Savage Wolverine 16, Origin II 4

Savage Wolverine 16
Isanove (w and a)

Wolverine and Sofia have been locked up and, despite his protestations, won't be released until he can see a judge the next day for claims of disturbing the peace. The peace in the station doesn't last long either, though, as Marion, Pierre, and their hired guns come to the prison to finish off Wolverine and get their girl back. They've been tipped off by one of the officers that Wolverine is being kept there and promised that they'll be able to take him but the chief refuses, saying that's not how things are done. Quickly the situation comes to all guns drawn and gets more hectic when Peter, who has been following Wolverine and Sofia, enters with a machine gun he took out of the back of the gangsters' car. After some tense stand-offs, the guns start going off and the body count ends up rather steep as every cop ends up dead, Wolverine ends up pretty shot up (though ultimately okay), the gangsters we don't really know end up dead, and Peter ends up fatally wounded. Wolverine manages to get Sofia out as Pierre and Marion tend to their own wounds before taking the very near-dead (Wolverine thought he was dead and wasn't able to carry his body as well) Peter with them. Wolverine and Sofia return to the place where Elias' other kids are laying low and finds that things have only gotten worse as Vicky has finally succumbed to her sickness.

It's the very definition of things going from bad to worse for Wolverine here as the kids he was tasked with taking care of begin to drop like flies, most of them in front of him. Isanove has done an excellent job showing one of those stories that you know has probably happened in Wolverine's dark past but that you never really want to think about. There have been plenty of stories about Wolverine's past and just how they've shaped the dark and brooding man today but you occasionally need ones like this to show just how dark it could get. Isanove has come at this with exactly the right eye for the time period and the drama, not to mention a pretty solid take on Wolverine, who has taken almost a backseat to everything else that's happened lately as we've focused on villains Marion and Pierre and even on Peter more than Wolverine over the last couple issues. Still, a good writer can absolutely pull off a Wolverine-in-the-background sort of Wolverine story because he's the type of character who isn't going to push and shove his way into the foreground. More contemplative and more quiet than most, Wolverine can absolutely be a vehicle for action and let the story take place around him when he's handled well. It's pretty good stuff here and it's accompanied by really appropriate art (probably helps when the artist you're trying to communicate with is yourself) and a perfect tone for the book.

Origin II 4
Gillen (w) and Adam Kubert (a) and F. Martin (c)

Clara, Creed, and Logan have been on the run for a month now, moving frequently as Logan continues to have trouble with trust and every day human interactions. He lashes out and attacks when startled and word of who he is has spread, meaning they can't exactly stick around after he reveals himself. Though Clara still sympathizes with Logan and though he's actually begun talking with them now about himself and his past, Creed can't help wondering if maybe he would have been better off with Sinister's experiments. Clara shoos him away after he says it and that night, Clara and Logan talk more and eventually, of course, fall into bed together. Creed sees them from a rooftop across the street (little creepy) but looks on. The pair are woken up as Sinister's men have found them and barge into the room. Logan refuses to be taken and goes berserk as they try to bring him down. In the middle of the fight, he turns and accidentally stabs Clara through the chest. She tells him it's okay, hoping he'll calm down, before she falls to the ground. As the memories of those he's loved and hurt flood through him, he sees red, seemingly giving in to the berserker. When he comes to, he's covered in blood and standing over the bodies of all of Sinister's men and Clara. Creed bursts in and falls on the floor beside Clara. He tells Logan they need to get revenge and, as Logan tells Creed that he loved her, Creed reveals that Clara is his sister. With Logan and Creed out of the apartment, Clara's good eye opens.

More action and a good look at Wolverine's emotions carry this issue as Gillen delves deeper into who Logan is at this moment in time. He remembers what he's done to his mother and his other loved ones and he remembers what happened with the wolves and the polar bear and what Essex has pulled him away from by trying to capture him. He has clearly gained some humanity back with the help of Clara and maybe even with Creed but now that he's killed someone else he loves (this is Wolverine after all, he's certainly not done doing that) it's a matter of where he goes next. One of the most stunning things about this series has been the way the art and the colors and the layout of the pages have all worked so brilliantly together. After a relatively standard format to start this issue off as Logan and Clara work on bringing back his humanity and showing off their love for one another, the issue's action changes up the format of the book, with more chaotic panels and tight camera shots before we get a wide panel of Logan stabbing Clara followed by a series of quick bursts while all of Wolverine's most painful memories sear through him. After that is an entirely red page as Wolverine goes berserk followed by another large panel of a bloody and shocked Logan before the book returns to a more standard format when Creed returns. It's a wonderful layout and it's expert comic presentation as Gillen, Kubert, and Martin direct you through the comic to make you feel as much as possible for the book and to make sure you're torn out of the comfort the beginning of the book provided just as Logan is torn out of the safety and comfort he'd been finally starting to find.




HEY EVERYONE, this is my 616th post on the blog and THAT FEELS IMPORTANT, given the universe designation of the main Marvel Universe! To celebrate, I, uh, have nothing planned. So, sorry, this kind of snuck up on me so I guess I'll just go the normal route of saying thank you so much to anyone who's ever checked in on this blog. You're all aces.

Nova 13, Savage Wolverine 15

Nova 13
Duggan (w) and Medina and Vlasco (a) and Curiel (c)

Nova's feeling pretty good about himself after helping a stranded ship that needed a boost, not knowing that the ship was actually a slave trader's ship. These are the things that happen when you're a teenager. Beta Ray Bill, though, knew exactly who was on the ship and is appalled that a Nova would help them. He comes to investigate, having lost the trail on the ship anyway, and he and Nova quickly get into a fight. Nova stands up pretty well to Bill but eventually he realizes what Bill's argument is and the two reconcile, with Nova demanding to come with him to find these slave traders. Bill accepts his help and Sam makes plans for a babysitter, his friend Carrie, to come and watch his little sister while he departs into space.

Pretty solid book. It's largely a fight book pitting Nova against Beta Ray Bill but it gives a pretty good sense of both characters and a pretty good sense of where Nova stands in terms of his power relative to what we know of this universe. He's been up against a number of new foes which makes it hard to judge just how powerful he is (though, you know, destroying a Chitauri fleet in the first arc wasn't a bad read) and something like this, having him stand toe-to-toe with someone the Asgardians hail as a true warrior, worthy of his own Mjolnir-like hammer in Stormbreaker, gives us a sense of the sort of power he has. Their dialogue works pretty well together though the book revolves a lot around Beta Ray Bill's alien appearance (though, I suppose, it makes some sense. You look at that guy and it's gonna take you a little while to get over it). Also nice to see Sam take some responsibility and make arrangements for his mother and decide that he needs to see this slave trader business to the end. Good issue, nothing to particularly note as a downside. Not sure it super stands out but certainly good for the series. I talked about AMAZING X-MEN feeling like a book made for kids and making me roll my eyes at it but I'd say that NOVA is something of an all-ages book at this point and it feels fresh and fun, typically. Follow that model if you're going to make a book that's more accessible.

Savage Wolverine 15
Isanove (w, a, c)

With the death of Elias and the kidnapping of Sofia, Logan is left with little choice but to storm the compound at which Sofia's being kept. He takes out the guard and slashes the face of the outfit's leader, a a man named Sergio, sometimes called Marion while Peter, coming in behind him, shoots the Frenchman Pierre-Anselme in the arm. They hustle Sofia out of there and, with all the kids in tow, head to a brothel in St. Paul to lay low for a little bit. The brothel's owner Dolly, who had a relationship with Logan ten years previous, sets them up with a new car and points them towards Colorado to stay with family. Unfortunately, Marion and Pierre are on the lookout for them and come and interrogate Dolly, killing her when she won't give up any information. Pierre finds the sales slip for Logan's new car and his eyes and ears all over the country track Logan and the kids down by nightfall, with the police taking Logan and Sofia into custody.

Isanove's 1930s crime story continues but, in a somewhat strange if effective move, starts things on a ship headed to America in 1920 as Marion and Pierre, seemingly in their teens or thereabouts, meet for the first time as immigrants. We see their origin for about ten pages of the comic and it lets us understand their ruthlessness and their mentality, not to mention their hero-worship of Houdini, a man constantly in utter control of his body and mind. It's a bit of a jarring interlude as we're suddenly introduced to character's we don't know as young men and are forced to learn about them and about their families in their immediately complex background, not made easier by the fact that we have to pretty quickly learn to distinguish the multiple players on the ship. However, it's not too hard to follow if you can stick with it for its entirety and it rather does give us a good sense of villains who would otherwise be simple gangsters. Isanove's art is a good match for his writing style (helps when you know exactly how your artist is going to draw things and vice versa) though things do start to get a little bogged down here and there as people start to look the same, though constant name reminders (not in a particularly intrusive way, though, in the way where it's like "FIRESTAR will do it!" Geez, I really did not like AMAZING X-MEN this week, huh?). Definitely enjoyable as SAVAGE WOLVERINE, when it's on, continues to be pretty far and away the best Wolverine title.

Wolverine 13, Savage Wolverine 14

Wolverine 13
Cornell (w) and Davis and Farmer (a) and Loughridge (c)

The conclusion of this run of WOLVERINE before it kicks off again at number one with new artist Ryan Stegman finds Wolverine badly beaten and sprawled out in front of Sabretooth, who is, of course, soliloquizing. Sabretooth talks pretty much forever about how weak Wolverine is and how quickly he resolved to murder someone earlier (who ended up being Mystique but he didn't know that) and so on and so forth. As Sabretooth finally finishes his soliloquy, one of the random guards comes up to Wolverine and reveals that she's carrying the alien virus that took his healing powers in the first place and offers a deal; with the virus being extinguished around the world by SHIELD and the Host, the virus needs a place to hide and would choose to hide in Wolverine, promising to give back his powers, maybe even stronger, in exchange for shelter. Wolverine refuses it and the virus is destroyed. He and Kitty return to Westchester and Storm and Beast rush to meet them. Logan proclaims that "The Wolverine is dead now."

Here's been my whole issue with this series and why I'm hoping (somewhat against hope) that Stegman's sharp and crisp art will bring a severe tonal change to the book: this is a story where Wolverine lost his healing powers, became killable, fought against a seemingly unbeatable virus, and went up against a slew of his own villains while depowered and it was boring. I can't necessarily say I'd be totally onboard with the premise anyway (it's incredibly tricky to take a superhero's powers away and still keep him interesting) but boy does it not feel well-executed. At every turn through this series there's been over-explanation and boring writing and strangely different or personality-empty characters. Even this one, the big presentation by Sabretooth as he finally wins, comes off as hugely lacking and like a different Sabretooth than we've ever seen before (the dude is wearing a suit here. I'm fine with a change in character but like, an entire overhaul of a character suddenly announced? Pretty weird). I couldn't bring myself to care about the problems Wolverine has gone through and when you're reading a book and unable to care about the drama of the protagonist, that book's in a bit of trouble.

Savage Wolverine 14
Isanove (w and a)

It's a 1930s adventure for Wolverine by cover-proclaimed "master of noir" Richard Isanove, who takes writing and art duties for this issue. In the late days of prohibition, Wolverine is an alcohol smuggler helping out a friend in northern Minnesota. His friend, called Elias, drives him from the Canadian border (from where he was smuggling) to his five and dime store which runs an illegal bar out of the back. We're introduced to Elias' kids through a good deal of dialogue and a couple of anecdotes. After Wolverine and Elias make it to the bar, they're quickly greeted by a French gangster, who tells them they're running an illegal business on their turf and tells them to shut down or to buy their product directly from them and give the profits over to them. Elias refuses, saying that he's only making enough to keep the store in business and to take care of his kids as is. This isn't enough for the Frenchman, who opens the bar doors wider to reveal a posse of gangsters with machine guns who gun down Elias. Wolverine attacks and is gunned down as well. Three of the four kids, hiding out in the corner, are discovered and the Frenchman takes the youngest girl for part of their operation. After the gangsters leave, the other kids try to figure out what to do and bemoan the loss of their father and watch over Logan, who seems ready to die at any moment. Of course, he heals up and swears to find the Frenchman, which he does with relative ease (the number of places in the area that deal in illegal booze and women is, apparently, pretty small). Next issue will pit Wolverine against the Frenchman and his hired goon Marion.

Despite all of the exposition and dialogue, the issue moves pretty well and Isanove's art is a solid match for his storytelling. One of the things writers seem to like about Wolverine is that he's been alive since the 1800s but lost his memory so many times as to not remember any of his own history, which means that any era between Reconstruction and now is fair game for a Wolverine story. We've had plenty of stories with Wolverine in the 20s and 30s before (it's a nice age for Wolverine, pitting him up against gangsters and dames) but not too many, to my limited knowledge, about bootlegging. Indeed, not too many about Minnesota either. I think I can name the number of Marvel stories I've read that take place in Minnesota without much trouble: it's one. This one. Anyway, the story isn't particularly complex, as yet, but then SAVAGE WOLVERINE never really tried to be. There's enough time per arc to get in, tell a story, and get out. Given the distance traveled in this issue alone, I'd peg this as one that's going to pretty quickly get out. Still not bad though and a nice relief from the other WOLVERINE series and even from the last little extremely heavy-handed SAVAGE WOLVERINE arc.