Wolverine is dying, and it’s going to take him four issue to do it. See how close to death he gets in this Death of Wolverine #2 review.
DEATH OF WOLVERINE #2
Writer: Charles Soule
Artist: Steve McNiven
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $4.99
Previously in Death of Wolverine: Wolverine’s healing factor is gone, and if he keeps being the best he is at what he does, he’s going to die!
THE FINAL SNIKT
As comic book fans, we have an aversion to death comics. Oh sure, we buy them in the thousands, but do fans really like them? At this point, we’ve had the death of Superman, Captain America, Spider-Man, Batman, and virtually most of the heroes at the big two. Luckily, Charles Soule subverts all our expectations, and is delivering a solid trip back down Wolverine’s memory lane.
Death of Wolverine #2 takes us to Madripoor. There Logan assumes his Patch persona, and is trying to pawn off one of Iron Man’s helmets. Eventually, this leads him to a showdown with Viper, Sabertooth, and Lady Deathstrike. It’s nice to see these characters, especially with their strong impact on Logan’s past, but very little explanation is given as to why they are actually there.
Despite that, this script by Soule is great. I thought this series would be a gimmick event, but Soule is touching on enough of Wolverine’s past to make this journey interesting. This series seems like the final episode of a TV series that has been airing for ten years. The sense captions used by Soule and lettered by Chris Eliopoulos help to build tension in the story, and are a neat inclusion.
The weakest part of this issue is the inclusion of Sabertooth. There’s a two page spread to show us the history between the two. But other than standing around and growling, Sabertooth has nothing to do here.
DRAWING DEATH IS GOOD
Steve McNiven has been consistently producing incredible artwork ever since Civil War. The Death of Wolverine is just as strong. Using the artwork to show us how precise and measure the Logan must fight now in his post-healing factor state is brilliant. Panels zoom in and out so that we can see every hit and break; creating a dynamic action sequence that I would love to see adopted into more books.
THE BOTTOM LINE: DEATH IS GOOD, SOMETIMES
The Death of Wolverine #2 was a book that I expected to not like so I am extremely pleased that I’m looking forward to the next two issues. It’s a great finale that touches on every aspect of Logan’s past. Wolverine should have died years ago if it was going to be this good.
