Rating: 3.5/5 – Alan Davis still shines as Wolverine becomes “Killable”.
by ComicSpectrum reviewer Shawn Hoklas.
Wolverine number thirteen concludes the Killable story line that has Wolverine losing his healing factor, making him more vulnerable and changing the way he approaches action and danger. Without that healing factor, it changes the character. That’s exactly what Marvel was going for with this six part story, to make Wolverine mortal and more “human” so that threats can be more dangerous, therefore having greater consequence. The art by Alan Davis made this a visually appealing read, but in terms of the written story it was a bit of a let down.
For close to thirty years Alan Davis has continued to impress us with his art. Although this isn’t his best work, it’s still great to look at. David makes you feel Wolverine’s pain in each panel. Davis is able to show the vulnerability not only in Wolverine’s body, but in his facial features as well. Although his backgrounds can be very sparse at times, his character work is not. It’s unfortunate that we see Sabretooth outside of his costume, but Davis still makes him look as menacing as ever. There’s a lot of panels in this issue and colorist Lee Loughridge uses a heavy dose of blue in about 80% of them. At times it’s a little too much. I wish there was a bit more variety to the coloring, but it doesn’t diminish the art.
Not only has Wolverine lost his healing factor due to a virus from the Microverse, but that same virus is also threatening to take over the entire earth. This part of the story comes off as the weak part in this concluding issue of the Killable storyline. Writer Paul Cornell has SHIELD playing a pretty big role in this story, but because Wolverine doesn’t interact with SHIELD their appearance loses a lot of its impact. The story feels fractured and some of the guest appearances, like Mystique’s and the villains before her feel forced. This is the last issue of this series as it will relaunch with a new number one with Ryan Stegman handling the art. If the preview image with Wolverine in armor and holding a gun is any indication, Wolverine may be without his healing factor for a while. It will be interesting to see how Wolverine moves forward from this story, and I’m hoping for a more engaging and exciting arc with the new number one.
Reviewed by: Shawn Hoklas
(shawn@comicspectrum.com)
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