Welcome back to the Marvel Rundown! This week, we continue our coverage of the “From The Ashes” debuts with a look at Wolverine #1! For our Rapid Rundown, we’ve got a quick hit on Uncanny X-Men #2!
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Wolverine #1
Writer: Saladin Ahmed
Artist: Martín Cóccolo
Colorist: Bryan Valenza
Letterer: VC’s Cory Petit
The opening scenes of Wolverine #1 depict a pack of wolves runs through a forest. Alongside them runs a new member. It’s not a wolf but they accept it as one of their own. They hunt and protect one another. This new member of the pack is of course Logan, the X-Man known as Wolverine. After the Sabertooth War and the fall of Krakoa, he once again tuned his back on others. On his tail though is the adamantium skinned villain Cyber looking to settle a score with his long time foe.
Wolverine #1, written by Saladin Ahmed, artist Martín Cóccolo, colorist Bryan Valenza, and letter Cory Petit, is a lean and mean book. The other X-Men books in the “From the Ashes” have solidly set up identities clearly inspired by older books. Ahmed and Cóccolo take harkens back to the feel of a Wolverine solo book being all of his adventures between X-Men stories. Previous appearances in “From the Ashes” books established the character’s disdain for joining another team or being involved in mutant affairs again, even if he currently appears in Gail Simone and David Marquez helmed Uncanny X-Men book. Him being in the wilderness, isolated from others, certainly speaks to that.
Ahmed though writes a book speaking to the complexity of the character. That opening scene might show the hero wanting to be alone but he’s running with a pack. This is a character that on the surface wants to be alone but underneath craves what being with a family brings. He’s an animal but he also operates on a code of ethics. When Nightcrawler shows up asking for him to come back, he resists but he knows he can’t avoid his responsibilities.
Wolverine #1, writer Ahmed talks about identifying with Wolverine after reading the X-Men graphic novel God Loves, Man Kills. There’s an obvious enthusiasm for the character in his words and that passion is clear in this first issue. The animal imagery, Wolverine fighting Cyber, and his struggle between duty to self and duty to others all speak to a writer well versed in the character. His Wolverine isn’t just a killing machine or someone happy to do the dirty work. This is a character that struggles with his willingness to succumb to being an animal and the consequences of that.
Aiding him considerably is artist Cóccolo and colorist Valenza, whose wintery palette in this issue makes every page get progressively colder. Cóccolo just came off a run on Immortal Thor with Al Ewing where he excelled at drawing weird landscapes and massive fights. Here his considerable talent depict the Logan’s sometimes brutal Logan, who he thankfully draws shorter than everyone. And make no mistake this is a pretty brutal and visceral opening issue for a series. Cóccolo gets to draw a lot of violence from Cyber killing hunters crossing his path to the fight between Cyber and Logan.
Of the Wolverine books released in the last few months, this is is easily the most compelling. Wolverine might often come across as a ubiquitous character seemingly in every Marvel book, rivaled only by Spider-Man. But when he’s written compellingly and given interesting challenges, he’s one of the best Marvel characters. Saladin Ahmed in his letter in the back of the issue talks about Wolverine being the coolest character on the planet. With Martín Cóccolo, he makes a great case for it in Wolverine #1.
Verdict: BUY
Rapid Rundown!
- Uncanny X-Men #2
Y’know, for all the love and adoration I lumped atop this “warm, like a campfire” iteration of X-Men, I think we got the first misstep pretty early. It’s not immediately worrying, but maybe the depth and amount of story being told in the flagship legacy X-Men title should be more than what has been delivered in #2. Gail Simone splits a fifth of the page count off here for an Xavier flashback that plays into the slow burn reveal of this opening arc’s villain. She shaves a fourth off the book for a nonsense fight where adults punch out teenagers that may showcase the new characters’ abilities, but for little narrative purpose given the reveal of their mentor [hint: it’s a longtime fellow X-man]. What’s left after the narrative carve out is spent on water treading moments with comedy to get to this issue’s exposition. If the gags weren’t as dialogue based, or if this cast had a better dynamic for humor, then maybe the amount of story in #2 wouldn’t feel so cheap. Simone’s penchant for altering dialogue text to communicate accent and speech pattern is a healthy, creative vein that pays off, but it’s dragged by cringe dialogue that maybe doesn’t hold parity with the teen slang it’s trying to affect. Another glaring issue is how unhealthily thin David Marquez draws everyone, but if it makes the larger volume cast of an X-title easier to fit into a scene, that’s probably a healthier consequence of such a tight production [hint: flagship title!]. Beyond Marquez giving every female character’s lips some filler, panel compositions have reverted to head and shoulders talking and fairly stagnant acting, so body language communicates less than the dialogue. It’s honestly night and day in comparison with Uncanny X-Men #1! At least the issue is primarily set at a bonfire, so Matthew Wilson can inject a warm glow to the atmosphere separating foreground and background elements. Marquez went wide and deep on exteriors in #1, so to see the regression in #2 where the FG/BG planes flatten out and appear closer together has been an absolute shame. I talked about leaning on an anchor like Wilson, but even he limits his field depth on painting foliage here. Look, maybe this was the rushed book? Coincidentally, I’ll put VC’s Clayton Cowles, who I’m normally a fan of, on blast here! Marvel method lettering continues to drag their titles into the mud every month! I don’t know how they schedule the lettering portion of production, but this sticker slap approach based on older established styles isn’t working with newer rendering styles. Cowles’ bland approach feels like a means to an end rather than building atmosphere with thoughtful word art! Xavier’s diary pages are in a mixed case font small enough on a pdf reader to require a pinch and zoom, which breaks pace and reader immersion! I’ll back up by saying I love butting secondary and tertiary character lines into each other’s balloons rather than use a bridge– there’s also a cool example of this crossing from Jitter’s panel into Wolverine’s that shows Cowles signature creativity! Maddening I tell you! All in all, this is hopefully a single issue speed bump for the safe space X-Men! I’m willing to wait and see, but I’m not everyone. — Beau Q.
Y’know, for all the love and adoration I lumped atop this “warm, like a campfire” iteration of X-Men, I think we got the first misstep pretty early. It’s not immediately worrying, but maybe the depth and amount of story being told in the flagship legacy X-Men title should be more than what has been delivered in #2. Gail Simone splits a fifth of the page count off here for an Xavier flashback that plays into the slow burn reveal of this opening arc’s villain. She shaves a fourth off the book for a nonsense fight where adults punch out teenagers that may showcase the new characters’ abilities, but for little narrative purpose given the reveal of their mentor [hint: it’s a longtime fellow X-man]. What’s left after the narrative carve out is spent on water treading moments with comedy to get to this issue’s exposition. If the gags weren’t as dialogue based, or if this cast had a better dynamic for humor, then maybe the amount of story in #2 wouldn’t feel so cheap. Simone’s penchant for altering dialogue text to communicate accent and speech pattern is a healthy, creative vein that pays off, but it’s dragged by cringe dialogue that maybe doesn’t hold parity with the teen slang it’s trying to affect. Another glaring issue is how unhealthily thin David Marquez draws everyone, but if it makes the larger volume cast of an X-title easier to fit into a scene, that’s probably a healthier consequence of such a tight production [hint: flagship title!]. Beyond Marquez giving every female character’s lips some filler, panel compositions have reverted to head and shoulders talking and fairly stagnant acting, so body language communicates less than the dialogue. It’s honestly night and day in comparison with Uncanny X-Men #1! At least the issue is primarily set at a bonfire, so Matthew Wilson can inject a warm glow to the atmosphere separating foreground and background elements. Marquez went wide and deep on exteriors in #1, so to see the regression in #2 where the FG/BG planes flatten out and appear closer together has been an absolute shame. I talked about leaning on an anchor like Wilson, but even he limits his field depth on painting foliage here. Look, maybe this was the rushed book? Coincidentally, I’ll put VC’s Clayton Cowles, who I’m normally a fan of, on blast here! Marvel method lettering continues to drag their titles into the mud every month! I don’t know how they schedule the lettering portion of production, but this sticker slap approach based on older established styles isn’t working with newer rendering styles. Cowles’ bland approach feels like a means to an end rather than building atmosphere with thoughtful word art! Xavier’s diary pages are in a mixed case font small enough on a pdf reader to require a pinch and zoom, which breaks pace and reader immersion! I’ll back up by saying I love butting secondary and tertiary character lines into each other’s balloons rather than use a bridge– there’s also a cool example of this crossing from Jitter’s panel into Wolverine’s that shows Cowles signature creativity! Maddening I tell you! All in all, this is hopefully a single issue speed bump for the safe space X-Men! I’m willing to wait and see, but I’m not everyone. — Beau Q.Next week, Dazzler makers her “From the Ashes” debut, Darth Vader hits issue 50, and Venom War continues!
