The mystery deepens and the night grows colder as a hunted Wolverine and the agents hunting him continue to claw their way to the truth.
If you like your Wolverine comics raw, violent and painful then this is the Wolvie you aren’t getting in any other book. This isn’t returning Logan, crossover Wolvie or point man in Uncanny X-Men. This is self-contained stand-alone canuckle-head where the scars are both physical and psychological.
Benjamin Percy’s script isn’t a “just-the-crux-of-it” adaptation that you might breeze through as publisher attempts to cash in on the latest blockbuster.
This is faithful, character-driven stuff that just happens to detach itself from the rest of its universe but is all the more effective because of it.
The mystery, even if you’ve listened to every episode of the podcast, is just as tense in this issue. The turning points and pacing might not line up exactly, but it takes nothing away from the reading experience.
The characters standoffishness, seclusion, and isolation come off just as palpable here too. If you don’t listen to the audio version of this story, you’ll still become entrenched in the town’s secrets and be intrigued by the well-fleshed-out characters.
If you do listen to the Marvel produced radio-play, then your reading experience should be enriched by the echoes of the great acting all involved had the opportunity to sink their teeth into from a brilliant script.
The art is appropriately dark and moody. But taking place in a perpetual witching hour offers the art team a real chance to set this apart from the podcast. It’s an opportunity they seize with all six claws.
Matt Milla finds ways to keep the nighttime setting visually interesting through innovative lighting choices and selective color palettes that wring out every ounce of the atmosphere from the story.
Marcio Takara really stakes his claim for regular ongoing work and more attention. The man can lay out panels and control suspense extremely well. He can also draw figures with unique distinction. It’s something artists like Greg Capullo relish and, if the way Takara renders the townsfolk as distinct individuals, I’d wager this artist shares that affection.
His Wolverine fits this story as well as Percy’s writing fits the character. This is a Wolvie you’re not likely to see next to the word “Infinity” or in a thousand team books. The core of the look harkens back to the roughened, world-weary loner of John Buscema’s era but as told by an alternate Suicide Squad era Trevor Von Eeden. There’s even a hint of Sienkiewicz here. It’s different and it’s terrific.
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