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.

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Wolverine and the X-Men #18 Review

Wolverine and the X-Men #18 is heart breaking. Sure, Avengers vs. X-Men had a death that everyone was talking about, but this issue features one that ripped my soul out. It's not done poorly or played for some sort of cash grab gimmick; it's sincere and sad and brutal. Maybe it's not how it looks; maybe the character isn't dead and this is all Jason Aaron playing with us. Either way, this is a character's death in superhero comics done right. This is just a damn good comic book.

Aaron delivers in all the best ways here. He manages to tie-in the ending of the major Marvel event without having it disrupt the story. It feels natural, like the characters populate the same world. Everything just clicks. The dialogue, the pacing, the humor, all of it. You can feel the weight of AvX in these pages and yet the events of Wolverine and the X-Men feel just as important. More so, actually.

The writing kicks major butt in this issue, but so does the art. Jorge Molina nails it. His crispy, clean style showcases the heart and emotion of this story perfectly. That's right: perfectly. There are glimpses of action throughout the book, but the best bits take place at a school dance. A school dance that Lockheed deejays. It's amazing stuff. When you see a little character's heart break, Molina makes sure your heart breaks along with him. If you like comic books, you owe it to yourself to check out Wolverine and the X-Men.

Benjamin Bailey has been crying all day. Follow Benjamin on Twitter @616Earth, or find him on IGN.

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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.

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First Look Photo: Hugh Jackman in The Wolverine

20th Century Fox released the first photo today of Hugh Jackman from The Wolverine, the upcoming sequel directed by James Mangold.

The Wolverine opens July 26, 2013.

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Jackman Talks Wolverine's End

Hugh Jackman and director James Mangold were out and about in Australia today, promoting the start of production on The Wolverine. During the press op, Jackman discussed the importance of the character to him.

"I have been working for 12 years on the Wolverine character and while the franchise will go well beyond me, it really has been the backbone of my career,” Jackman said, while adding that he will stop playing the character “when I stop loving it. … This one has certainly been the most interesting and complex of the superhero characters. I do take my career one [step] at a time and I feel like a golfer always looking for that hole in one."

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the famed X-Men's sequel starts shooting next week. And to celebrate, Jackman and Mangold gave Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard a tour of the film's sets at Sydney’s Fox Studios.

The Wolverine will also shoot in Japan, but the Australian portion of the production is receiving a "one-off federal government grant of $12.8 million, boosting the location tax rebate, which normally sits at 15 percent of a production's qualifying expenditure, to around 30 percent." Bringing Hollywood productions to town with such rebates is good for the local economy; The Wolverine is expected to put $80 million back locally and support some 2,000 jobs.

As for details regarding the film and its casting, Jackman and Mangold weren't talking. In particular, they wouldn't comment on the rumors that Jessica Biel had recently withdrawn from the role of the villainous Viper. (The latest reports peg Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy actress Svetlana Khodchenkova as being up for the part.)

You can get a sneak peek of the sets and production art here, however. What can you glean from those shots?

Talk to Movies Editor Scott Collura on Twitter at @ScottIGN, on IGN and on Facebook.

Source : ign[dot]com