Wolverine: Black, White & Blood (2020-) #3 by Donny Cates
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Well, this is really rather good, and features three very different artists who are all superb in their own right.
The first story, written by John Ridley and illustrated by Jorge Fornes, is essentially “Wolverine does the stabby”…which is something I’ve criticised some of these stories for before, but this is “Wolverine does the stabby” done well. This is “Wolverine does the stabby” with depth. Because, yes, there’s a lot of stabbing, but the reason for the stabbing will give you a punch in the heart and you’ll end up feeling sad for pretty much everyone involved. And, yeah, Logan is a spectacularly bad adoptive father. The art is also gorgeous. There’s an economy of line here that’s simply stunning, and out of the three stories in this comic, it uses the red the most effectively.
The second story is written by Donny Cates and illustrated by Chris Bachalo, who is one of my all time favourite artists. That said, I do prefer his art when he’s inked by someone else (particularly Tim Townsend) and he’s inking himself here. It means that at times there’s a lack of clarity to his pages and they lack a clear focus. I also feel he hasn’t used the spot red particularly effectively here. That said, it’s a fun story and the art is still gorgeous.
The third story, written by Jed MacKay and illustrated by Jesus Saiz, is probably the weakest artistically, but the cleverest in terms of writing. Wolverine visits Mars, to deal with a rogue offshoot of AIM called MAIM. His overconfidence originally gets the better of him as he underestimates his enemies, but ultimately he outsmarts them and…well…does the stabby.
This series has fast become a favourite of mine, and with the promise of a Kelly Thompson penned tale in the next issue, I can’t wait to read more!
Random Ramblings Of A Ragamuffin 