Wolverine 5, Origin II 5, What If? Age of Ultron 5

Wolverine 5
Cornell (w) and Sandoval (a) and Curiel (c) and Petit (l)

Wolverine, new girlfriend Pinch, and the Lost Boy go out into the city on a night off while Wolverine gets drugs that keep his metal skeleton from poisoning him. Afterwards, the three of them go to a tattoo parlor where Wolverine gets a tattoo from a superpowered tattoo artist, who has the ability to instantly know what tattoo best fits a person (??). He chooses a rose for Wolverine and, though he doesn't necessarily know why it fits, instantly tattoos it onto his arm. Then the three of them head to Wolverine's favorite bar wherein some of his old pals tend to gather. Tonight, though, Thor is among those old pals and he's not thrilled to see Wolverine. Logan tries to show him the tattoo but it doesn't seem to have an impact on Thor and the three are forced to hustle away. Their next mission will take them to Madripoor in search of Sabretooth.

Story
This issue is more dedicated to character than to story as it's something of a break in the spy work storyline, though a few things are made very slightly more clear story wise. In this case, Wolverine's "I take drugs to stop my skeleton poisoning me" clears that question up with literally the tiniest of explanations (WHATEVER, we're not really reading for the science of this, are we?) and Wolverine sort of reaching out to Thor as if to try to get him to be understand is a neat little story twist, though it's negated somewhat by the fact that SOMEHOW Pinch figures it out. We don't know much about Pinch but I'm willing to believe she's a pretty smart, pretty capable woman. However, the leaps she makes to start to suspect Wolverine's true motive in showing Thor his tattoo feel really convenient, very much like an advance-the-plot kind of thing. 3/5

Character
The focus of this issue is Pinch, which is good because we're five issues in with Wolverine's new team and I feel like we don't know a thing about any of them. I have literally no connection to anyone regularly appearing in this book who isn't named Logan (or Wolverine or James or whatever, you get it). Now Pinch is starting to get a little more personality but, as I mentioned above, I'm not sure it's any more personality than just what's capable of driving the plot forward. The key for Cornell right now is clearly to make Wolverine feel attached to his teammates so he's conflicted when the time comes to turn evidence on them and so most of Pinch's narrative and dialogue this issue can be chalked up to a desire to only do exactly that, drive the plot ahead or tell us more about Wolverine. She's slightly more defined but it's done in such a way that she feels like a plot device as much as anything else. Also, Wolverine's new rose tattoo (meant to symbolize Rose, his childhood friend he ended up accidentally killing as told back in ORIGIN) doesn't so much characterize anything new as it does hit us over the head with the old. 2/5

Writing
There's no big tone to establish here as it's something of a rest issue, meant instead to establish characters over story. As such, I covered most of the writing of the book with my complaints in the above two sections, particularly in character. Not entirely onboard with the writing here. 2/5

Art
Gerardo Sandoval's art isn't totally dissimilar to Ryan Stegman's but it's not totally similar either. Everyone has a rather similar look and build but Sandoval's art seems to be sharper, giving Wolverine's mask and almost Batman Beyond feel. I don't love Wolverine's new costume (reminds me almost too much of someone like Constrictor, weirdly) but I do like Sandoval's much sharper cowl sort of thing. I can't really explain why, just appreciate it aesthetically. And guess what, the art gets full marks because of it. I've gone mad with power! 5/5

Miscellaneous
Whatever.

Total score: 3/5


Origin II 5
Gillen (w) and Adam Kubert (a) and F. Martin w/Beredo (c) and Caramagna (l)

With Clara thought dead, Logan and Victor plan to raid Essex's compound and kill Nathaniel Essex. Logan leads the way, plowing through mines and gunfire and soldiers before reaching the building. He makes his way to Essex, who informs him that Creed tipped them off to where Logan would be. Logan guts Essex then goes to find Creed. The two fight and Creed tells Logan that he ought to kill himself now, or at least take some of Essex's poison, because he can never live as a human. Everyone he loves will leave him somehow. Before the fight concludes, Clara shows up wielding a rifle. She explains to Logan that the Creeds are also mutants with varying skills and tries to convince him not to kill Victor. Logan, not wanting to hear that, holds Creed's head in a vat of Essex's concoction until he seems pretty dead. Clara demands he leave, rebuking him for the act and not seeing him again. Four months later, a more animalistic Creed has re-emerged and finds Clara only for Clara to tell him that their little brother Saul is dead.

Story
The conclusion of ORIGIN II is a nice finish as it brings up all the regular Wolverine themes, animal vs. man, Creed vs. Logan, the price of killing people, etc., while leaving a certain amount of ambiguity to the story. Clara, who has some experience both with dealing with animals (it's apparently her mutant power, along with healing) and dealing with broken people (being a Creed), seems the perfect judge of Wolverine's character and rebukes him not for his animal side but for his cold-blooded killer man side. It's a blow to Logan but it's not inaccurate and it puts this story firmly in the camp of interesting Wolverine stories that make a reader wonder what's really going on in there. The story's ending is a little abrupt and feels like it could lead into another story all its own but without any announcement of that (unless I've missed it) or without knowing what already existing story it might refer to (whatever, I don't know it all, okay?), it feels a little strange. 4/5

Character
It's still a relatively young Wolverine and a young Victor Creed we're dealing with here and Gillen is sure to keep that in mind in each issue. Logan isn't someone at this point who weighs his decisions and thinks carefully about the cost of killing. That ends up being the driving force behind the story of this book but it's also the driving force behind the creation of his character in this book, molded as someone who knows he doesn't fit in the human world but also hasn't really had that pointed out to him so he's not even really pondering why. By the end of the miniseries, he's forced to do exactly that, wondering if he's Essex's bear, the grey family wolf, the lone wolf, or something different. Clara puts it in no uncertain terms: he's something else, something worse than any of those. He's a man who has the ability to have a different nature but doesn't. 5/5

Writing
The story and character sections cover a lot of this nicely, though it's worth noting that there are times where the exposition feels a little rushed (Clara is an exposition machine out there) because there are so many ideas Gillen would rather get across than plot points. Still, it's overall a very solid issue and a good conclusion to the series. 4/5

Art
I've liked Adam Kubert's art throughout and continue to really like his portrayal of this pre-serum Sabretooth. His post-serum Sabretooth is strong too but falls more in line with the current look of Sabretooth (albeit lacking the stupid suit. Man, I am really not onboard with many of these new creative decisions in Cornell's book. Sabretooth wears a suit, Wolverine has a rose tattoo, there's a tattooed guy whose costume is just an unzipped hoodie with no shirt underneath named the Lost Boy? All TERRIBLE). The action is good and smooth while still looking brutal and efficient. Martin's colors continue to shine throughout. No complaints here. 5/5

Miscellaneous
I don't think it was an easy job to come in here and tell another Wolverine ORIGIN after the first one had been so big and after we've uncovered so much of Wolverine's history already. Still, Gillen and Kubert came in with a goal and they clearly achieved what they wanted to achieve. Strong stuff.

Total score: 5/5


What If? Age of Ultron 5
Keatinge (w) and Doyle, Villalobos, Ienco, Edwards, and Magyar (a) and Rosenberg, Serrano, Redmond, Beaulieu, and Major (c) and Sabino (l)

In another universe, Hank Pym begins to consider the possibilities of AI when he's hit with the timeline snap and, though it doesn't harm him physically, the thought disappears from his mind entirely. It's a world without Ultron and Ultron from the first issue of this series, the one where Hank is the only human even sort of left, realizes that Earth is prime for the taking. Portals open up all through the multiverse as Ultrons flood past to shatter a new world. Everyone we've seen so far, from Asgardian Natasha to a new Captain America to Wolverine and Ghost Rider is summoned into the world without Ultron to fight these invading Ultrons. As the world verges on defeat, Hank of the first world finds Jan and directs her and the other remaining Avengers to his old, dead world as one that won't have any Ultrons left on it, a world where they can all start over. They rush through and discover it abandoned, leaving them with a whole new world to try to make better than the worlds they left, a new world where they can ask...wait for...WHAT IF?

Story
It's an incredibly convoluted way to tie everything up, if you can call it that, in this limited series. The rips across space-time start to open up and suddenly everyone we've seen in this inexplicably long series comes together and manages to escape the Ultrons out there. If you're left wondering what the point of this all was, you're not alone. 2/5

Character
There's not a lot to look at character-wise as we've already seen the majority of these characters before and we're not really here to see them evolve, just to see how they end up, I suppose. There's nothing more remarkable about them and it's clearly not Keatinge's intent to improve on them, just to push them through a story. 1/5

Writing
There's exposition aplenty in here but it somehow still never really explains what's happening or why. Ultron just has a need to conquer worlds and his other Ultrons want to conquer them too and portals open up that bond all of these worlds together and now these peole we've seen survive for probably nothing. It's convoluted and rather all over the place. 1/5

Art
The art changes throughout the book with Ming Doyle providing the new universe with art and the other artists from this series rejoining to illustrate their respective universes for one more time. It clashes a little but overall you get the point and it helps to differentiate this confusing plot. 4/5

Miscellaneous
No, I don't know why it existed either.

Total score: 2/5

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.

Comics this week!

Easiest. Pre-game. Ever.

Avengers 24
The first AVENGERS issue post-INFINITY. This is our lead-in book to All-New Marvel NOW, the newest rebranding and something I've already had to write out too many times. As I said a couple weeks ago when I mistakenly put this on my pre-game, it's a big issue anyway but it's particularly big (as in large) when purchased with the Daniel Acuña foldout AVENGERS 50th Anniversary poster. Look for that one, you guys.

Origin II
You know how when people talk about great Wolverine stories, they always bring up ORIGIN? Well now's your chance to jump onboard with another possible legendary mini-series as Kieron Gillen and Adam Kubert join forces to tell the tale of Wolverine set after ORIGIN, with Wolverine still living his days in the wild. I'm sure this series is going to be a fun ride and something with extra meaning and I'm really interested to see how Gillen works on this, a story set in the past of the Marvel Universe and which is a set five issues, meaning he has to really speed up his more novel-like storytelling. I'm heartily recommending this book as I will with just about anything Kieron Gillen touches these days, but I will add a caveat: Marvel apparently is aware of how big the first ORIGIN was so the price on this mini is 4.99 an issue. Kind of pricey for what seems to be a normal sized issue. I'll confirm that at some point.

THAT'S IT! Just two books out from Marvel this week so neither of them have to fight for top spot on pre-game or on post-game (spoilers). Truth told, though, I can't envision even the most hectic week going by without me suggesting these two books anyway. If you have the ability, get out today (comic shops should have these books out the 24th, as Christmas itself falls on the Wednesday) and check these ones out. Should be fun. I may post my reviews of them ANY OF THESE NEXT THREE DAYS so, I mean, keep checking back? And tell all your friends?



I'd like to say, again, thank you to everyone who's ever shown any sort of even mild interest in this blog. Any and all support means a ton to me. This started as a way to make sure I'm writing about something, anything, just about every day but it's turned into something of a way of life for me. Sometimes that's good, sometimes that's bad, but the support is incredibly meaningful. This blog will reach it's one-year anniversary on Thursday, when I started it because I had been thinking about it in vague terms for a while and I had things to say about the very controversial AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 700 (and, because I'd already started the blog by that point, the less controversial AVENGING SPIDER-MAN 15.1). If you've stopped by for even a moment, even if it was just to snag a screen cap or to hear some news or because you clicked my insidious links on Twitter accidentally...thank you. Thank you all. There might be changes in 2014 to the way I review or to the volume of books I review (GUYS, this has been a ton of books) but we'll talk about that later. Thanks guys. Happy holidays.

Wolverine MAX 13, Longshot Saves the Marvel Universe 2

Wolverine MAX 13
Starr (w) and Ruiz w/ Mogorron (a) and D. Brown (c)

Wolverine is back at Sean’s house and unsure of the events of the last few hours which have ended with the man whose picture he found in his pocket dead and blood all over his hands. Wolverine has very few recollections of the past couple of hours, bar a couple flashes here and there that seem like they might point out his guilt. Sean reveals that Suzie’s gone, which he links to the crime as well and worries him immensely. Sean reluctantly tells Wolverine that Suzie, Mother Night, has been hypnotizing him and this all must be her doing; the man Wolverine killed was her husband and now she’s going to be rich and they’ll be framed for the crime. They drive out to a more remote area where Wolverine, still confused and doubtful of all of this, shoots himself in the head with a shotgun. He wakes up a little while later and Mother Night’s hold over him is gone. Everything falls into place and Wolverine leaves to hunt Suzie down. He finds her and brutally kills her before meeting up with Sean again and killing him too (he was suspicious of him the whole time). After the two deaths, Wolverine gives himself up to pursuers who he assumes to be cops but, instead, he’s met by a man in a suit coming out of a limo who seems to know him.

This book continues to be slow and extremely deliberate without any real sense of a payoff. Wolverine spends most of this issue being confused and saying over and over again, both out loud and in his narration, that he doesn’t believe what’s happening but he can’t remember anything about it so who’s to say? This is another one of those books where the writer seems to think maybe we can’t keep up with a pretty straightforward comic book plot and that he should therefore probably explain it to us about a million times. This is the wrong way to approach a book that’s already a little boring because, GUYS, it makes it a lot more boring. I continue to be perplexed by the very existence of this book, with two other solely Wolverine books (WOLVERINE and SAVAGE WOLVERINE) and another coming next month (WOLVERINE ORIGINS II), all of which are better (or are going to be better, thanks Kieron Gillen) than this one and one of which is just about as brutal without, perhaps, the same amount of swears (SAVAGE WOLVERINE). Even WOLVERINE, which I’ve been pretty non-plussed by, has at least moments of interesting plot and character moments to buoy the sometimes boring parts of the book.

Longshot Saves the Marvel Universe 2
Hastings (w) and Camagni (a) and Milla (c)

Longshot’s moment with a cosmic cube has altered the universe by, apparently, splitting his split-faced foe into his two component parts and unleashing him on the world. One of those parts has taken over at SHIELD and is attempting to contain or destroy everyone with magic-based powers as they are too unpredictable and unstable. He finds Longshot and a little girl who has a demon or something of the like hiding in her teddy bear and he attacks both of them. They’re narrowly rescued by the intervention of Doctor Strange, who freezes time and brings them back to his Sanctum Sanctorum. He identifies, with some help from Longshot, the foe as the In-Betweener, someone split between Chaos and Order. His two parts have separated and it’s Order who is trying to take the magic out of the game and who intends to eventually take mutants and other super-powered entities off the board as well. Strange summons a handful of other magic-based fugitives (Ghost Rider, Scarlet Witch, and Deadpool, who had recently stolen a magic wand) and enlists their help in trying to stop Order and free Chaos from the helicarrier. They pick up Dazzler, who is working for SHIELD, along the way as she realizes Order’s plan for mutants and others. The strike is going relatively well until one of the SHIELD agents takes down Strange, who was shielding all of them. Longshot abandons ship as Order twists the minds of Strange, Ghost Rider, Scarlet Witch, and Deadpool to act as his agents. On the plus side, Chaos has been freed. Now it’s just a matter of reuniting the two…and not getting crushed by the falling helicarrier.

I don’t know if it’s a matter of having adapted to the tone of this book or if it’s because we have more of an explained plot but this issue works a little better than the first. The plot is starting to take some shape, giving us a better sense of what Longshot is up against and of his (and others’) personality and powers. There are a lot of fun bits in here, often highlighted by Longshot’s endlessly upbeat attitude, even against countless foes, and his trust in his unpredictable powers. There’s a nice beat where Longshot helps Ghost Rider with his chain by hooking it on jets and hoping for the best, which he gets when Wanda makes the jets light enough to trail behind them before being unhooked and making them heavy enough to come crashing down again. Perhaps an even better moment than that is when, near the end of the issue, Longshot throws himself off the helicarrier saying “I know what will work!” before, as he free-falls, adding “Probably!” and landing in the arms of a passing-by Thor, who releases him gently onto a padded awning and, consequently, the ground. Lots of fun stuff, a really fun attitude, and a compelling enough story make for an altogether entertaining read.