardless of the outcome though, Cornell is still providing us with an interesting look at Logan without a healing factor. His regression in attitude makes sense as it's simply a way of overcompensating, and his vulnerability is something this book has done a great job in showcasing.

There's also a nice theme running through the issue, as several of the characters remark about being on Logan's case, which gives us a bit more insight into how important Wolverine is to the X-Men, how his current circumstances affect them, how his new teammates feel about him and it also makes Wolverine's plight feel more personal as opposed to it just being an act. Talking of his new friends, I'm glad that we got some scenes of Logan bonding with Lost Boy & Pinch. It helps to make these new faces more likeable.

Despite the dark places this issue goes to though, it's still quite a funny escapade. I particularly enjoyed the opening gag involving Superior Spider-Man, as well as the revelation that it was he who made Wolverine his new suit. Who knew that Doc Ock could be so generous? The appearance of Jubilee was very welcome, as was the snippy banter between her and Logan about her status as a vampire, not to meniton the brief expository over the robots.

Ryan Stegman continues to excel with his artwork, and the colours by David Curiel are still a nice mix. There's a lot of great standout pages such as the reveal of the giant robot and Wolverine's armour, but the characters are also very expressive. Jubilee looks as youthful and playful as ever, though with Sabretooth Stegman opts for a more subdued madness in his face when the villain makes his entrance. Overall, a better issue than the last...

Score: 4.0/5.0

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

Wolverine #1 Review!

Hello everybody, Donlinedude here and welcome to my review of Wolverine #1. It seems like it was only last year when everyone's favourite Canadian mutant was relaunched in a new series...Oh wait.

Synopsis:

We open to Wolverine slashing his way through several robots, before one of them is suddenly blown up by a new ally with electric based powers. Logan yells that he could have been killed, but the guy points out that Wolverine's new armour could withstand a nuclear blast. They then rejoin their teammates, who are waiting nearby to break open a door. They do just that and proceed to lay the smackdown on the guards waiting behind, though not before Wolvie steals a smooch with the girl on the team (It's a good thing Storm isn't here, or that girl would be fried). Observing this in an unknown location in New York are Wolverine's new boss, the Offer, and a representative of Sabretooth. Apparently the Offer is so named because he makes the best possible deal to his clients, and is planning to grant Sabretooth's organisation the use of Wolverine. The team meanwhile have found what they were looking for, a cell containing a member of the Hand ninja, The Reflex. Logan breaks the door down, only to get hit in the chest by a laser from the security system guarding the ninja.

The story then flashes back five weeks ago to the Guernica Bar in New York, where Logan is drowning his sorrows with Ororo Munroe, aka Storm, who is trying to talk to him about the recent loss of his healing factor, as well as his humiliation at the hands of Sabretooth, though Logan dodges around her questions. Victoria Frankenstein then joins the conversation, remarking how everyone heard about what happened with Sabretooth, which only serves to fuel Logan's sadness. He leaves the bar soon after, with Storm asking that he do something address the fact that he's now mortal, to which Wolvie admits that he should probably look into some new training options. One such exercise involves the help of Black Widow, who assists Logan in re-acclimatising to the use of guns by making him practise on a Life Model Decoy of her (...Okay).

Back in the present, Wolverine is shown to be relatively unharmed by the laser thanks to his armour. His new crew help him to his feet and carry him to their getaway vehicle, a shuttle, before making their escape from the prison, which is also a space station (...Okay). As they activate their cloaking mechanism, Logan thanks his new friends for their help.

Sabretooth's representative meanwhile is getting quite jittery now that Wolverine is on his way back and attempts to leave, saying he's on a deadline. But Offer smells a rat and has his bodyguard, Heavy, restrain the man, who is actually a Daily Bugle reporter tracking Sabretooth. At this point Logan and his team arrive back from their mission. Offer tries to lead Wolvie away while the Hand ninja goes to "take care" of the reporter, but Logan susses what's going on and heads up to meet him. The reporter urges Logan to break out of whatever undercover operation or mind control he's under since he's about to be killed. Logan assures the man that Offer's men aren't going to kill him...right before he shoots the man in the head and adds "I am"...

Thoughts:

It's undeniable that the Marvel NOW! initiative has benefited the company extremely well since it launched in 2012, in fact it was quite helpful for me as I was just getting back into reading modern comics regularly, so it's not that surprising that they've decided to repeat this success a year later with All-New Marvel NOW!, with plenty of new titles like the Punisher, Black Widow, Moon Knight, All-New Invaders and of course, a new volume of Amazing Spider-Man (YIPPEE!!). It's bizarre then that Marvel feels the need to relaunch several series such as this one that only started last year. I understand that Wolverine has undergone a radical shift in status quo, but the same effect could easily have been achieved by a Point One issue, which would have made things less confusing.

Anyway, as it stands, this is a fabulous start to the new volume. Paul Cornell is doing a very good job exploring the notion of Wolverine operating without a healing factor, as well as the effect it has on both him and his loved ones personally. His new position as part of a minor super villain team is an effectively jarring shift from his being a school headmaster, especially after his murder of the reporter, though I doubt that Logan has really gone rogue. I wouldn't be surprised if he's in fact just acting as a sleeper agent to deal with this gang, and the reporter could just be an L.M.D since Logan would have access to them thanks to Black Widow (whose cameo here is very welcome). Wolvie's new teammates don't get an awful lot to do beyond showcasing their powers and hints of their personality, but hopefully they'll be fleshed out in future issues. I'm also really interested to see how the Offer is able to broker "the best possible deal" with his clients, as well as what kind of offer he made to Logan.

The art by Ryan Stegman is just amazing! Nearly every panel is a thing of beauty and Wolverine looks as badass as ever. I wasn't that sure of the new costume when I first saw it in previews (as I preferred the previous look), but it makes sense in the context of this ongoing story and Stegman sells it really well anyway. The inks and colours by Mark Morales and David Curiel respectively provide some excellent detail, which leaves this as one very good looking comic. While the issue numbering is a bit questionable, Paul Cornell and Ryan Stegman have nevertheless launched this new volume spectacularly, and I can't wait for the next instalment, especially as it guest stars a certain web-headed impostor...

Score: 4.0/5.0