Comic Reviews by Walt

Yeah…spoilers. I’m gonna spoil the thing. That means I’m definitely giving away how the issue ends. Talking about how it ends means the issue and series will be spoiled. Beyond the title itself being a spoiler. ‘Cuz I’m gonna spoil the details of how he dies, etc. And I’m going to assume you’ve read the issue if you’re reading this, or you don’t care. From here on, the blame’s on you, Bub.

So, I’ve never bought into this, not really. For one thing, we JUST HAD a Death of Wolverine in 2008, and a Wolverine Goes to Hell in 2011.

But now, hardly 6 (and 3) years later, after whatever the heck’s gone on in the last couple years’ worth of Wolverine comics with Marvel Now and such since AvX…we have an event mini-series showcasing the death in the title itself.

I might have bought the entire mini at $3.99 an issue with the shiny covers. They can even kinda get away with it, in my mind, on the notion of shiny covers = shiny metallic claws. But for $4.99…nope, no thank you.

And I only bought this issue to read the conclusion for myself before having it spoiled for ME, and to gauge my interest in the series in general. But I’d already been put off at the notion of a 4-issue “event mini-series” followed by a 7-issue follow-up mini, and then the various other tie-ins.

I was greatly disappointed at the LACK of a “previously” page for this issue–having grown QUITE accustomed to them in Marvel’s single-issues, given their easy omission for the graphic novel. So I don’t really know in any detail what came before in this particular mini, nor much of the recent past for the character, except he’d become “killable” with the apparent loss of his healing factor.

This issue lacked much of any substance for me as a result–picking up simply with Wolverine entering a lab facility much like the one so integral to his own history, and finding Cornelius–presumably and contextually the “mad scientist” doctor who was so integral to Wolverine’s past–experimenting on numerous subjects, STILL seeking to perfect the adamantium bonding process.

The hurt-able Wolverine fights a guard–enhanced/upgraded by Cornelius–where blood is shed and it looked like Wolverine lost his claws…or some sort of add-ons. With Cornelius facing ruination once more, he begins the adamantium process on his subjects, and it seems Wolverine tries to stop it–cutting the feed, but as a result being bathed in the liquidized metal.

Cornelius flees, and the adamantium-drenched Wolverine follows. Extracting Wolverine-like justice on the doctor, he then walks to the edge of the facility to face the sunrise/sunset (whichever) where he sinks to his knees and “dies,” the liquidized metal hardening around him.

Whether he suffocates, or the metal was hot and he was burned to death, or what, I’m not actually sure “just” reading through. And while PERHAPS there’s something “fitting” to him being killed encased in the stuff that he was famous for having inside him, it doesn’t work for me. Not at initial reading, not right now. Not for this EVENT.

Had this been just another issue of an ongoing Wolverine series, where he happened to die…an issue UN-hyped and simply ending leaving the QUESTION of “is he dead?!?” hanging, and THEN having followup books to deal with his apparent death…maybe that’d work better for me.

I’m also quite bothered by the price point to the feeling of lack of story. There are a bunch of pages of “checklist” of the numerous variant covers for this series. Unneeded pages, because you don’t need so darned many variant covers (or any at all!)

For Marvel‘s pricing–the $3.99+ cover prices–I’m not about to buy into a minimum of 19 issues of followup to a 4-issue mini-series. Maybe if I find collected volumes cheaply, or happen across stuff in a bargain bin, or perhaps for one or two issues pick ’em up another week when I haven’t already busted my budget. But no certainty.

I “get” that they (Soule in particular, it seems) want to convey the illusion that Wolverine is actually, fully, totally, completely, definitely, really, no-joke dead Dead DEAD not-coming-back-ever-never-Never…but nope, I don’t buy that.

Maybe he’s “off the table” for the final couple months of 2014, all of 2015, and into 2016 (so far planned). Two years? Ok.

Throw in an extra year, let’s say he’s dead through late 2017. Three years. He’ll be back. I honestly, truly CANNOT imagine a Marvel “capable” of resisting the urge to keep THE Wolverine–Logan, James Howlett, whatever his name is–the character that’s been around since the ’70s and all–off the table for more than a few years. Granted, I thought for sure Jean Grey would be back within a year or two and we’re going on 11 years now. But Jean never supported an ongoing solo series, and Wolverine’s topped 300 issues of solo-ongoing issues.

So…I blew $5 on a crappy single issue with a shiny cover. I read the death for myself, and I’m basically back to no Marvel for a bit. Looking back into the issue, I will probably pick up the Nightcrawler “tie-in” as that will likely be a meaningful story, and if it’s just one issue, all the better…I don’t have to invest in a bunch of issues.

On the whole? This is what it is. I shouldn’t be surprised; I’m certainly not at all impressed, and while “they” got me for this issue…I’m thankful that I KNEW BETTER than to get the entire series. All those tie-ins? Maybe if there’s a Death of Wolverine Omnibus or something I’ll consider it.

After all…the lasting element of the Death of Superman 22 years ago wasn’t the death itself–that was just the vehicle to get to stories of what happened once Superman was gone; how the people around him reacted and got on with their lives, etc. And I might’ve just talked myself into an interest in the follow-up stuff with that analogy…but for Marvel’s pricing, frequency of shipping, and driving stuff into the ground in big clusters rather than spread out and “paced.”

So long, Wolverine…see ya soon.

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