CREDIT: Marvel Comics
Rating: 2.5/5 – Filler Issue Waiting For Wolverine to Die.
by ComicSpectrum reviewer Shawn Hoklas.
Future plans for Wolverine are a bit unclear at the moment, until after September that is. In September, Wolverine will be starring in the Death Of Wolverine series by writer Charles Soule and artist Steve McNiven. Until then, the current series is doing all it can to make sure that readers know that something big is coming by including the headline “3 Months To Die” on this ninth issue of Wolverine. Unfortunately, as we count down these three months, this current storyline isn’t as compelling as the potential of the September event.
After recent events that ran through this series’ first seven issues, Wolverine has found himself questioning just who he is, and if he’s truly the person he once was without the gift of his healing factor. After finding himself unable to defeat his long time foe Sabretooth, Wolverine sets out on a self searching trip to an island in Japan where he meets up with Shang-Chi and Iron Fist. It’s here on this Island that Wolverine meets Death (the same Death that Thanos has courted for years). Death uses this island to take her well needed vacations, and we get to see a different side of the character that we’re not used to. This is a talkative and strangely humorous Death. Writer Paul Cornell is able to write the quieter introverted moments with Wolverine quite well, but the action and the Sabretooth sub-plot fall a bit flat and feel dragged out while his interpretation of Death feels too comical.
Kris Anka’s art in this issue may not be the best fit for this type of story. His art is very kinetic, and his action scenes tend to use dramatic effects. For example, During an action scene with Shang-Chi, as he fights the members of the Hand the character’s legs and arms are stretched along the page signifying the blurred action. It’s a fun way to show the action, but for a book that is dealing with Death herself, it seemed to not match the tone. There’s also a scene where Death calls in a character from Wolverine’s past, and again, the combination of art and writing for this scene tries to add humor where it feels as though it isn’t needed.
All in all this issue feels as though it’s trying to be a lot of different things, and in that attempt it becomes something less than I thought it could have been. This really felt like filler waiting for the main event, which is Wolverine’s “death”. I’m still looking forward to that event in September but the next few issues until we get there may be something I skip.
Reviewed by: Shawn Hoklas
(shawn@comicspectrum.com)
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