New Avengers #8 Review

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Pencils: Daniel Acuna
Cover by: Mike Deodato Jr.

Wolvie Meter: (1/5) “He’s in this book?”

New Avengers is the book that seems to go nowhere, but still continues to entertain me. We have a new artist in Daniel Acuna, who did a pretty good job; no complaints from me. The first part of this issue focuses on Luke Cage’s relationship with his wife, Jessica Jones. While out to dinner, Luke insists that Jessica join the team and become Power Woman, an offer that is repeatedly turned down. Jessica tries to communicate to Luke that she is a mother now, and she can’t take the risk, but she can’t seem to get it through Luke’s thick skull (or maybe it’s his skin). Although it’s completely understandable since she doesn’t want her child to grow up without parents like she did, Luke’s not taking no for an answer, so the debate gets semi-heated. The argument is interrupted when a strange spacecraft happens to crash down outside the restaurant.

It’s Doctor Doom and Cage immediately engages him in a fight as Jessica calls the rest of the Avengers. Although he seemed to be in control, Doom soon gets the upper hand and Jessica Jones has to come to the aid of her husband to defeat the supervillain. It turns out that this is NOT in fact Victor von Doom, but rather a “Doombot,” constructed to look like him. Of course, the Avengers are just finally arriving now that the action is over. Must have been traffic (in the skies?!?). By the end of the issue Jessica announces that she will join the team as “Power Woman,” but Luke’s celebratory reaction sparks another battle in the never ending war called marriage.

Once again we get plenty of witty dialogue and some great interactions amongst the characters. This is obviously the strong point of the book. Bendis never fails to make me laugh in this series, but when are we going to get some real action again? Right now it’s focusing more on the relationships amongst the team more than anything else, which is great, but it doesn’t come without problems. The story is moving at a snail’s pace, basically focusing on no more than one or two small aspects an issue. Last month was about how Dr. Strange joined the team and Squirrel Girl became the nanny for the Cage's. This month is about how Jessica Jones becomes Power Woman and joins the Avengers. Baby steps. Maybe by the time the real team is finally assembled, it will be time for another reboot and renumbering already.

Wolverine #5 Review

Writer: Jason Aaron
Pencils: Renato Guedes

Cover by: Jae Lee with June Chung

Wolverine Goes to Hell Part 5 (of 5)

Wolverine’s in Hell. There’s nothing new here, so let’s just get to the important details. We learned last month that Thomas Logan was pulling the strings to get Wolverine down there and this issue we learn why. Now this whole conversation is awkward to begin with, since Thomas Logan was Wolverine’s first victim, but things get even more awkward when Thomas declares that he is proud of his son, and declares that he has brought honor to the Logan family. Now Logan feels very uncomfortable here, and doesn’t really know how to respond. I’m sure he’s thinking, “Is it true? Am I really just like my scumbag father?” Their conversation is interrupted when Sabretooth claims the Soulcutter, and whoever holds this sword rules the kingdom of Hell. Well Logan is having none of that, and fights him for it and is able to take it from his grasp (thanks to his bone claws). It is here that Creed loses his head (once again).

Nobody is happier to see Logan become the king of Hell than his own father. This was the plan all along. Once Wolvie realizes this, he decides that he is NOT like him and proves it by throwing the sword back and escaping with Puck. Wolverine meets his father with a claw to the face and is off, but not before making an important stop. Wolverine finds Mariko and tries to save her, but she refuses and tells him to leave her be. I’m sure this breaks Logan’s heart, but there’s no time to waste so he and Puck begin climbing out of the seemingly endless pit of Hell. Unfortunately, Puck does not make it out with Logan, but I’m sure this is not the last we’ll see of him. A bright light appears and it seems that the demon possessing Wolverine’s body has been exorcised and he is able to return, but it is apparent things are not entirely back to normal just yet.

Now there was plenty of action going on above the surface with Mystique and everyone else, but it really takes a back seat to the events in Hell. And what ABOUT the occurrences down below? For one, I was very disappointed that Sabretooth did not make it out, but not in a bad way. I really want to see him back as a major player, but this works too. There are too many loose ends to leave this story alone, and I’m confident we’ll get some closure later on. I do think that Creed coming back here would have been too predictable and I was happy with his fate. I do feel bad about Puck, but that’s only a personal preference there. I liked the fact that he becomes the new ruler in Hell as consolation.

This issue did its job as the concluding chapter. There weren’t any plot holes that stuck out and everything seemed to come into place at the end, but still left some unsolved problems to continue the story on a broader level. I wish they would have brought up Yukio and the others who were killed, but I guess there’s only so much you can fit into one story. I felt this was a solid ending to a decent to mediocre first arc, though I do believe we will get some final closure in Wolverine #5.1 next month.

…and don’t ask me about the backup story, I never read those!

Wolverine & Jubilee #1 Review

Writer: Kathryn Immonen
Art: Phil Noto

Cursed Part 1 (of 4)

Wolverine and Jubilee are back together, but things are different now. Very different. This is not the classic team-up from the nineties that I used to love, but rather a whole new take on the relationship. Jubilee has gone through Hell since the good old days, and Logan has been to Hell. If losing her powers wasn’t already bad enough, becoming a vampire takes the cake. Jubes already felt like an outsider, and this only makes thing worse. She is depressed and overcome with anger and paranoia. Being a typical teenager, she’s stubborn and thinks that everyone who is trying to help her is really out to get her and she feels that the only person she can trust is the Ol’ Canucklehead.

This issue really goes deeper into Logan’s role as a father figure to Jubilee. When times are tough, he makes a point to be there. She feels like and outcast and is probably not too far off the mark by thinking that the others don’t care about her that much, well at least not nearly as much as Logan does. I found Rockslide’s minor role to be a good addition to the story and the story itself was very good. It was a good start and I look forward to seeing how this goes. It’s not the fun-loving Jubilee that I remember, but the relationship really hasn’t changed. The art was superb and the story did a very good job of presenting the current situation, which is exactly what I was looking for.

Wolverine: The Best There Is #2 Review

Writer: Charlie Huston
Artist: Juan Jose Ryp

Chapter Two: This Little Curiosity

I came into this one just hoping it would be better than the last. Thankfully, I got what I was looking for. This book actually shows a hint of plot and seems to give this series somewhat of a direction. I’m not saying it’s great, but at least there were no (I mean less) ‘facepalm’ moments that were prevalent in the opening issue of the series.

So the story is pretty basic. Beast helps Logan figure out who he’s looking for, and it turns out to be Jackson Day, an impure mutant. Day became mutated after he was doused with a number of different chemicals. So off he goes to find Jackson Day. When he arrives at his destination, Logan is met by a few of what seem to be Day’s minions. Wolvie easily takes them out and slices them into tiny pieces, but to his surprise, they are still alive. He leaves them be and continues inside the building where he meets a man named Mortigan Goth who claims to be from the 14th century. He helps Logan out, but tells him that Mephisto tortures his soul whenever he even thinks about doing a good deed. Logan comes to a door at the end of a hallway and upon opening it and comes across a creepy looking guy with a bag on his head who tells him to stay away since he’ contagious. The issues wraps up with two more henchmen showing up and they immediately get claws through their stomachs, but they don’t die, which is confusing the Hell outta Logan.

I’m not saying this one was amazing, but it was better than last last month’s opening issue. Then again, that's not much of an accomplishment. So first off, this one contains a story and is not a jumbled mess of bad dialogue. Instead, it's a book with a weak story and bad dialogue. We finally get some action that is actually relevant and we actually know what Wolverine is up to. The interactions are weak and feel very forced. The bad guys seem pretty cheesy as well, as does that old guy from the 14th century, Mortigan Goth. This series seems to rely on shock value, but in reality it is not that shocking at all. There’s much more gore in the MAX books and even the first arc of Wolverine: Weapon X. I’m not a huge fan of the art either, probably because it has that cartoony feel to it. The art along with the silly villains are leading this series into the absurd category, which is not exactly my cup of tea.

Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine #4 Review

Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Adam Kubert

Another Fine Mess Part 4 of 6

Ridiculous. I think you can sum up this issue with one word. You can probably sum up this series with one word. Ridiculous. Of course this is not always a bad thing, and such is the case of Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine #4. We get a few doses of ‘shake your head’ ridiculous to go along with a good helping of ‘laugh out loud’ ridiculous. We are now past the halfway mark of the series and it is clear that this story was not meant to be taken seriously. That being said; let us begin.

Wolverine and Spider-Man have been separated. Czar and his vertically-challenged sidekick B, are pulling their shenanigans throughout time. They are basically time-travelling to different eras and using their “timestick” to displace people just for the Hell of it. It’s like when you give a 10 year old a hand buzzer for the first time, only in this case instead of just getting annoyed, the victims end up hanging out with cavemen. So Czar runs into himself at some party at the end of time (a Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy reference?) and talks to his past self about the Wolverine and Spider-Man $@#*. If this is really possible, Back to the Future just became A LOT less suspenseful.

So where are our good buddies Wolverine and Spider-Man right now? Czar must have thought it would be hilarious to match them up again, but this time with the younger version of their counterparts. Wolverine is stuck with the teenage, pre-Uncle Ben’s death Peter and Spidey is on the run from feral Logan and his pack of friendly woodland critters. You decide which is worse, but I was just about ready to punch teenage Peter in the face myself…but then I realized it was a comic book. Through some deus ex machina (Czar popping out of nowhere and smacking them with his bat), the pair are now tied up and set to burn at the stake in what looks like colonial America. Wolverine suggests that someone is doing this for their own amusement and he’s wrong, someone is doing this for everyone else’s amusement (and his own as well I guess, so I take it back). It’s Mojo! And he’s made Wolverine and Spider-Man the subjects of his latest reality show for Mojovision. Ridiculous. Luckily Spider-Man has something up his sleeve, literally.

So there you have it. There seems to be no limit to the craziness in this issue. When Jason Aaron said we were in for something different with this series, he meant it. As far as Kubert’s art goes, it’s perfect for the tone of the story with its fun cartoony feel and the sometimes exaggerated bodies. The dialogue is very good and makes for some hilarious moments as well. Now I won’t say it’s a bad thing, but the story has been taking the back seat to humor in this series and this issue is no exception. It’s a fun read, but I wouldn’t recommend this to just anyone. I have mixed feelings for it myself, mainly because I was hoping for more out of this series, but maybe I was just looking for something completely different. Maybe a little less…ridiculous (yes I like to beat dead horses).

Daken: Dark Wolverine #4 Review

Writers: Daniel Way & Marjorie Liu
Artist: Giuseppe Camuncoli
Cover By: Giuseppe Camuncoli & Marte Garcia

Empire Act II: Part 1 of 4

To be honest, I felt that Daken: Dark Wolverine was the weakest of the three ‘Wolverine Family’ titles. Of course things can change and this issue is a start. The story focuses on Daken’s relationship with the Fantastic Four, mainly his close friendship with Johnny. Johnny is taking Daken’s supposed death hard, and the others are a little worried but understand he just needs his time to cope. When an intruder to the Baxter building threatens Reed and Sue’s children, Daken is there to stop him. The funny thing is that Daken broke in as well (so much for the great security system they have over there). The Fantastic Four are shocked since they believed him to be dead, even though we the reader knew otherwise (end of issue #3, and come on, it’s his series). If Johnny took his death hard, he took the truth even harder. Feeling betrayed by Daken (that’s a first), he just goes off on him, which is understandable since he took the blame for Daken’s death and this is a most unusual turn of events for him. After everyone settles down we learn what has brought about this unexpected visit.

Daken is taking full advantage of the world believing he is dead and wants to use it as a way to start fresh. This is a chance to avoid the stigma of siding with Osborne and he believes that the Fantastic Four are the only one’s he can trust with his secret. In an effort to distance himself from his father and to ensure his cover will not be blown, he asks Reed for something he can use to defend himself so he doesn’t have to bring out his claws. Reed gives him some sort of glove that can be used to stun anyone without killing, with the exception of Ben. Just like that he’s gone. Upon his departure Reed decides that something just didn’t feel right about Daken’s visit. We then see Daken on a boat heading to an undisclosed location and he reveals that he has other plans for the glove which has potential that is held back by Reed’s unwillingness to kill. It’s apparent that he has left the country, most likely to Asia. Of course he’s in disguise and has a whole bald/shaved Matt Fraction thing goin’ on. After seeing a newspaper, he decides to go after Bucky aka Captain America aka (more importantly) The Winter Soldier, who killed his mom. It’s on the final panel that we finally learn that the boat is headed to (wait for it…) Madripoor.

This one was very good, but it was excellent on the second reading. It took a night’s sleep for all of the parallels and connections to Logan of the final few pages that my 2 AM brain didn’t seem to catch, to actually sink in. As a big fan of the early Wolverine Patch stories in Madripoor, I am very excited for what’s to come and I love the irony of following in the footsteps of his father when he intends to do just the opposite. Hopefully he’s got a better costume than a stupid eye patch.

Enough looking ahead, this one was a gem. The interactions were both humorous and believable. Daken is very likeable and seems eerily out of character until Reed’s uncertainty at the end reminds you of his manipulative ways and gives you the idea that he may have just been using them. Personally I feel that he is somewhere in the middle right now. He does in fact want to distance himself from his past and I believe he has good intentions, though he will do whatever he feels necessary to meet his goals, even if that means that he may have to cross the line or deceive others. The issue sets the stage for what has the potential of a great story, now let’s see Way and Liu build off this and meet it.

Uncanny X-Men #531 Review

Writers: Matt Fraction & Kieron Gillen
Artist: Greg Land
Cover By: Greg Land & Justin Ponsor

Quarantine Part 2

Team books. I’ve already spoken of my disdain for them (though very exaggerated). One of the major problems with such series’ is the confusion and choppy cutting from one part of the story to another. The writing team of Matt Fraction and Kieron Gillen is able to avoid such pitfalls in this well-written chapter to the current X-Men story Quarantine. For those of you not familiar, a mutant flu pandemic has broken out on Utopia; trapping some of the most powerful X-Men on the island while it goes under quarantine. Not only this, many (including the one we call Wolverine) are at the mercy of this power-suppressing virus. Logan’s healing factor is weak, and it’s causing all kinds of problems mentally and physically, but we’ll get to that later.

This one opens with Namor (aka The Sub-Mariner) demanding that he be released. He tries to fight the affects of the virus, but these attempts prove to be futile. By giving in, we see how powerful this “flu” really is. A quick page-turn later and we see that there are in fact many more infected mutants and Dr. Kavita Rao observes that the affects are increasing rapidly in those who have contracted the virus. It is unknown whether the virus is indeed contagious to humans, but there is emphasis that this knowledge must be known as soon as possible. This leads Dr. Rao to make an irrational decision to inject the virus into herself to see whether she will contract it or not. Who does that? That’s like John McClane shooting himself to kill some dude, only this is a no-win situation for Ms. Rao. The outcome of her “experiment” is held off for next month.

While this is going on, Logan is suffering many different symptoms to go along with the typical coughing, and wheezing and all that other nasty stuff. Blood poisoning from the adamantium in his body is causing mood swings and psychosis. Right now, he’s just a mess. What is causing him the most pain though is the feeling of helplessness, the feeling that he is letting down people who have put their trust in him. As the havoc is going on in Utopia, there is a mutant killing the people that Wolverine has sworn to protect, and he can’t do a thing. This is a recurring theme with Logan; the man who can’t be physically hurt for the most part, is vulnerable when it comes to the guilt of putting others in danger.

At the same time, Angel is in charge of a temporary X-Men team with the help of Storm. As they go about their business, the pseudo-mutants created by the Sublime Corporation are doing the best they can to imitate the X-Men. They’ve garnered the attention of the media as well as the X-Men, and both are a little unsure of who they are and whether they are a threat. The final piece to this story is with Emma Frost who is currently tasked with the disposing of Sebastian Shaw. We hear a bunch of stuff about her past, yada yada yada, then my boy Fantomex makes like an idiot and kicks Shaw into the weird portal thing, or maybe it was just a giant hole. Don’t ask me, I just read these books.

So an overall decent issue, there wasn’t really anything to complain about. On the other hand there wasn’t anything spectacular. We’re getting bits and pieces of an overall larger story that will hopefully tie together nicely. Fraction and Gillen do a good job of including humor into the book without making it feel like you’re reading Deadpool.

Uncanny X-Force #3 Review

Writer: Rick Remender
Artist: Jerome Opena
Cover By: Esad Ribic

The Apocalypse Solution Part 3

This book has really been a pleasant surprise so far. Since I’m not a huge fan of team books, I wasn’t overly excited for the return of X-Force, but I’m hopping on the bandwagon now. Although I wasn’t too keen about the art at first, it has begun to grow on me. Opena’s style with the use of dark tones and the greenish-bluish shades seem to find its niche in this series. After two very good opening issues, Rick Remender keeps them coming with chapter three of The Apocalypse Solution.

In this third installment we get a quick background of the final horsemen, the cream of the crop whom Apocalypse had chosen as the last resort for his cause. Of course after chapter two, the members of X-Force found themselves in a very sticky situation, and it looked as if they were done for. The new horsemen had them at their mercy and were awaiting orders to execute “Xavier’s cronies.” Moving forward in part three, the priority of the mission has now become survival and they barely do so. With the use of some trickery by Fantomex, some mind games from Psylocke and a noble attempt by Deadpool to at least try and help (that’s all you can ask for, right?) it looks like they are able to salvage what they can and make it to safety. The book ends with a possible turning of the tables when Psylocke confronts the evil looking (not evil acting…well at least not yet) child Apocalypse in the final panel, but Remender has left this conflict for next month.

I enjoy when the good guys use their brain instead of their brawn to get things done. In this case, Wolverine was at a disadvantage so he needed to rely on the team to bail him out of his dire situation in which he was outmatched by Sanjar (one of the horsemen), due to his particular mutant ability. In fact the fight with Sanjar is the most memorable scene of the issue, because of a curveball thrown at the reader at the end.

As far as the characters go, I like the dynamic personalities of the team, and all five of them bring something different to the table. Wolverine is written well and his eagerness for a rematch while everyone else is recuperating shows his resiliency and stubbornness that often define who he is. The dark tone of the book allows Deadpool’s ridiculous persona to stick out even more than usual, and I feel that he really contributes to the series because of this. It is comic relief in a series that one may not expect much of due to the tone and the mood, and I think it shines (but maybe that’s because I’m a big Deadpool fan). Lastly, I am predicting that we will know what type of power of the child Apocalypse (let’s just call him Damien for now…) welds next issue when confronted by Psylocke, so that is something I look forward to.

Wolverine #4 Review

Writer: Jason Aaron
Art: Renato Guedes
Cover by: Jae Lee

Wolverine Goes to Hell Part 4 (of 5)

There was certainly no lack of action in this one. It really comes as no surprise since there are a couple of different Wolverine’s right now, so it makes sense that there would be double the fighting. As far as Logan goes, he’s still in Hell doing battle with the Devil. Of course he’s being as stubborn as ever and shows no sign of giving in. Logan takes the upper hand in the battle, getting everyone in Hell all riled up. At the same time, demon Wolverine continues to cause problems on the surface, now with the X-Men.

Well that’s pretty much the whole story right there, not too many slow moments in this one. Pretty much nonstop fighting and action from cover to cover, making this a really quick read. Lots of action isn't always a good thing though. With all of this fighting continuing on, I expect all Hell to break loose next month, literally. Mystique shows up for one great panel here, but what really steals the show is the reveal at the end. We finally see what this plan is with Puck and the mysterious old man, and we learn who’s pulling the strings of this rebellion in Hell and why. I don’t want to ruin it here, so I’ll let you guys see for yourselves.

No complaints about the art and I must add that the cover by Jae Lee was awesome. I'm hoping for a strong ending here that will hopefully wrap up this Wolverine Goes to Hell story. As for this one, it was pretty good, though it really is a perfect example that more action does not always make for a more exciting comic. The final reveal at the end really picked this one up.

New Avengers #7 Review

Luke Cage looks for a nanny and Logan has the munchies.

Written By: Brian Michael Bendis
Art By: Stuart Immonen

After the slightly disappointing (and slightly blinding) conclusion to the first arc of the ‘new’ New Avengers series, we get a much less action-packed transition issue. There are three burning questions that face the New Avengers: When will Wolverine stop eating? Who will be the nanny for Luke Cage’s baby? And when will Bendis allow Spider-Man to grow up and stop acting like a twelve year old kid? Seriously though, there was no action at all, just a lot of standing around and talking. I’m all for this type of issue, I find it necessary every once in a while, but it just seems to hurt my wallet when I’m paying $3.99 for a story about a nanny search.

As far as the characters go, they interact fairly well and the banter helps the story flow. One thing I will mention though is that it seems like I’m hearing the same voice coming out of every character, and that there is not too much contrast between them. Another is that Bendis seems to treat Spider-Man like the village idiot. The way he’s portrayed is like your annoying little brother that follows you everywhere and just won’t shut up. As far as Wolverine goes, it feels like I’m watching Ocean’s Eleven and he’s Brad Pitt. I swear he must be eating something in every panel. Logan had better stop it soon before he ends up looking like Fred Dukes.


I will say that it was pretty entertaining, especially some of the nanny interviews. I’m surprised some of these candidates were even considered and not weeded out immediately (ex: one overused merc with a mouth). There were some good little chuckles and ‘laugh out loud’ moments, sprinkled with some one-liners that fell right on their face. I guess you shouldn’t take this book too seriously. Maybe you shouldn’t take this series too seriously, at least for now. Overall it was decent issue, but I’m hoping things will pick up next month or I will start to get a little more serious with my reviews.

And did I mention that Immonen’s art was amazing again? Well I did now.

Wolverine: The Best There Is #1 Review

Written By: Charlie Huston
Art By: Juan Jose Ryp

Remember when I reviewed Wolverine: Wendigo and I said that it was nothing but glorified toilet paper? Well, Wolverine: The Best There Is #1 isn’t even worthy of wiping my ass. It is so bad that it’s almost insulting. I’d love to give a brief synopsis of the story, but I’m still looking for it. There’s was no sign of a plot anywhere in this comic book. What we got instead was bits and pieces of a hashed up story thrown into a blender and just plopped onto the pages in no particular order. We at one point meet some villain, and his henchmen, one of whom is a wannabe Joker. The art, although good, is very inconsistent in my opinion. Now the worst part of this comic other than the nonexistent story and the idea of Logan hitting the dance floor, is the dialogue. At the beginning there is so much unnecessary profanity. In fact, so many words were getting bleeped out that the sentences were becoming incoherent. Wolverine escapes from some underground gladiator-style fight club and kills a bunch of people in the process. He then hitches a ride back to civilization with some bimbo. From that point we have a book filled with choppy, uninteresting conversations covering such topics as Wolverine working at a salon, dancing, and getting a bikini wax. Sorry, Wolverine’s a man’s man and I demand that Mr. Huston’s man card be revoked immediately.

The credits were not given until the end of the story, like it’s some great reveal of the creative team and we the reader are expected to go, “This is AWESOME!” Yeah I was eager to find out who wrote this, but by no means to give praise. I wanted to know who owed me $3.99 plus tax. Now this has already wasted my time, and I don’t want to waste anymore of yours so I’ll wrap it up. First, I’ll let you know that I’m usually very positive when it comes to comics. I’ve actually been criticized by some of my friends of being too nice when it comes to bad writing, but hey, I’m here to enjoy my books so I’m gonna try and find as much positives in a book as I can. Keeping that in mind, I give this issue 0 out of 5.

This series can’t get any worse, but I’d sure hate to be wrong for my own sanity. Issue #2 comes out January 5, 2010. Use extreme caution before buying this book; I can’t say I can recommend this series. (And dammit, why is there a joker imposter in this, Marvel? *facepalm*)

Review Wolverine: Weapon X #10

Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: C.P. Smith
Cover By: Adam Kubert

This book doesn’t have a real story to it; it’s more like a Wolverine history lesson. Melita wants more out of her relationship with Logan, but he’s scared to get close to her because of fear that she may end up with the same fate of other women he has gotten close to. So, Logan decides to look for some advice from his close friends. That’s pretty much all that there is to this book. I think he should just go on Dr. Phil to talk about his problems instead of taking it to a comic book.

Okay, I’m not bashing this comic in any way, I save that for Wolverine One-Shots with an absent Wolverine. The story (or non-story) was actually pretty interesting. I feel it was necessary, even if I didn’t like the idea. We learn a lot about Melita that we didn’t know before, and we begin to see, just like Logan, that she is capable of protecting herself (at least to a point). Anyways, after two consecutive action packed story arcs, this little transition issue didn’t bother me at all. This is setting up for the next storyline, which will feature both Cap and Bucky, so I’m pretty pumped for that one.

Once I found out what this issue was actually gonna be about, I sort of lost any real anticipation for it, but Jason Aaron is a great writer and he was able to keep my interest. As much as I didn’t want to enjoy this book, I found myself really liking it in the end. One last thing about this issue was the art. First off, let me say that I do NOT like this art style at all. Nothing against C.P. Smith, it’s just not my thing. When I skimmed through the pages I saw the art and was pretty disappointed, but after reading this comic, I was completely sold. Smith’s art really complimented Aaron’s story, and fit very well with this particular issue. Not the type of story I typically enjoy, but Aaron and Smith really surprised me and pulled out a good one here.

I’m gonna give this one a 4/5.

Review: Wolverine Savage

Writer: Ryan Dunleavy
Artist: Richard Elson
Cover By: J. Scott Campbell

Although I couldn’t pick up the Deadpool Variant, I was still able to get my hands on Wolverine Savage. It’s rated A, which is not a bad thing, but you can expect a more family friendly take on Wolverine, and this is exactly what this comic was. Personally, I did not particularly enjoy this one, but it did a great job at telling a simple, child friendly Wolverine story.

The story starts with Logan fighting the Lizard in Japan. He tells you some background info about the Lizard, and then proceeds to defeat him after chopping off his tail. In the process though, he has ruined a large order of sushi that a restaurant had been preparing for that night. Feeling bad about the whole situation, Wolverine goes on to make a whole new batch of sushi, saving the day.

Grateful for what he did for her, the owner of the restaurant celebrates with Wolverine, toasting to her “pops,” who had been missing for several months. She then goes on to explain how the restaurant used to be filled with customers, but now was barely getting by. When her father had been the head chef, they made the best Ramen around, using special eggs as the secret ingredient. Then one day, pops just disappeared. Wolverine agrees to help her look for these special eggs, using his heightened sense of smell.

Logan comes across the eggs, which come from a giant lizard-like sea monster that lives on an island just off the coast. After a brief fight, Logan is eaten by the monster, and surprisingly finds pops. Apparently he had been living inside of the monster for months. From there, they make the monster throw up, and Wolverine fights off the giant monster. There is some pretty humorous banter between pops and Logan, as they escape safely. The restaurants business begins to boom again, and they are able to hire a full kitchen crew, which leaves Logan to be demoted from sushi chef to the cleaning crew.

Obviously this is a hard comic to grade, since I am not in the target audience. It’s a very simple story, very easy for a child to understand. The art was very good as well, with many bright colors to go along with the kid friendly plot. I think it did a great job considering what it was shooting for. I would not recommend this for anyone looking for a typical Wolverine comic, which would include the usual gruff, no-nonsense Wolverine as well a large pile of dead bad guys. I won’t give this one a grade, but if I was going to, it would be 5 out of 5.

Review: Wolverine Origins #44

Writer:Daniel Way
Artist: Doug Braithwaite
Cover By: Doug Braithwaite

7 The Hard Way, Part 4 of 5


In this issue, Wolverine is continuing to round up his “team” of mutants to use in his scheme against Romulus. Us, the readers are still not in the know of what this plan actually is, but we do know that Ruby Thursday is essential to its success. That is why Logan is breaking her out of prison (to be specific, the super-prison, the Raft).

With the help of Cloak, Logan is able to be teleported in, but power dampers do not allow them to get out so easily. The prison goes into lockdown while Logan speaks to Ruby about his offer. She agrees, but now they must find a way out. Well, the prison security finds out that Wolverine is locked in the prison, which sends them into a panic until they get a call from Romulus, who offers his help. Skaar, the son of the Hulk is sent in, and he helps Logan out as Cloak teleports away with Ruby. He fights with Ares, but eventually runs off with Wolverine. While Skaar is reluctant at first, Wolverine finally gets him to stick to the plan and leave the fight. At the end, Ruby goes off on her own after an injured Cloak refuses to join her, and she is killed by Romulus. This is setting up for the conclusion, which will come next issue.

Overall, this was not a great comic. It was actually pretty boring for the most part until about the last ten pages. It was mostly all talk with little action, which is not always bad, but in this case the dialogue was not really that significant or interesting. Although this particular comic is a little weaker than the others, this current story has been pretty good. I would normally say that this one is not worth reading, but it actually did serve a purpose. I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt, since it is merely a filler issue, used only to set up and precede the fifth and final issue of this current arc.

I’ll give this comic a 3/5

Wolverine: Wendigo! Review

Writer: Frank Tieri
Penciler: Paul Gulacy (Wolverine: Wendigo!)
Paco Diaz (Wolverine vs. Thor)
Cover By: Ben Oliver

This review is going to be short and (not so) sweet. I’m getting it out early just in case you haven’t hit up your LCS yet this week. If you had any plans on picking up “Wolverine: Wendigo!” then I strongly urge you to reconsider. If you enjoy Marvel taking your money to read about a bunch of people talking, then go ahead and buy this book. Wolverine is only on a couple pages and only talks once. The story itself is not THAT terrible (actually, that may be a little too nice), but it is in no way a Wolverine book. That’s just a way for Marvel to make more sales. Now, more Wolverine is good, but it becomes overkill when the stories are crappy one-shots just to get the name out there.

Well, the second part to this was “Wolverine vs. Thor,” which was a very weak story as well. It really has no point, and does not go anywhere. Wolverine thinks that Thor is Sabretooth. They fight until Logan figures out that he’s delusional, and the story abruptly ends. Basically Loki, Thor’s brother fooled with him by giving him some weird drink. Maybe I was just so upset about the Wendigo story that I didn’t give this one a chance, but I don’t think that’s the case. The one positive is that the art is great in both stories, but do yourself a favor and buy yourself a cheeseburger or whatever else you want with that $3.99.

I give this book 1/5

Review Wolverine: Weapon X #9

Cover By: Adam Kubert with Morry Hollowell
Story: Jason Aaron
Art: Yanick Paquette

Insane In the Brain, Part 4 of 4

Wolverine: Weapon X is one of my favorite ongoing series’ right now. This last issue did not disappoint. It’s not a complex story; Wolverine gets angry and kills a bunch of people. Sounds pretty simple to me. Still, it’s a good pick up and the art is excellent. Nightcrawler and Psylocke make an appearance, attempting to rescue Logan, but I don’t know how much they really helped. The conflict in this story is really an internal one because these bad guys couldn’t even stand up to Wolverine at all. In fact, Dr. Rot even knows that. The main focus is more of Logan finding himself again, and fighting off the beast inside of him, after having his mind tinkered with by Dr. Rottwell.

This leads me to my next point. Dr. Rottwell is one crazy dude. There is a reason that he was institutionalized. Making mental bombs out of brains, or trying to strangle Logan with his own intestines after being slashed in the stomach, who does that? Well he does I guess. It seems that he may be a powerful enemy to Wolverine, since over the years his mind seems to be one of his few vulnerable points. Well I’m looking forward to seeing him and Wolverine clash again, and apparently, so is he.

If you are looking for lots of blood and gore, this is the book for you. Notice the PARENTAL ADVISORY. I myself am not one of those people, but I still enjoyed it. Personally, this whole insane asylum story didn’t really excite me; reading about them just makes me feel weird, makes me feel like I’m going crazy (that’s how I felt while reading One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest). I guess they just creep me out or something. Regardless, this just was a fun book with a lot of action.

I’m gonna give this one a 4/5

Review: Dark Wolverine #82

Cover By: Salvador Larroca
Story: Daniel Way & Marjorie Liu
Art: Giuseppe Camuncoli

Godlike, Part 1

Well, the story begins with Norman’s Dark Avengers and some soldiers all preparing for battle. As usual, Daken mocks Norman, picks fights and alienates the other members of the team. Nobody seems to trust Daken, and Norman is suspicious, so the status quo has not changed at all. In fact, it has actually gotten worse since Daken has lost his only friend on the team last issue in Moonstone (as Ms. Marvel), but I don’t think he really cares. It's pretty much what we've been seeing for the entire run of Dark Wolverine.

[SPOILERS FROM HERE]

After an exchange of words between Daken and Norman, we see The Fates watching. Jumping to the battle, Daken treats the fight like a game, because to him that’s all it is. He actually tells one of the Asgardian warriors that he is willing to bring him the head of Norman Osborne and the Avengers on a silver platter. Not sure how to respond, he asks Daken why he would do that, but is then killed by Norman Osborne himself. After giving Daken orders, Norman is then caught by a surprise attack by Daken, who stabs him in the back and proceeds to move in to finish him off, all the while, being watched by The Fates who pronounce that “this is very promising.”

Daken believes he knows everything about everybody (what’s new?), and that he controls them all. In fact, it seems that they ARE his puppets because according to him, they are doing exactly what he wants. Daken also deducts that Norman will not let his Avengers free after the battle out of fear that he will lose control over them. We all know that Norman is power hungry and Daken is probably right when he says that it’s a "lose-lose" situation and everybody is doomed no matter the outcome. The story as a whole was pretty much all talk and no action, although the art was great. Those last two pages left me thinking though. I knew something was coming, but I didn’t think it would happen like this. If it’s true, this would be a huge twist in the Siege storyline. Actually, I believe that this is only a vision, which really leaves this issue with little significance.

I give this issue a 3/5