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Wolverine: The Long Night Adaptation #4 Review

Comic Books

Wolverine: The Long Night Adaptation #4 Review

It doesn’t matter what order you do it in, but the podcast is must-listen and the comic book is a must-read.

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.

Wolverine: The Long Night Adaptation #4 Review
Marvel Comics

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.

Listen to the latest episode of our weekly comics podcast!

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.

Wolverine: The Long Night Adaptation #4 Review
Marvel Comics

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.

Wolverine: The Long Night Adaptation #4 Review

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.

Wolverine: The Long Night Adaptation #4 Review
Wolverine: The Long Night Adaptation #4
Is it good?
If only the main Wolverine books had what this book has. It’s dark in places and a little disjointed, but the biggest surprise is how well this podcast script works in a visual medium like comics. This is Wolverine like you want to read him, from a writer who gets what makes the character work and knows what to leave out. From an artist who proves his range and plants a foundation as one to watch out for. It doesn’t matter what order you do it in, but the podcast is must-listen and the comic book is a must-read.
The story and characterization work just as well as the podcast, better in some parts.
Marcio Takara is definitely an artists to keep an eye on.
Innovative, eye-catching color work by Matt Milla.
The pacing of the podcast and the comic book don't translate perfectly.
Unfortunately this isn't the Wolvie we're getting in the regular Marvel Universe.
8
Good

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