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The much-hyped Wolverine book that’ll give us answers (we hope) is out today from Marvel Comics. Not only does the cover feature an Infinity Gauntlet with Wolverine’s claws popping out (hey, Lockjaw has wielded the Gauntlet before, so why not Wolverine?) but it starts a five-part series that will hopefully explain what Wolverine was up to popping around Earth for the last year.
So what’s it about?
Read the preview.
Why does this matter?
The summary info in the preview sums up the emotional place we are all at right now when it says, “Wolverine has finally returned, disentwined from the evil clutches of Soteira…but hang on, didn’t he have an Infinity Stone? How did THAT happen?!” Yeah…seriously can we get an answer please, we’ve only been waiting since September 27, 2017, when Marvel Legacy #1 was released. That’s enough reason to read this book.
Fine, you have my attention. What’s good about it?
Gerry Duggan writes this issue with art by Andy MacDonald and colors by Jordie Bellaire. It opens right where Return of Wolverine #5 ends so read that issue first. Much of the issue takes place in a single location while Logan gets his bearings. It appears he’s just now arriving after his death to figure things out. Familiar faces pop up and a general problem surfaces that requires Wolverine’s attention. That problem directly relates to the Infinity Wars conclusion so read that before diving into this too.
That said, Duggan writes quite an easy to follow summation of Infinity Wars and the amalgam series that split off from that too. Wolverine needs to get the primer since he wasn’t involved with that event so it makes sense to go over the details. The main thrust of this series’ premise involves the Infinity Stones and how they changed at the end of Infinity Wars. What we have here is a wild goose chase for one of the stones and Wolverine, along with an unlikely partner, need to get it first. Given the appearances of Wolverine in the last year, one might suspect there’s some time travel tomfoolery afoot and it’ll be fun to see how Duggan weaves past events into this series.
MacDonald draws a good issue effectively recapping Infinity Wars in about two pages. His inks give the book a darker tone that suits the gloom and doom Wolverine walks into to start the book. Layouts vary nicely too like a great 9-panel grid page between Wolverine and a new partner and two fantastic pages to open the book that recaps the illustrious history of Logan.
It can’t be perfect, can it?
If you have event fatigue at all you might just hate this book. Not because it’s bad, but because it’s the culmination of a year of hype, multiple storylines, and the like. It’s essentially teasing out answers from a longstanding tease. Is it unfair to build a miniseries off tease after tease? Possibly, but we’ll read it won’t we?
Is it good?
A good issue that adequately sets up a new mission for Logan, pairs him with an odd character and sets in motion a story that should feel shiny and new given the circumstances. Does it offer answers? Not yet, but at this point, I’m excited to know something will come from this 5 issue miniseries.
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