Mary Louise Eklund

Tag: Logan

Comic Comments – Rot

This is the last completed arc in Wolverine. Just one stand alone until we leave it for the next title on my pull list. We’ll return to the title after I work through the other completed arcs in other titles I read regularly. Next up will be Wolverine and the X-Men arcs that are complete. Before you start wondering given what the rotation has been so far, no I don’t just read Wolverine titles. My system of going alphabetically puts many of the Wolverine themed titles together and X-Men just behind those. Yes, I do read a lot of books he’s in because he’s my favorite character. If you are getting tired of him just hang in there. Once I get through the Ws and Xs it’ll be some time until I get back to him.

Now to the number jump and just what volume do the 300+ issues go? I’ve left them in volume 4 and it seems so has Marvel. (you can always click on images to enlarge them to read stuff) That’s a screen cap of my free digital copies that came with the more recent issues. They file them under volume 4 like me. The orderly librarian in me doesn’t like the jump. It doesn’t make sense if you are going to count all issues ever listed then jump back to issue 1 of volume 1.

That gets my notes out of the way, on to the Rot arc of Wolverine Volume 4 Issues 305-308. Here’s the credits: Cullen Bunn, Writer; Paul Pelletier, Penciler; David Meikis, Inker Cam Smith joins David as Inker for issues 306-308; Rain Bredo, Colorist; VC’s Cory Petit, Letter; Jim Cheung and Jason Keith, Cover Art of issue 305; Chris Samnee & Javier Rodriguez, Cover Ar of issue 306-308; Jared K. Fletcher, Designer; Jake Thomas, Assistant Editor; Jeanine Schaefer, Editor; Nick Lowe, Group Editor; Axel Alonso, Editor In Chief; Joe Quesada, Chief Creative Officer; Dan Buckley, Publisher; and Alan Fine, Executive Producer.

All images are the property of their owners I reproduce them here under the Fair Use Doctrine of the copyright law for commentary and critique. No more than three pages total from any one issue is reproduced.

This brings back a villain I liked Dr. Rot who psychologically tortured James back in the Wolverine Weapon X Insane In The Brain arc. It’s a great story with very pretty interior art. I hardly recommend you check it out. In this arc James again encounters Dr. Rot who is amazed by James’s brain and healing factor. After James starts having trouble telling reality from hallucinations just like in his time with Dr. Rot he sets out find the doctor.

I have to say there are aspects of this arc I don’t like. They just get to fantastical (like the brain machines/bombs in the first arc). I can take a mad genius who manipulates people by re-wiring/surgery on brains. I can take a mad genius who tortures/manipulates people into hitmen or assassins that self-destruct and he sells them to the highest bidder.

There are parts of this arc I loved. I find James overcoming psychological torture, his ultimate weakness a good story line. Dr. Rot is the person who knows how use James’s Achilles heel. Rot’d ability to control James is a thread to which I’m clinging. There is a way to make that an epic battle between the two of them that gives James a way to over come that mind control business for good. I’m hoping that is what happened here in this arc. There are panels that allude to it, but the kicker at the end leaves some doubt. Just like the Get Mystique Final Repose‘s ending came back later to bite us readers in the ass with yet another round of Mystique after James.

I don’t buy that Dr. Rot’s taking out pieces of James’s brain makes it heal clean, no memories. How about in the last arc when Mystique kept shooting James in the face? Didn’t pieces of his brain splatter out his nose from being liquefied by the repeated impact on his metal skull? Why wouldn’t that cause blanks spots? I’ll make leaps with you, if you are consistent in the rules of those leaps.

In the end this arc that could have been grand but felt as if it was just pathetic devise to get James back to having amnesia of sorts like he was before M-Day. So now he’s not got a stable relationship, Sabertooth is back, Mystique is back, and he’s got amnesia. We are quickly falling into the same old tired stuff. I returned to comics, to Wolverine upon hearing about change and growth. Those reasons are quickly evaporating. It’s going to get easier to alienate me from the title for a while if we keep rehashing stuff I’ve read for 30 years.

As for the art, I like the interior art. It’s good solid comic book art. Many times it pulled me deeper into the story. That’s what the art is supposed to do add visual elements to the story. I do think they went over the top on the gore factor. Yes, Dr. Rot collects brains and isn’t observing sanitary conditions. I get that. But trust me (I’ve seen lots of real stuff having a college friend that majored in forensics) blood doesn’t work that way be it from live or dead bodies, but especially from dead ones. I know there is an audience for gore. That’s why we have gore horror and such. I’m just not one of that audience. I’ll take realistic gore to a point. I don’t see it as an aspect of entertainment but more to add an emotional and realistic punch.

As for the covers, issue 306 is my favorite. I like the abstractness of it but what it represents within the story. Issue 305 looks like a stock image of Wolverine. I imagine they said “Oh crap we forgot to get a cover made we’ll use this.” The others go well with the arc and visually summarizes the story.

Next is an odd book out of sequence in the stories currently building. This one is set back before Schism. I’m not sure why it got stuck in here. Underneath is a stand alone where we revisit the time James lived in Utopia and was still working with Scott Summers, kinda.

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August 6, 2012
Comic Comments – One More Round

This is a stand alone that does nicely to wrap up some aspects of the last few story lines and open up some others I have a feeling are in the works. It’s issue 304, of Volume 4 or the revisit of Volume 2 or where ever we are in that.

First off with the credits. From the cover scan you see this time it took a larger than usual village, many artists contributing to the issue. Here’s the village: Jason Aaron, Writer; Steve Dillon, Ron Garney, Paul Pelletier with Dave Meikis, Mike Perkins, Jefte Palo, Daniel Acuña, Steven Sanders and Renato Guedes, Art; Matthew Wilson, Matt Milla, Rain Beredo, Andy Troy & Chris Sotomayor, Color Art; VC’S Cory Petit, Letterer; Dale Keown & Jason Keith, Cover; Jake Thomas, Assistant Editor; Jeanine Schaefer, Editor; Nick Lowe, Group Editor; Axel Alonso, Editor in Chief; Joe Quesada, Chief Creative Officer; Dan Buckley, Publisher; and Alan Fine, Executive Producer.

All images are the property of their owners I reproduce them here under the Fair Use Doctrine of the copyright law for commentary and critique. No more than three pages total from any one issue is reproduced.

The cover of this looks so familiar. I think this art has been on a cover before. It’s just one of the covers that strikes me as a cool Wolverine picture so put it on a transition issue. At least he’s bearing his teeth without doing an underbite.

The interior art goes from great to why does Sabes look like Hulk Hogan?

The story is one of Sabertooth throwing a party for all of Wolverine’s enemies. Since he now rules both crime families of the East (Hand and Yakuza) they actually show up. It’s fun to name the villain even those just in the background. It’s his birthday party and since he’s alive James turns the tables and crashes the party. He kicks Victor’s ass along with the guests to announce this is going to be his new annual tradition. Inter cut through this we get caught up the status of a few things. We see what is going on with Maverick, Melita, Hell, and much more.

It was a light issue that I’m sure will be a launching point for some stories. It made me smile that James turned a tradition on its head. For years we had Victor coming to beat up James on what they thought was his birthday. Now it is reversed. I enjoyed the issue. It was fun and got me thinking where would I take these stories next.

Next up is a four book arc, called Rot. That’ll be issues 305 through 308. It brings back a character I like very much that was previewed in this issue. Dr Rot was the villain from Insane In The Brain arc from Wolverine Weapon X volume 2.

After the jump the usual spoiler panel bits.

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August 5, 2012
Comic Comments: And Then There Was a War/Back In Japan

This story runs in Wolverine volume 4 Issues 20, 300-303. Okay I’m not sure it’s still volume 4 or did we revert back to volume 2 which would match what issue numbers we would have had volume 3 and 4 not occurred and the issue be numbered straight through. I’m leaving them in volume 4 just to keep chronological order straight for myself. WTF! Marvel this former volunteer librarian is upset in disruption of issue numbering.

The credits for this run are complicated. Issues 300-303 are done in chapters with changing artists. So stand back for a long credit appreciation list. Credits for the whole arc are: Jason Aaron, Writer; Jared K. Fletcher, Designer; Jody Leheup and Sebastian Girner, Assistant Editors, Jeanine Schaefer, Editor; Nick Lowe, Group Editor; Axel Alonso, Editor in Chief; Joe Quesada, Chief Creative Officer; Alan Fine, Executive Producer. The issue specific credits starting with Issue 20: Renato Guedes, Pencils and Cover Art; Jose Wilson Magalhaes, Inks, and Matthew Wilson, Colors. Issue 300 credits: Adam Kubert & Paul Mounts, Art for Chapters 1, 4, & 7; Steve Sanders & Sotocolors, Art for Chapters 3 & 6; VC’s Cory Petit, Letterer; no cover art credit listed in credits due to cover variants the one I have is the Adam Kubert cover. Issue 301 credits: Billy Tan & Jason Keith, Art for Chapters 8, 11, & 12; Steve Sanders & Sotocolor, Art for Chapters 9 & 10; VC’s Cory Petit, Letterer; Adam Kubert, Cover Art. Issue 302 credits: Billy Tan & Jason Keith, Art for Chapters 13, 15, & 16; Steve Sanders & Sotocolors, Art for Chapters 14 & 16; VC’s Cory Petit, Letterer; Arthur Adams, Cover Art. Issue 303 credits are: Billy Tan, Steven Sanders & Paco Diaz, Art; Mat Milla, Sotocolors, Jim Charalampidis and Rachelle Roasenbert, Color; VC’s Chris Eliopoulos, Letters, Brandon Peterson, Cover.

All images are the property of their owners I reproduce them here under the Fair Use Doctrine of the copyright law for commentary and critique. No more than three pages total from any one issue is reproduced.

WHEW! It took more than one village to make a comic this time! Apparently many wanted to help celebrate hitting the 300th issue since the start of Volume 2. Oh his whole solo title run it’d be the 304th issue. So let’s not get picky, let’s not go into who counts who’s volumes and issues. Still why go back to Volume 2? I dunno once again it’s left to the Secret Star Chamber of Marvel to know what the heck they were thinking.

Now for the cover art of the arc – to me the best is issue 301. I like the composition of it. I like that he’s in his Samauri mode, appropriate for an arc set in Japan. I think the colors are lovely. Over all it hits all the right notes with me. Thought cover 20 was close I don’t like the orangeish skin tones, could be bad printing and I’d love the original. The worst is issue 303. OMG! Those glowy outlines are back! (pounds head on desk takes comfort they aren’t in piss yellow). Ohhh and shiny shiny outfits that fit like a glove, ICK. The back ground looks off too, like a mix of photo and art – photo shop of horrors again? Finally cover that has the worst dental work – Issue 302 saw the need for some underbite action. Cover 300 which does nothing for me at all can at least bear teeth without an underbite.

The interior art is all over the board with so many contributors. Issue 20 is wonderful and I love the interior there. The rest vary from great to bad but luckily no awful stuff. After the jump I’ll chat about specifics.

The story made me lose heart for my hero. First off Sabertooth is no longer dead with his soul decapitated in hell. How long did that last? eh undid the soul part in just a hand full of issues. I’ve had decades of *singsongs* Sabes and Wolvie sitting in a tree f-i-g-h-t-i-n-g. I’m so over it. I liked it being settled and moving on. Can’t be though because I think Marvel fears letting a story line grow but instead cling to the tried and true plots until even the characters in the book mock them. I was pissed off to take three steps back to this tired overly done story again.

Speaking of that didn’t last long, Mystique’s death was even shorter. But we knew this was coming as the ‘magic’ Hand bought her corpse and dang they bring people back from the dead as often as they go get groceries. Dammit another tired worn out thing done again – just wait there will be a bit that includes a chase where James kills her in the end. This pissed me off too. When can we stop doing the same damn thing?

Seraph is still alive too. Guess it doesn’t matter we saw her bones in her coffin over in Wolverine Origins only part of that story became cannon – Daken. So mark this down as another back from the dead. It never stops!

Why do I feel I’m trapped in Groundhog Day? Where’s Bill Murray? Do I have to fall in love with Andi McDowell to get out of these over done plots? WHAT WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO MARVEL? Don’t know how to do it maybe take a gander at Fables they do it with style, grace, and character growth but keep a stable core of beloved characters. You could learn something there Marvel.

The core of the story I didn’t care about. It’s a crime family war in Japan. Except here some of the crime families have magic that bring back the dead and there are unlimited numbers of them. James teams up with his adopted daughter Amiko’s foster mom Yuriko to try to stop the war. Amiko’s boyfriend is the Silver Samurai’s son and moves in to claim his father’s position but winds up allying himself with the newly returned Sabes and Mystique. This leads to a fight between them and a break-up.

James and Yuriko eliminate the Hand in Japan. (how much you wanna bet this isn’t the end of them either?) We learn she’s alive after Hellverine’s attack but wheelchair bound. Doesn’t keep this ninja woman down or stop her from trying to get James’s pants down. Which leads to something that may destroy James and Mariko’s relationship. Which is yet another thing I find disappointing about the arc. The only thing cheery in it is Amiko, Yuriko, and James become a happy crime fighting family.

Overall I found this a very disappointing arc. Many of the things that enticed me to start buying Wolverine comics regularly again have been undone. I feel this is a disservice to long time fans. We love our characters we want to see them develop, we don’t want to keep doing the same things over and over again but this time only in San Francisco without flashbacks. I know I’m banging my head on the wall hoping for this type of deeply mature change but hope springs eternal.

Next is a stand alone issue entitled One More Round. There’s more spoilery bits and comments after the jump, join me won’t you. If not – Until next time.

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August 5, 2012
Comic Comments: Goodbye Chinatown

This starts a whole new saga in the Wolverine series. The story covers Wolverine Volume 4, Issues 17-19. The kick off saga made up of multiple arcs came to a close in the last issue. This arc sets the stage to kick off the Wolverine and the X-Men title where he becomes headmaster reopening Xavier’s school in Westchester.

As always it takes a village to make a comic and I want to give them credit for it. Here’s this team: Jason Aaron, Writer; Ron Garney, Art; Jason Keith, Color Art; Ron Garney with Jason Keith, Cover Art; VC’s Cory Petit, Letterer; Jared K. Fletcher, Designer; Jody Leheup, Assistant Editor; Jeanine Schaefer, Editor; Nick Low, Group Editor; Axel Alonso, Editor In Chief; Joe Quesada, Chief Creative Officer; Dan Buckley, Publisher; and Alan Fine, Executive Producer.

All images are the property of their owners I reproduce them here under the Fair Use Doctrine of the copyright law for commentary and critique. No more than three pages total from any one issue is reproduced.

This story violates my ‘jump-the-shark’ rule for MY X-Men. No aliens, no magic, no supernatural stuff are allowed in my favorite X-Men stories. You might like that stuff in YOUR X-MEN and more power to you, glad there are arcs for both of us. I can take these things in other titles where they fit but they don’t fit in my X-Men or for that matter when I read Batman. This story brings me so many violations I had to put it away for months and talk myself up to reading it. The pretty art helped lure me to tolerate it. Also I decided to take it laughingly – NOT seriously.

That said, the only thing that was value to me in this arc was James’s announcement of his new purpose – to start a school and not lose any more kids. He’s out to get all the money he’s stashed all around the world over his years of wandering to put into this dream. He’ll reopen it in Westchester NY where Xavier’s school was. In doing this James also saves one of his favorite bars, Harry’s Hideaway, from bankruptcy with his tab alone.

What I don’t like is the meat of the whole arc between that takes place between those events. For those who did, GREAT! I’m happy for you. But I found it just too fantastical. James gets Indiana Jones’s boy companion from the Temple of Doom. He also acquires a talking gorilla private investigator partner while physically going underground in San Francisco to battle the opium drug trade to get his money back. You see, there are HUGE (the size of Australia) opium fields under the earth manned by slaves who have real dragons as beasts of burden. Lost you too huh? Wait until you see them get the talkative Sumo wrestler and all three men get swallowed by dragons to go undercover in da bellies!

The fun part of this whole thing was the banter between James, Gorilla, and Sumo. The battle was boring and stupid because of where it was and it involved magic. I didn’t care beyond James getting his money. I was like Porter in Payback just get the money and it’ll be over. I did enjoy how Melita managed to make the move to New York to be with her man. That was just a side framing story to the whole nonsense in the underground opium fields. In the end – good wins and surfaces (again literally) in Westchester in time to save Harry’s Hideaway from closure. James is all set to start his school. So anything that saves a bar, a relationship, and a school can’t be a total waste of three issues can it?

As for the art I have praise. I think the covers are pretty. It’s a whole new team since the big saga has wrapped. I really like the formatting of them. The elements are put together to catch the eye. The first one is the start of a big journey from rogue lone wolf team member to headmaster of a school with real adult worries like financing the school and such. Dragon one is interesting and I laughed at turning the title character on his head for his cover. All in all they are what I want in a cover – reflects the story while catching the eye.

The interior art is also pretty. I enjoyed it and wished it was there to tell me a more serious story. At times it’s a bit too sketchy for me but that’s being really nit-picky. Even nit-pickier is when that damn underbite shows up for James. Other than that I’d put this up as art I’d like to see again.

Next arc is a war between Japanese crime families in the arc of two titles and five books, And Then There Was a War/Back In Japan, Wolverine Vol. 4 Issues 20, 300-303. Yeah we’ll chat about that whole issue numbering thing later, really WTF Marvel? Along with why can’t the dead just stay dead?

Until then enjoy the spoilery panels/pages comments after the jump.

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August 3, 2012
Comic Comments: Wolverine No More/Wolverine Forever

Though not numbered as an arc these two stories fit together and close the huge arc that’s been developing since volume 4 started. It is told in Wolverine Vol. 4 Issues 15 and 16.

All images are the property of their owners I reproduce them here under the Fair Use Doctrine of the copyright law for commentary and critique. No more than three pages total from any one issue is reproduced.
The credits are as follows: Jason Aaron, Writer; Goran Sudzuka, Art; Matthew Wilson, Color Art; Jae Lee with June Chung, Cover Art; VC’S Cory Petit, Letterer; Jared K. Fletcher, Designer; Jody Leheup, Assistant Editor; Jeanine Schaefer, Editor; Nick Lowe, Group Editor; Axel Alonso, Editor In Chief; Joe Quesada, Chief Creative Officer; Dan Buckley, Publisher; Alan Fine, Executive Producer. It takes a village to make a comic.

I’ll start with the art. Again the same cover team as the other issues in this volume. There things I love and things I hate about both these covers. First off the wolves, wolves don’t look like that. They don’t have coats like that. They don’t have musculature like that. Wolves just don’t look like that. I will say the posture of the one in silhouette is good but if as artists you are going do so well with anatomy of the human body use that talent with the anatomy of animal bodies too!

Second I have an issue with James having an underbite on both covers. He’s never had an underbite. Aaron and I each had one but braces fixed it for us. This dental hygienist’s daughter can’t take bad teeth. I can take the slightly oversized upper and lower canines on him. That’s been done so much to suggest the animalistic aspect of his nature. A visual reminder of his always struggling against his beast nature. However, I can’t stand by and watch bad orthodonture be depicted. My up-bringing won’t let me.

That said let me say I like the face and format of issue 16. It’s excellent and interesting. The red is very eye-catching and the off-center half face shot grabs you. The claws on display unite the elements. It’s an excellent cover. I even like the position of his fingers there, unique and eye catching.

Interior art is fine. At times it’s very pretty, at other times it’s off for me. I’m not sure how, it just is. I don’t dislike but something, too something at times. At times seems to me to be a very talented novice that’s not found their voice yet. That’s how I would describe it if it were a written piece. Too studied, too following the formula, now owned and expressed by the artist’s individuality. It’s a hard line to walk in comics to hold to the tropes and be original. It takes talent and experience to do it. Same goes for genre writers – hold to the required tropes but express your own voice. Only comes with the confidence, insight, and comfort that experience can give.

In the story James is dealing with the heartbreak of learning the last five people he killed, the Marauders, were his children. No, he didn’t know they existed but once he got into the Red Right Hand’s inner sanctum to find them all dead (think Masada) there was the proof he’d just killed his own children. His revenge hurt him deeply, he joined the Red Right Hand whose membership requires death of family caused by Wolverine. He can’t blame mind possession this time – he was in full control of himself. He did it willingly and against the advice of his BFF, who is now an angel.

In issue 15 we see him wallow in that pain. Of course he runs to the Canadian wilderness to go wildman at some point in this wallow. He does all he can to numb himself against it, almost killing himself over and over, drinking to drunken hallucinations but always his healing factor brings him back. To say he hits rock bottom isn’t going too far. In issue 16 he finds himself. Partly because he saves a group of children and returns them to his family and partly because Melita is once again strong enough to fight for her man.

I was disappointed with the final pages of issue 16. It was a stupid over the top ending to what was a character changing emotional issue. There are funny pages of various superheroes telling Melita who Wolverine is to them. The big two page spread of ‘here’s your friends’ was so sappy and so dopey. It annoyed me so much I physically dropped the issue. I felt it was a grand disservice to the more moving mature aspects of what James was going through this time as he comes out of the emotional fire with a purpose to help kids like the ones he never knew he had. (Had to happen with his man-whore ways, condoms James use them). Instead we get this ending that seems to have come from the mind of a 5-year-old – “And then, and then, ALL his SUPER HERO friends show up to stand together for him!” pfft stupid.

Which I guess is it’s okay to have a hokey ending since we are set up now to enter a really hokey three book arc, Goodbye Chinatown. Did not like it as it violated my ‘no magic or aliens’ in my X-Men rule way too much. Even with my fingers in my ears shouting LA-LA-LA I couldn’t ignore it.

The good things to come out of Wolverine No More/Wolverine Forever are major. James realize he is a hero by nature and can do a world of good. He took on the mission of helping kid be kids and protecting them. I feel he did this to honor his kids that are gone, the ones he killed and buried with his own hands. He also realized these revenge marches have consequences beyond no more bad guys. I think that’s a lot of character growth bought at a very bitter price. If Marvel has the guts to keep that growth as part of him and build on it then this whole going to hell and Red Right Hand was one of the best Wolverine arcs ever. If they don’t it falls to just another mind controlled/revenge arc for Wolverine. We have too many of them as it is.

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August 2, 2012
Comic Comments: Wolverine’s Revenge!

This is a five book arc taking Wolverine Volume 4 Issues 10-14. The story is powerful and actually is a catalyst for changes in James Howlett’s life. I have to say I greatly enjoyed it and STRONGLY hope Marvel doesn’t undo it.

The credits are as follows: Jason Aaron, Writer; Renato Guedes, Pencils; Jose Wilson Magalhaes, Inks; Matthew Wilson, Colors; Jae Lee and June Chung, Cover Art; VC’s Cory Petit, Letterer, Jared K Fletcher, Designer; Jody Leheup, Assistant Editor; Jeanine Schaefer Editor; Nick Lowe, Group Editor, Axel Alonso, Editor in Chief; Joe Quesada, Chief Creative Officer; Dan Buckley, Publisher; and Alan Fine, Executive Producer.

All images are the property of their owners I reproduce them here under the Fair Use Doctrine of the copyright law for commentary and critique. No more than three pages total from any one issue is reproduced.

Before we get into the story let’s talk art. The cover team is the same one that’s been doing the issues since the start of the run. It’s nice in that it gives the title a cohesiveness while this large arc is working itself out. Issue 10’s cover is the worst of the bunch. Usually my complaint is the depiction of the faces but on that issue it is Wolverine’s chicken legs. He’s got spindly looking legs to me. I don’t know if it’s the shading messing with my eye or what, but it’s bad. Also the guy on our left, hanging from Wolverines right there – why does he have on an ice skate? The guy on top forgot his dentures that day. It just doesn’t do a thing for me, nothing except make me think I don’t like it. If you love it fine and more power to ya, this one isn’t one I’d put on my decent cover list. But issue 14 is a different story. Despite the fact in the whole arc James NEVER wears his X-Men uniform I think 14 sums up the point of the story very well. It reflects the contents, the coloring is lovely, the anatomy is great, and the face isn’t pinched it’s in emotional agony a good representation of this arc. It would go on my list of great covers.

Now something I loved – the interior art. Really! I loved this stuff it’s good, it goes with the story very well and helped tell the story. I liked it. I can’t say enough good about it. I’ll gush more over some particular panels after the jump below. Beware though – they could be thought spoilery by some.

Onto the story, this follows the Mystique arc but to really get James’s motivation you’ll have to hearken all the way back to Wolverine Goes To Hell. Here his soul was sent to hell by a grassroots hate Wolverine group run by a Ross Perot look-a-like that calls itself The Red Right Hand with help from Mystique. While he was out of his body some demons from the pit of hell filled the void where James soul used to be. While controlling the body they killed and attacked people James cares about. If that wasn’t bad enough when he got back into his body he had to fight the demons out. All that pissed him off and he’s out to get revenge on the Red Right Hand for putting him through that. That’s our story.

He goes to their headquarters and takes his revenge. To get to the members he has to fight his way through the mutant team that takes orders from the group. That team calls themselves the Mauraders. Logan kills them all taking on the apparent leader of them, Gunhawk, last. When he finally gets to the group he learns that his quest for revenge was the ultimate weapon the Red Right Hand wielded against him. His revenge in the end wasn’t sweet but instead soul wrenching, his soul is the one most wrenched. He ignored Angelic Kurt’s advice to give up vengeance and pays a high price. I won’t spoil it here for you but it’s a kicker! One that changes James Howlett, hopefully, forever.

Inter cut between the battles with the various Mauraders we get the bios of the prominent members of the Red Right Hand. We learn that James killed Ross’s dad years ago. Ross’s dad wasn’t a good man and had killed an old woman among other things. But as is often the perspective Ross sees his dad as a good man and makes it his life’s purpose to kill James. He recruits others hurt by James to help him pull this off. We learn how Veil Lady, Trucker Hat, Japanese Woman, and the Boy all lost people they loved to Logan’s killing ability and how Ross recruited them.

I like this arc on many levels. One we get to see the inadvertent pain caused by superheroes. I’m sure most heroes in Marvel universe have a Trucker Hat type story out there that they might not know about. Where superhero and supervillian action harms bystanders. (Wasn’t that the catalyst for the whole Civil War/Mutant registration thing?) I’m sure ordinary people trying to help in the supers battles are harmed just like in the Boy’s story. I don’t think these are things Wolverine cornered the market on but I do think they are things that would effect that fortressed heart of his deeply.

Also I like all the growth potential here for James Howlett. He has reason to stop going on these murderous revenge marches. He has reasons for taking on responsibility for kids and seeing that they aren’t pawns of organizations like the Red Right Hand. He has reasons to grow as a character and not be stuck in the same old tired story lines rehashed and retold with slight variations like say set in San Francisco with no flashbacks. Only time will tell if Marvel finally grew up enough to move a story forward letting go of what sold well a decade or more ago.

Next are two issues that show how Logan deals with being the living one most harmed by his own revenge. How does a man who has dealt with pain by acting out his rage deal with the pain caused by that rage? What if because of his own mutation he can’t be destroyed by it, what then? Issues 15 and 16 answer that.

Now for the SPOILERY bits with page or panel scans and comments after the jump:
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August 1, 2012
Comic Comments: Get Mystique Final Repose

This is a one issue story that links the Wolverine Versus The X-Men arc with the following five book Wolverine’s Revenge! arc.

The credits for the issue are as follows: Jason Aaron writer, Daniel Acuña artist, Jae Lee with June Chung cover art, VC’s Cory Petit Letterer, Jared K. Fletcher designer, Jody Leheup asst. editor, Jeanine Schaefer editor, Nick Lowe group editor, Axel Alonso editor in chief, Joe Quesada chief creative officer, Dan Buckley publisher, and Alan Fine executive producer.

All images are the property of their owners I reproduce them here under the Fair Use Doctrine of the copyright law for commentary and critique. No more than three pages total from any one issue is reproduced.

This title refers to the Get Mystique arc that appeared in Wolverine Volume 3 Issues 62-65. Basically it’s the same story as that arc. Logan is out to kill Raven after he almost died because of her helping someone. There’s a chase. This one is just in San Francisco the other was all over the world. The arc was interrupted by flashbacks showing Raven and Logan’s relationship through the decades. This one isn’t we just get to the chase and fights. I’d hoped this story would put an end to all of this but the zinger at the end hints not. Like all things Marvel we may again end up chasing our tail doing the same tired story line over and over except in San Francisco and without flashbacks.

I want to point out that Raven and Logan have always had an odd relationship. Her son is his BFF. She has a thing for him and they have sex occasionally. Either it’s spite sex or he doesn’t know it’s her or it’s House of M and he’s forgotten he dislikes her. Either way since Raven’s relationship with Irene (aka Destiny) ended she’s been trying to get in Logan’s pants. As I said she has succeeded a few times. In this issue he tells her he’s had enough of her. Has he had a enough that he’ll now kill his BFF’s mom since Kurt isn’t alive to see it?

As for the art, let’s start with the cover. Again lovely anatomy, great coloring, but Mystique’s face? I guess running from Wolverine gives you bags under your eyes. Overall I like it best from this cover team so far. Still it’s too romancy for me and what goes on in the book. Trust me he doesn’t want to be that nice when he gets close to her no matter what he holds behind his back. Then again when did the cover of a comic ever accurately portray the contents? Another pet peeve of mine, also have it with movie posters.

The interior art is better than the last arc. Both were by Daniel Acuña. I have to admit there are a lot more panels here I like. Some are really nice, really nice. I’ll highlight just a few after the jump. Not so many panels with characters looking like cutouts pasted into an incompatible background. Though unfortunately there are some in this book the number is greatly reduced. Some panels still have the odd piss yellow outlining though other times it has given over to other colors. I still don’t like it and stop reading to think “why the heck did they outline that in that color?!?” So it throws me out of the story.

In the end I consider this a light weight issue. Just a bit of fluff fighting between old enemies before Logan goes after those who wronged him. I didn’t care if he got her or not. I’d done all of this before over more issues. I just wanted him to get on with going after the Red Right Hand so we could learn more about them. In the end it was much-to-do about nothing and he’s off for his revenge.

Now I’m off to a few panels with comments. Didn’t have many in this issue I cared to say anything about one way or the other. There are two scans after the jump.

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July 31, 2012
Comic Comments: Wolverine Versus the X-Men

This arc is a three issue arc taking Wolverine volume 4 issues 6-8. It follows up on the Wolverine Goes To Hell story picking up where issue 5 ended.

Here’s the credits for this arc: Writer: Jason Aaron, Artist: Daniel Acuña, Cover Art: Jae Lee with June Chung, Letterer: VC’s Cory Petit, Designer: Jared K. Fletcher, Asst. Editor: Jody Leheup, Editor Jeanine Schaefer, Group Editor: Nick Lowe, Editor in Chief: Axel Alonso, Chief Creative Officer: Joe Quesada, Publisher: Dan Buckley, Executive Producer: Alan Fine.

All images are the property of their owners I reproduce them here under the Fair Use Doctrine of the copyright law for commentary and critique. No more than three pages total from any one issue is reproduced.

Logan’s soul comes back to his body after the spiritual abduction but the demons possessing the flesh haven’t left. The problem is there are too many occupants in his head. They are battling for control inside and out.

Again we have a two aspect story. The battle for Logan’s soul inside him and the battle to keep his physical being from doing harm. Just like when the Hand controlled him back in the Enemy of the State he’s battling his own X-Men. Yes, a worn-out plot line that I hope to never see again but gee – lookie at the Avengers Vs X-Men line going on now, or schism, or well the list get longer every year.

For this arc I was again bored with what was going on in the outside world. Sure Scott has a Danger Room program to help the team practice killing Wolverine. They all fret with the ‘oh noes’ but we’ll do what we have to do.

The new spin on the old tattered plot of what goes on in Wolvie’s head is this time he’s battling demons literally. He calls up all aspects of himself to do battle. We see Patch, Weapon X, Department H, Death, and many other personas he has taken over his long life. The lead Logan starts out nude (again) and dons Samurai’s armor to lead the battle. The team do what Logan claims his the best at doing, fight the enemy.

The X-Women decide they have to give him a chance by going in there to help in the fight. Emma leads the brain invasion and Melita insists on going along to help her man.

Once in Logan’s head we are treated to touch moments and silly ones. At one point there are guideposts labeled The One That Got Away, What To Do About Daken, Things I Should Te.., Beer Garden, Memories of Mariko, and Things That Bug Me About Scott. There are labeled doors as the women investigate his mind and the doors are entitled Reasons To Hate Myself (that one has Dr. Rot’s graffiti tag, if you’ve not read that arc GET IT. It is awesome story and interor art! Insane In The Brain arc in Wolverine Weapon X TBP), Secrets of Weapon X, X-Men I’ve Had Sex With, How I Cheat At Cards, Hopes and Dreams, Sexual Fantasies, Football, Faith, and Self-Loathing. We don’t always see what’s behind the doors but the woman’s reaction to looking into some of the room often tells us what’s there. I’ll leave it to you to read the story to see what is there, as the contents don’t effect the story.

Eventually as the fortress that’s Logan’s heart begins to fall to the demon horde he throws the women from his mind. They are back to the boring reality of ‘oh noes do we kill him?’ But in his mind he still has two allies, one is Kurt who suggests he’s not an aspect of Logan’s mind but something more. The other is Jean as the Phoenix (need I point out this is another WAY over used plot device?).

I don’t think I’ll spoil anything for anyone who hasn’t read it to say in the end Logan is victorious over the demons. I mean it’s not a possessed Logan that’s running the school and once again battling the X-Men today. So you know he makes it through. How he does addresses the torch he’s carried for Jean for so long. Also his given good advice by Kurt but does he take it?

How do you know when Logan is no longer possessed? He wakes up and asks for a drink and hugs his woman. Ahhh, sweet. Good thing Scott waffles so much giving Logan time to wake up. Once again it’s close but they scuffle as class 4 mutants do and as they did yet again Schism.

I do not like the interior art. It has many of the issues discussed in DarXide’s article Photoshop of Horrors article. I found it distracting. Remember the coloring books where the outline of each part was a heavy line? Yeah that’s what this looked like, like characters were cut out and stuck on the felt board background. I don’t like it but I’ve seen much worse.

The cover art again suffers from pinched faces. Everyone looks down their nose at Logan in the first cover. In the second cover Wolvie has a dowager’s hump and has lost a lot of weight. The third one has Scott straining way too much. But all of them do have great anatomy and beautiful coloring. So it’s a give and take situation.

The story is a single issue entitled Get Mystique The Final Repose. It sets us up for the five book arc of Wolverine’s Revenge. Stay tuned after the cut for spoilery scans with my comments. If not until next friends!

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July 30, 2012
Comic Comments – Happy

This is something new to me in comic numbering. It’s Wolverine Volume 4 Issue 5.1. Yeah that’s a point one on the issue number it came out between 5 and 6 but the story doesn’t fit there. Really this is a one-off put out as a stand-alone interruption of the whole title’s over arching story line. Why it was done like this only the secret Star Chamber of Marvel knows.

Any way, the issue title is Happy and here’s the credits: Writer: Jason Aaron, Art: Jefte Palo, Colors: Nathan Fairbairn, Cover: Palo Rivera, Letters: VC’s Cory Petit, Asst. Editor: Jody Leheup, Editor: Jeanine Schaefer, Group Editor: Axel Alonso, Editor in Chief: Joe Quesada, Publisher: Dan Buckley, Executive Producer: Alan Fine.

All images are the property of their owners I reproduce them here under the Fair Use Doctrine of the copyright law for commentary and critique. No more than three pages total from any one issue is reproduced.

This is a a really simple sweet story. Melita throws Logan a surprise birthday party and invites all of his friends. However, Logan is distracted by saving a truck driver from cannibals on his way to meet her (can’t tell you how many times that’s happened to me). We see Melita learning the Marvel superhero crowd. To me the stand out stars of this are Jessica and Luke Cage. Very good couple interaction there and funny side comments.

Second we get some growth from Logan. Instead of following his instinct and dispatching the cannibals he turns them over to the law. That’s improvement, he’s doing what a Howlett would do not what a Logan would do. However the result might not be what he intended, read the issue to see what happened.

As for the art I’m of mixed feelings. First off I don’t dig the cover, that’s a fanboy cover right there for a sweet story of girlfriend throws a party and meets his friends. Fangurl cover would have Logan in his civvies like he is in the story, maybe a bit dirty from the fight.

The internal art runs from good to awful depending on the panel. So over all it left me blase about it. I’ll point out the good, the bad, and the ugly in the spoiler panels after the jump. I’ll whine again that I miss Sean Chen. I know, I know, it’s been years since he’s done Wolverine but he’s my favorite it was pretty, pretty art.

In the end I liked the story it gives us more reason to adore Logan and Melita together. She’s so good for him. We learn more about James Howlett that even Logan had forgotten despite having recovered memories. All is well that ends well and this one ends well for the couple. So PTI (Pardon the interruption) of the point one issue and we’ll return to the over arching story arc that follows the story line of what happened after Wolverine Goes to Hell. It’s told in a three issue arc entitled Wolverine Versus the X-Men.

NOW FOR THE SPOILERY BITS

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July 29, 2012
Comic Comments – Wolverine Goes To Hell

This starts Volume 4 of the Wolverine comic. I’m not sure why they started a new volume with new number just until they got to what would be the 300th issue then went back to Volume 1 numbering but kept Volume 4 designation. They didn’t consult or explain this to me. Any way, the arc takes the first five issues of the volume.

Here’s the credits for the arc: Writer: Jason Aaron, Pencils: Renato Guedes, Inks: Jose Wilson Magalhaes, Colors: Matt Wilson, Covers: Jae Lee with Jun Chung, Letters: VC’s Cory Petit, Asst. Editor: Jody Leheup, Editor: Jeanine Schaefer, Group Editor: Axel Alonso, Editor In Chief: Joe Quesada, Publisher: Dan Buckley, Exec. Producer: Alan Fine.

A bit of the legal disclaimer – All images are the property of their owners I reproduce them here under the Fair Use Doctrine of the copyright law for commentary and critique.

Let’s start with the art. The covers are pretty but honestly they don’t do it for me. There’s something about the faces I don’t like, covers 3 and 5 especially. Also the hair doesn’t do it for me either. Yet I appreciate the anatomy and colors of the pieces. Over all I can say they are great art. Yet I still have to say they aren’t to my liking either. I appreciate the talent but don’t enjoy the image as a fan.

As for the interior art. I like it. I’d rate it as some of the best. It’s not cracked into ‘OMG this is awesome’ but unlike the first issues of Wolverine and the X-Men I don’t cringe and force myself to read the comic either. I enjoyed this art, it did what comic book art does – support and tell the story. It did distract with unpleasant art or unique art techniques. It supported and made itself part of the story telling experience which is what I’m looking for when I pick up a comic.

I have to admit when I learned about the basic premise of this arc I wasn’t thrilled. I was left very cold. I don’t like aliens, magic, supernatural stuff in my X-Men. I love it in my Dresden Files, Fables, Grimm’s Fairy Tales, Star Trek, Star Wars, etc. but I don’t like it in my X-Men. Often I reimagine it to a more mundane explanation – they aren’t aliens they are other mutants, it’s not magic it’s a mutation, etc. Nothing wrong with making a story to my liking. Given that take I went into this arc reluctantly.

The basic concept is an unknown group has spiritually kidnapped Logan’s soul sending it literally to Hell. Since his body is vacant it is taken over by demons from the pit. In the tradition of the Enemy of State arc. Yeah basicly the same plot premise rewarmed with demons and a shadowy group in control instead of HYDRA and The Hand, or Weapon X, or his beserker rage, or what ever mind/body control flavor of the month. Been there done that got so many t-shirts I don’t want one that says “Possessed Wolverine Attacked Friends.” I was so bored with this part of the story I found myself flipping forward to the scenes back in Hell. I’d seen this type of story too much to care about what happened.

While he’s in Hell Logan must face his past. Yes like so many arcs where we see inside his head while he’s healing from being almost dead. Except this time he’s not in his head he’s in Hell. Again I declined the t-shirt as we visited an overused plot device.

I have to say that after reading the arc I came out with mixed feelings. Thinking about it I told Aaron what I thought and he summed it up best “bad premise good execution.” Yeah, not something you see often really. However I’m reading the arc with the knowledge of how it plays out many issues later. This is a growth for the character of Logan, something he’s been needing for some time. He’s been treading water in regrets and pining for Mariko for years. It’s also been years that he’s had his memories. He need to put to rest his daddy issues of Thomas Logan, biological father, versus John Howlett, father figure that raised him. All these agonies were moving at first but like the friend that won’t get over being dumped eventually you want to shout at him “DEAL WITH IT ALREADY.” This arc provides the answers for Logan to those things very well. He literally faces and defeats his demons. A very heavy handed way of turning a metaphor literal. That’s another thing I don’t like about it. I like finesse in writing but I admit it’s done effectively.

Let’s face it Logan’s 130 years old. It’s about time he grew up and dealt. He’s in a stable relationship with a good woman. Melita fights for him in this arc. He’s got a good moral compass and he has more experience that any other mutant on his various teams. So it stands to reason this well trained warrior take on leadership despite being some what of a lone wolf in aspects of his personality. What endears him to me is that he is the romantic that despite this hard life he has he still aspires to love, to goodness, to right winning even if that doesn’t mean he gets those things. He’s willing to make the most noble sacrifices of all, self sacrifice. He’ll do anything for a friend and that is what’s used as a turning point in this story. Which is what sells it to me. That and the fact that to reach all of Logan you gotta beat the answer into him, and trust me the Devil is the one to do that. He’ll enjoy beating bitter lessons into a reluctant hero.

The final selling point for me was I knew going into reading this arc that what happened here and followed made major life changes for James Howlett. I hope we don’t ever have to endure another possession arc (Yeah I know Dr. Rott is out there and in the current arc) or another confronting demons in alternate reality (be it in his head or in Hell). That is what would make this arc more powerful. It ended all that and opened a new era for the character. Did it? Well only time will tell.

Now for the fun part – individual pages or panels from the issues with my comments. WARNING THESE ARE SPOILERY

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July 27, 2012