Wolverine #315 Review

Wolverine is in sort of a weird transition phase right now. Jeph Loeb recently wrapped up Sabretooth Reborn, but there are still several months to fill before Frank Cho's Savage Wolverine relaunch debuts. The good news is that Cullen Bunn's brief return to the series is reading less like filler and more like a necessary coda to some still dangling threads left over from Jason Aaron's run.

I'm not crazy about the idea of Bunn reverting Wolverine to his amnesiac days, even partly, but the general conflict in this arc is interesting. The series has a slightly pulpy, almost Indiana Jones vibe as Logan and his new partner Elsa Bloodstone travel the globe. The fact that Logan is decked out in full Indy attire in the 1930's-era flashbacks doesn't hurt either. Bunn shows a similar flair for fiendishly wacky villains that Aaron did. Offsetting the rampant violence and adventurous tone is the more emotional struggle Melita Gardner is facing. Aaron seemed to all but abandon the character towards the end of his run, and it's nice to see Bunn dust her off again and explore the lingering ramifications of their romance. One complaint about Bunn's structure is that I wish he would be quicker about revealing the nature of the Dreaming Maiden and what it is the various characters are actually squabbling over.

Paul Pelletier rounds out a solid storyline with his visuals. Pelletier's work is a bit more loose and frenetic than it was on the previous arc, but that doesn't necessarily go against the grain of the story. This collaboration is proving enjoyable enough that I'm beginning to wonder why Bunn and Pelletier weren't simply given the keys to a new Wolverine ongoing for Marvel NOW!

Jesse is a writer for various IGN channels. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter, or Kicksplode on MyIGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Wolverine #313 Review

The last thing Wolverine needs is a more complicated back-story, and that's precisely what Sabretooth Reborn has saddled him with. Wolverine #312 dropped the revelation that the Weapon X program was actually Wolverine's idea all along. Issue #313 wraps up Jeph Loeb's return to the franchise, and it's every bit as underwhelming as the three issues that preceded it.

For one thing, it's a bit startling how little a story called Sabretooth Reborn has actually featured Sabretooth. Even in the finale, the character has little relevance other than as a sidekick to Romulus. The notion that he spent his time in hiding training and becoming a tactical genius is never reflected in his behavior or characterization. This issue merely offers a handful of fight scenes between the three characters and a flashback or two to the Weapon X days. The same cliched fight dialogue continues to run rampant. In the flashbacks, Loeb never elaborates enough on why Wolverine was motivated to transform himself or why he was perfectly happy to commit casual murder in the lead-up to that transformation. Nor does this issue offer much resolution to any of the plot threads or character conflicts.

At least Simone Bianchi's art has its appeal. As mentioned in past reviews, his work really benefits from the shift towards more traditional page layouts. His character designs are sometimes overly androgynous, but there's a nice fluidity to the action sequences.

We've already seen other Wolverine-centric stories pick up where Loeb is now leaving off in terms of Sabretooth's return. Loeb leaves plenty more open for either himself or another writer to continue with. But considering that Romulus and his conspiracies have done nothing but dilute and complicate Wolverine's mythology so far, that prospect is not at all enticing.

Source : ign[dot]com