Wolverine #1 Review
Review by Alexander Moser
Wolverine is the newest Marvel NOW book, focusing on the solo-street
adventures of the part-time X-Man, part-time Avenger of the same name.
While the starting issue doesn’t break much new ground with the
character, it still remains a solid story for the character.
We jump right into the action as the issue starts off with Wolverine
naked and partially disintegrated after an attack from a criminal
psychopath who uses a weapon to slaughter dozens of innocent victims
in a mall coffee-shop. Wolverine does what he does best, and kills the
criminal right in front of the man’s young son. The issue takes a
surprising twist when the boy runs off with the same destructive
weapon his father wielded earlier. Wolverine takes off after the boy,
prepared to do the unthinkable.
On one level the story is good. It introduces the main character,
Wolverine and spotlights his powers—particularly his adamantium bones
and healing factor. The villain and supporting characters work well
too. The boy and his father are an interesting pair, and it’s also
nice to see Wolverine interact with characters other than the usual
superheroes. My biggest problem is that the story feels “old.” Maybe
the artwork pushes this on the writer, but the book feels like it is
just another Wolverine story, and nothing special about it. Think
about this book in comparison to other books: Wolverine & the X-Men
pushes the character to lead a school, something he hasn’t done
before. Also, Savage Wolverine literally drops the character in a
place he’s never really explored before. Adjectiveless Wolverine feels
too traditional, and there’s no hook to make it feel special.
But on the other hand, Alan Davis gets the book the old-school vibe
that may attract older comic book fans. His artwork holds up well,
presenting a more retro-style in terms of character work. But his
angles and layouts are just as fresh as ever, giving good dramatic
storytelling. Mark Farmer inks the book lightly, really letting Davis
do a lot of the work. The colors are surprisingly bland for Matt
Hollingsworth, who does Hawkeye and Daredevil: End of Days. It’s
fitting for Davis’ style, but sometimes the book suffers from too many
pale reds.
Unfortunately, I wanted more in my Wolverine title. It’s not
excellent, but the book manages to do the job and tell a Wolverine
story. But why pay money for this when you can simply buy a better
trade on the character? Hopefully the book will take the character to
new places and really grow onto the reader’s interest otherwise people
are going to abandon this book.
THE GOOD
-Story introduces the premise quickly
-Alan Davis gives retro look
THE BAD
-Bland, tired story
6.5/10
