Wolverine 8, Savage Wolverine 20, Nightcrawler 3

Wolverine 8
Cornell (w) and Anka (a) and Curiel (c) and Petit (l)

Wolverine, guided by Shang-Chi and Iron Fist, visits a mystical temple where it is said that death takes a holiday. Offer comes to Sabretooth to, in theory, work out a way for him to free Pinch and her daughter Annie and Lost Boy. Of course, he doesn't really care about that and manages instead to offer up a way to track Wolverine in exchange for his services. Accepting, Sabretooth sends a team of ninjas to attack Wolverine.

With the much advertised DEATH OF WOLVERINE coming, Cornell kicks off his three part THREE MONTHS TO DIE run by sending Wolverine, still trying to rediscover himself in the new killable world, to meet Death and to work out with Shang-Chi and Iron Fist. I tend to be wary of the physical representation of Death whenever it appears in fiction, just as I'm still a little flummoxed by the physical Heaven that we saw in AMAZING X-MEN to bring back Nightcrawler (although, somehow, I'm past the point of quibbling over Hell existing in Marvel - maybe it's just time that these things need). I tend to believe that having a character who actually is Death is a little on the nose for my liking. Still, teaming Wolverine with Shang-Chi and Iron Fist isn't a bad thing so maybe this will all turn out okay. Still don't like businessman Sabretooth.

Total Score: 3/5


Savage Wolverine 20
Tieri (w) and F. Ruiz (a) and Brown (c) and Petit (l)

It's the roaring '20s (the roaring late '20s, to be exact) and prohibition is all over the place with Al Capone running the most successful bootlegging gig though it puts him at odds with Bugs Moran, a Canadian bootlegger who's enlisted Wolverine. When Wolverine's girlfriend turns up dead (fridging at its finest), he hunts down Capone, who gives him the name of the man who actually did it. Of course, that man is Sabretooth and Sabretooth enacts the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, of which Wolverine was a victim before healing.

The tone of this book is pretty dead on to where it needs to be and Felix Ruiz does a swell job making it feel like the '20s, making this another interesting enough installment of "how does Wolverine play into this time/this event?" a game that this series has been playing since the first couple of arcs passed. Still, the story isn't particularly compelling (which might be my own bias against gangster stuff, I just tend not to care unless it's really a different take on gangsters) and somehow businessman Sabretooth turns up again, albeit in a more questioning and mercenary sort of way. I wouldn't say that I'm burnt out on Wolverine, exactly, which is a credit because boy is he EVERYWHERE but I am certainly, at this point, well burnt out on Sabretooth.

Total Score: 3/5


Nightcrawler 3
Claremont (w) and Nauck (a) and Rosenberg (c) and Petit (l)

Trimega, showing up with three robots now, attacks the circus and immediately begins to show off how powerful he is, tearing through Kurt's friends and adopted family like nothing. Margali shows up just in time and easily overpowers them and Kurt decides, to keep the others safe and to get some back up, that he'll bring Amanda and Margali to the Jean Grey School, where they're greeted with suspicion and hostility. There are far deeper issues at play, though, as Margali and Amanda attack their interrogators behind closed doors and as a horde of Trimegas show up to attack the school.

While the story feels like it's moving a little too slowly to be particularly compelling, there's a bit more to like here. I want to clarify - the story itself isn't necessarily moving that slowly but the sheer amount of dialogue and exposition slows down the actual pacing of the book to a point where it's sometimes hard to get really drawn into the story itself. There is some decent characterization based on the way the X-Men react to Margali and to Kurt and the way Kurt has to continue to struggle with his return to life, leaving behind everything he'd lived his previous life working towards. Heaven is real, confirming all of his hope and faith, but he still rejected it, which is a compelling story but seems pretty well over by the time the issue's done with.

Total Score: 3/5