Wolverine #15 (Wolverine by Benjamin Percy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Percy’s run on Wolverine has been great so far and it just keeps getting better!

When Solem was first introduced he was hyped up as a new arch-nemesis for Wolverine and some felt that he didn’t live up to the hype. However, this issue certainly goes a long way to making the mysterious, adamantium skinned mutant seem more intriguing. He certainly seems like the perfect foil for Logan, every bit as tough, every bit the seasoned warrior, but where Logan is grizzled and austere, Solem is a hedonistic party animal.

Kubert’s art is simply stunning, and once again I feel the need to draw attention to Frank Marin’s colour work, which complements Kubert’s line art perfectly.

This is unashamedly a Wolverine comic, but it’s Wolverine at his best.

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Wolverine #14 (Wolverine by Benjamin Percy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Madripoor stories rarely grab me, but this one’s an exception, as Logan investigates the burning wreck of the Marauder, which has been robbed of its cargo of Shi’ar logic diamonds. By now we know that Percy writes Logan well, but he confirms it again here, as he imbues the ol’ Canucklehead with just the right amount of gruff. This Wolverine pulls no punches as he roughs up the harbour master to extract information from him. At the beginning of the Krakoan era Logan was worried that island life might turn him soft…that is very much not the case.

The brief cameo from Emma Frost was enjoyable and I wonder which of them is truly the deluded one when it comes to the nature of the power dynamic between them?

Kubert’s art is, of course, gorgeous, but I have to single out the colourist, Frank Martin, for praise, because his colour work is truly gorgeous. His beautifully atmospheric, almost painterly colours compliment Kubert’s linework perfectly!

Back in X Of Swords Solem was teased as a new antagonist for Logan and then nothing seemed to come of that, so I’m glad that we finally seem to be getting to that, and I’m very curious to see where this story is going to lead us!

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Wolverine #13 (Wolverine by Benjamin Percy
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This wasn’t exactly bad, just a little disappointing, and…well…this was really an extra issue of X-Force, and not an issue of Wolverine. He was hardly in it.

But, let’s not review this for what it isn’t, let’s review this for what it is, and what is it? Well, it’s the second part of X-Force at the Hellfire Gala. Beast’s meddling in Terra Verde is exposed and…the resolution is honestly odd. I’m not sure that I’d accept a billion dollars as recompense for a coup in which the people of my nation were effectively enslaved and mind controlled. And I don’t think describing Beast as “a bastard” really goes far enough. He’s an increasingly dangerous, amoral, megalomaniac. If he was wearing a purple cape and helmet the X-Men would be fighting him, not counting him among their number. As I’ve said many times before, something is rotten at the heart of Krakoa, and it’s not just Onslaught.

This is all headed somewhere very bad. If you went into the current era of X-boos thinking that Krakoa would be a mutant utopia, then I think you are both very naïve and very mistaken.

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Wolverine (2020-) #12 by Benjamin Percy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A good, solid issue which, I assume, brings to a close this whole vampire arc…at least for now.

And, well, I don’t have a whole lot to say about it, really. It was enjoyable enough, I’ve just never really liked vampires and/or Dracula when they show up in Marvel comics. And between this and the Avengers, there’s been a lot of them recently. Of course I’m not even going to get into the fact that this arc and what’s been going on in Avengers don’t really make sense when read alongside each other…that’s just one of the pitfalls of shared universe comics.

I’d be interested in reading more about Louise and her work with the vampires of Sevalith…and Death of Arakko (good to see someone remembering that the Arakko mutants are still around). I’m not sure if we’ll get to see that though as the Hellfire Gala is about to disrupt everything.

But, yeah, good comic is good.

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Wolverine (2020-) #11 by Benjamin Percy
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book has been consistently gorgeous for a while now, first with art by the superlative Vik Bogdanovic and then by the legendary Adam Kubert, who provides the jaw dropping cover for this issue. However, Scott Eaton’s internal art is just…okay. And after a veritable smorgasbord of outstanding art, okay is a little disappointing.

This issue continues the ongoing vampire/Omega Red story arc, that’s been repeatedly interrupted by crossovers and anniversary shenanigans…so you’d be forgiven for being a little lost. It also pretty heavily relies on you reading Percy’s other X-book, X-Force…which I am…but if you’re just reading Wolverine you’d definitely be forgiven for thinking that you’re missing something.

It’s definitely not a bad comic be any means, it’s just…well, good…but when a book’s been consistently outstanding, good doesn’t quite feel good enough,

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Wolverine: Black, White & Blood (2020-) #4 by Steven DeKnight
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This final issue of Wolverine: Black, White & Blood sees a dip in quality after the excellent second and third issues, with only one of the three stories contained within really standing out.

There are no surprises that this is the story by Kelly Thompson, but they key here is both the art and the decision to take advantage of the limited colour palette by pitting Wolverine against a villain with red hair. This limited palette really shines with an artist with more graphic style, rather than one with a highly detailed, heavily rendered style, so Khary Randolph’s very graphic style is perfect here. The use of red in this story feels deliberate, planned and an integral part of the storytelling. However, with the other two stories it feels like an afterthought, and I think it’s no coincidence that a separate colourist is credited for both of these stories, whereas the red was added by Randolph themself in their story. It elevates this story above being just “Wolverine does the stabby,” which neither of the other stories really manage to achieve.

As a whole however, this has been a great little series, with every issue having at least one stand out story. and I’m sure different people will enjoy different stories. Definitely worth checking out if you get the chance.

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Wolverine (2020-) #10 by Benjamin Percy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This issue was just gorgeous, and while Adam Kubert should get a lot of the credit for that, colourist Frank Martin should also get a lot of credit too, particularly for the double page spread of Logan and Maverick running across the waterfront in Madripoor at sunset. Simply stunning.

The action is fairly standard Wolverine stuff, with the main intrigue coming from the fact that Maverick has no interest in moving to Krakoa. He’s happy doing the mercenary thing. But I can’t help wondering if we’re going to return to this at some point.

Anyway, this is cracking stuff.

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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!

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Wolverine (2020-) #9 by Benjamin Percy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sigh…let’s just get this out of the way first, when reviewing anything you should review it for what it is, not what it isn’t…and complaining about continuity issues in an X-book is like complaining about mutants in an X-book. They’re going to be there, and unless you’re going to have fun with them you should probably just move on. After all, there’s an entire podcast dedicated to walking you through the ins, outs and retcons of comics greatest superhero soap opera. As I’ve said before, continuity exists to serve the story, not the other way around.

(You should totally listen to Jay & Miles X-Plain The X-Men, by the way.)

Anyway, on with the review…

Wolverine visits the Legacy House on Madripoor, an auction room that specialises in super hero ephemera, such as Spider-Man’s grave, Captain America’s mask, Wolverine’s hand and…Maverick. Yes, that Maverick, the German mutant/secret agent and Wolverine’s team X team mate from back in the 90s who was never actually as popular as Marvel seemed to think he was. He’s one of those characters that Marvel occasionally takes off the shelf, dusts off and tries to do something with only to end up putting him back and forgetting about whatever it was they were doing.

Anyway, he’s back, and he’s been mind wiped and he’s available to the highest bidder…not only as a super tough special agent but also, as he’s a mutant, as a way onto Krakoa. This is, of course, very bad, and can’t be allowed to happen. Handily, Logan and Maverick developed a mnemonic back in their Team X days to help them break their programming and remember who they really are. So, you know, Logan does the thing, and presto, one deprogrammed Maverick and, presumably, a whole lot of fighting next issue (because that’s what Wolverine is the best at and it’s not pretty…or words to that effect).

With Adam Kubert on art duties (stunning work, of course, but I do kinda find myself missing Vik Bogdanovic) this really does feel like a classic Wolverine book. The cover, by Kubert, is quite simply drop dead gorgeous.

All in all a solid bit of classic Wolverine action. Good stuff!

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Wolverine #8 by Benjamin Percy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

350 issue anniversary spectacular? But I thought this was #8?!?

But, aside from Marvel’s weird legacy numbering system, I really enjoyed this issue. It seems that some people aren’t enjoying this series, and I have to wonder if they’re also reading X-Force, which is written by Benjamin Percy too? Because they really are sister books, and you wouldn’t get why the merc Logan’s interrogating keeps asking if his dog, Rufus, is okay if you hadn’t read X-Force #15. (Spoilers: Rufus is very much not okay).

And then we have GoodReads’ resident “But continuity!” troll, who I apologise for bringing up in yet another review. As I’ve said before, continuity exists to serve the story and not the other way round. It has always been thus at Marvel. The existence of the OHOTMU* has tended to give the impression that it used to be otherwise, but as someone who’s been active in the online X-Men fandom since the mid-nineties (and has been reading X-Men since the eighties), I can assure you that it has not. The OHOTMU has, rather, existed in its various incarnations to help people make sense of the mass of retcons and inconsistencies that is the Marvel Universe. Or, in other words, House of M was sixteen years ago, don’t expect writers in 2021 to adjust their stories to fit with whatever it did to alter a certain character’s status quo.

Anyway…

Apart from the prologue. which is beautifully drawn by Vik Bogdanovic, this issues is beautifully drawn by Adam Kubert, who’s probably best known for his long run on Wolverine’s solo book…which is presumably why he’s here illustrating this anniversary issue.

While featured on the cover, and a key element of the plot, Maverick doesn’t actually appear in this issue (or does he?), which is a bit of shame (or is it?) because I’ve always really liked him (or have I?).

Anyway, this is a great stuff, I just hope that Rufus is okay (or do I?).

*Official Handbook Of The Marvel Universe.

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