Book Review: Wolverine: Sabretooth Reborn by J. Loeb et al.

Wolverine: Sabretooth Reborn written by Jeph Loeb and art by Simone Bianchi

Wolverine, who had beheaded Sabretooth previously, gets drawn into a scheme by another villain who wants to bring Sabretooth back to life. The trail leads to the Weapon X Project, where Logan was given claws and had adamantium bonded to his bones. There, he discovers a mysterious redhead who fights alongside Wolverine as he discovers dozens and dozens of clones of Sabretooth...an army ready to start a new empire.

This story is not really a stand-alone narrative. A previous volume detailed the death of Sabretooth, which obviously didn't last long. Without the background, the plot is still comprehensible though I didn't feel like the stakes were really high or compelling. The art is really great though Sabretooth's look is different from what I have experienced before. This book reads quickly but is a bit underwhelming.

Not recommended unless you have been in the continuity, then it might make more sense or be more compelling.

Book Review: Hunt for Wolverine: The Claws of a Killer and Mystery in Madripoor by C. Soule et al.

Hunt for Wolverine: The Claws of a Killer written by Charles Soule and Mariko Tamaki, and art by David Marquez, Paulo Siqueira, Butch Guice, and Mack Chater

Wolverine died encased in adamantium (the same metal that makes his bones unbreakable). The X-Men had set up a cabin in remote Canada with his remains. A group of desperate villains, the Reavers, find the location and try to steal the encased corpse. The X-Men had set up some security and arrive to stop the desecration of Wolverine's grave. The Reavers try to get a little bit DNA so they have something to sell, only to discover the adamantium covering is only a shell--there's no body inside. The X-Men had moved his corpse to a grave not far away. When they go to visit the real burial place after the fight, the X-Men discover Wolverine's body is gone. Realizing this is a perilous situation, Kitty Pryde organizes several teams to search of the missing body.

One group after Wolverine is led by Lady Deathstrike, who is a former Reaver. She's informed by the one Reaver who escaped the X-Men that Wolverine's body is missing, so she puts together a team to hunt for Logan. Old enemy Sabretooth and Wolverine's estranged son Daken follow Deathstrike to a small desert town. An adamantium scanner shows activity there, though when they arrive, the town is overrun with zombies. They have to fight their way out as they figure out what is going on.

The story quickly morphs into a Walking-Dead style horror story with the larger story looming over the action. A lot more people than Daken wind up having family issues by the end of the story. It wasn't that interesting overall though there were a few good moments. Nothing really happens to affect the characters or the bigger story. Meh...

Only recommended if you like the rest of the Hunt for Wolverine series.

Hunt for Wolverine: Mystery in Madripoor written by Charles Soule and Jim Zub, and art by David Marquez, Paulo Siqueira, Thony Silas with Leonard Kirk

The final group after Wolverine is led by Kitty Pryde. She takes a few of the X-Women (Storm, Jubilee, Rogue, Domino, and Psylocke) to Madripoor, an island overrun with crime (Wolverine had lived there years ago). Magneto has been in charge and he seems like a likely suspect for taking Wolverine's body. They arrive to find Magneto himself has been kidnapped and a group of villainous women led by Viper have their own project that may or may not involve the fate of Wolverine. 

The tone is like a James Bond-style spy adventure. The group of heroes tries to infiltrate the seedier side of Madripoor, so they dress scantily and head into action. They wind up fighting an interesting variety of opponents, also all female and scantily clad. So the whole package comes off a little exploitative. The story is interesting but does not resolve the larger mystery and only provides hints toward who really took Wolverine and where he is now.

Not really recommended--I guess you need to read this for the whole Hunt for Wolverine narrative but it definitely does not stand up on its own.

Book Review: Hunt for Wolverine: Weapon Lost and The Adamantium Agenda by C. Soule et al.

Hunt for Wolverine: Weapon Lost written by Charles Soule, art by David Marquez, Paulo Siqueira, and Matteo Buffagni

Wolverine died encased in adamantium (the same metal that makes his bones unbreakable). The X-men had set up a cabin in remote Canada with his remains. A group of desperate villains, the Reavers, find the location and try to steal the encased corpse. The X-men had set up some security and arrive to stop the desecration of Wolverine's grave. The Reavers try to get a little bit DNA so they have something to sell, only to discover the adamantium covering is only a shell--there's no body inside. The X-men had moved his corpse to a grave not far away. When they go to visit the real burial place after the fight, the X-men discover Wolverine's body is gone. Realizing this is a perilous situation, Kitty Pryde organizes several teams to search of the missing body.

One team is headed by Daredevil, who likes a good mystery. He recruits Misty Knight, an ex-cop from New York City with a cybernetic arm, and Frank Magee, an ex-detective from NYC who became an Inhuman when the city got dosed with Terrigen Mist. They start chasing down leads with the help of Cypher, a mutant who can communicate in any language and is addicted to the internet. Cypher finds a lot of online leads about Wolverine's whereabouts, too many for the team to investigate. They start narrowing the list and following up on the most likely leads.

The overall story has an interesting set-up and is spun out over several different series following the various teams (one lead by Iron-man, one by Kitty Pryde). The Weapon Lost story is deliberately noirish in style and provides an interesting investigation. The story is not fully resolved, so I will probably read the other series.

Mildly recommended--this is the middle of a larger narrative arc. I read this before I read Death of Wolverine, so the whole "encased in adamantium" fate was new to me. But I found it intriguing enough to keep going.

Hunt for Wolverine: The Adamantium Agenda written by Charles Soule and Tom Taylor, art by David Marquez, Paulo Siqueira, and R. B. Silva

The team in this book is headed by Tony Stark, aka Iron Man. His investigative group is Spider-man, Luke Cage, and Jessica Jones. Why those three? A couple of years ago, Tony and those three worked with Wolverine to stop a bomb from destroying Manhattan. Wolverine had made a mysterious deal with  all of them that brings them back together to search for Logan. Tony finds out about a black-market auction that promises the complete DNA of someone from the superhero community. Has the black marketeer has acquired Wolverine's body to monetize it? The group goes off on an adventure to find the sale and bring the seller to justice, hopefully finding out the fate of Wolverine along the way.

The mysterious backstory provides intrigue for readers and motivation for the main characters. I found the tale interesting even though it is not entirely conclusive.

Mildly recommended--this is stronger than the above tale.

Book Review: Death of Wolverine by C. Soule et al.

Death of Wolverine written by Charles Soule and illustrated by Steve McNiven

Wolverine has lost his healing factor and has become the target of every enemy who ever wanted to get even with him. He spends his time fighting off bad guys and visiting the smartest people to see if they can help. Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four can't immediately help but he is sure that he can. Wolverine is not patient enough to wait. Also, he discovers that a contract has been put out on him, not to kill him but to bring him in alive. Logan realizes that the only way to end the constant fighting is to figure out who is putting up the money and put a stop to them. 

The story wanders through a lot of Wolverine's "greatest hits" including visits to Japan and Madripoor. The finale is a bit disappointing as he seems to be able to avoid dying, though death has been his wish for a while. The plot moves so quickly that the four issues fly by. The art is quite good. If only the narrative had lived up to it. 

I read this because the Daredevil series I am currently reading crosses over with the next narrative, Hunt for Wolverine. Because who really believes that Wolverine is dead and gone? That's the problem with popular characters. They might get killed only to be brought back from death (which has happened with Batman three or four times since 2000). 

Barely recommended--it looks great but it doesn't read great.

Movie Review: Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)

Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) co-written and directed by Shawn Levy

Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) is feeling a bit insignificant, mostly because his girl (Morena Baccarin) has dumped him. She has realized he only cares about himself. To show he has greater ambitions, he tries to join the Avengers and gets turned down almost immediately. He lives the lackluster life of a car salesman until his birthday party is interrupted by the Time Variance Authority. The TVA wants to take him in for the time travel shenanigans from the previous film, though they really have an ulterior motive. When the TVA official who pulled him in (Matthew Macfadyen) explains what he really wants, Deadpool doesn't want to play along, partly because he doesn't understand and partly because it reinforces his insignificance. He makes up his own plan (getting a hero who can save his world, i.e. Wolverine (Hugh Jackman)), which doesn't quite work out, so he keeps on coming up with other plans as the movie gets wilder and weirder.

The movie has a lot of action, a lot of jokes, and a lot of gore. The plentiful fights are mostly played for comedy and involve a lot of bloodletting. Deadpool's jokes stick to his two standbys--adolescent humor and fourth-wall-breaking remarks. Wolverine's laconic, grim dialog provides some laughs too. The high body count has so much blood being spilled, it's hard to take seriously and helps to mask a lot of mean-spirited acts. 

One or two characters point out that Deadpool is more a joke than a hero, a reality that he bristles at and tries to change. Of course, reality itself is on the line since the universe Deadpool is from is about to collapse. He travels through several other universes in search of a Wolverine to help him out (since his own universe's Wolverine is the one who died in Logan). He winds up in a "dumping ground" universe which allows for a bunch of cameos from previous films and new characters who appear for the sake of some laughs and to move the plot along. Deadpool does do something heroic at the end but it does not really change his character. This is probably deliberate since who wants a Deadpool who behaves like an actual adult? His appeal is his ultra-violent, ultra-selfish, ultra-jerky behavior.

The Wolverine Deadpool winds up with is the most interesting character. He has an actual character arc with pathos. He provides a welcome contrast to both Deadpool and Jackman's previous Wolverine character. But he's still stuck in a Deadpool universe. At one point, the two main characters fight all night, which points up the pointlessness of their conflict. Both have a healing factor that means neither can really kill the other. There's a lot of mayhem but no real stakes and viewers already know how the situation will turn out. With all the fourth-wall-breaking, I was fully aware of how the movie would turn out and had a hard time finding the peril credible. 

Not recommended--this a lot of Deadpool humor and violence, cranked up past 11. If you enjoy that, you'll like the movie. I have had my fill of Deadpool.

Book Review: Wolverine by C. Claremont et al.

Wolverine written by Chris Claremont, penciled by Frank Miller and Paul Smith, and inked by Josef Rubinstein and Bob Wiacek

This graphic novel collects the early 1980s limited series Wolverine (four issues) and two follow-up issues from Uncanny X-Men. The story follows Wolverine as he goes to Japan to find the love of his life, Mariko Yashida. She has mysteriously cut off contact with Wolverine and has returned to her family home. Turns out she's been given in marriage by her father, a wealthy and well-connect man who incurred some sort of debt, to some jerk who treats her poorly. Wolverine has more than a culture clash when he tries to find out why Mariko is choosing duty and honor over him.

The plot is more complicated than the average comic book. In the brief introduction, Chris Claremont  describes how he and artist Frank Miller discussed Wolverine as a character and how they'd like to see him develop from the berserker killer into something different--maybe better, maybe worse. They wanted him to have a character-altering experience. This book does a great job with that. Wolverine is more thoughtful and set in contrast to another character, Yukio, a female assassin who lives life to its fullest because she might die at any minute. She's vicious and feral like Wolverine. Wolverine realizes he needs to be more if he's going to be worthy enough to marry Mariko.

The story is very well-told, with good action and nice twists. Wolverine is given more depth and humanity without turning him into a sappy, angst-ridden hero. He becomes a more three-dimensional character and, if possible, more beloved by the fans.

Highly recommended.

Movie Review: Logan (2017)

Logan (2017) co-written and directed by James Mangold

In the year 2029, the hero formerly known as Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) works as a chauffeur named James Howlett (though everyone calls him Logan) near the Texas/Mexico border. He tries to keep a low profile and build up some money for his retirement plan--buy a boat and sail the oceans with Charles Xavier, i.e. Professor X (Patrick Stewart). Charles has been staying south of the border in an abandoned industrial plant. The location is ideal since his occasional mental seizures have not caused the psychic devastation they did several years before in Westchester (a mysterious event that is never fully explained). Logan brings supplies and helps care for the old man. When Logan isn't there, another surviving mutant, the albino Caliban (Stephen Merchant) takes care of Charles. Mutants have pretty much died out by this point and they seem like the last to go.

Until a woman approaches Logan and asks him to take her daughter, Laura, to the Canadian border. Laura turns out not to be her daughter but is part of an experiment to bring new mutants into the world as corporate products (mostly as weapons/soldiers). Logan knows the corporation is bad news and at first refuses. But Charles recognizes the girl as someone he's been in psychic contact with and he wants Logan to do the job. One thing leads to another and the three (Logan, Charles, and Laura) begin a road trip north.

While the story does have superheroic elements, it's more about Logan dealing with old age, mortality, and a loss of purpose. His struggle is realistic and affecting, even when he descends into hard-core violence to get things done. His relationship with Xavier has the odd-couple banter and frankness that shows their long-term friendship so well. They don't agree on everything and are perfectly willing to speak their minds. The actors are uniformly great and the action, while very violent (lots of heads roll literally as well as many craniums show adamantium claws sticking out), serves the story and the tone perfectly.

The great story and the great acting make for a wonderful film that is entertaining and satisfying. My only (and very minor) qualm is that the filmmakers seem to have given up on having continuity among the X-Men franchise films. This one doesn't seem like it fits in with the other stories, but as a stand-alone story, this is superb.

Highly recommended.

Book Review: Wolverine: Old Man Logan by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven

Wolverine: Old Man Logan by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven

Mark Millar is famous in comic books for ultra-violent, blood-soaked, high-concept stories. He's the author of Wanted (a bunch of assassins with amazing powers duking it out), Kick-Ass (a kid decides to be a superhero without any superpowers and is constantly beaten to a pulp), and Nemesis (a wealthy socialite goes on a crime spree as if he's the moral opposite of Bruce Wayne). Old Man Logan follows in these footsteps.

Wolverine tries to lead a quiet life as a farmer in a dusty future California. The story begins fifty years after almost all the superheroes were killed. The supervillains have taken over and divided up America among themselves. The Hulk clan runs the west coast and they've been harassing Logan's family. Logan can't make the rent payment on his farm so Bruce Banner's redneck grandchildren threaten to eat his family if he can't pay double next month. Enter the blind, aged Hawkeye who recruits Logan for a cross-country trip to deliver a mysterious package. The money will set Logan's family up for months. Logan accepts on the condition that he will not fight, just drive across the country. Hawkeye doesn't believe him but does accept.

The story is a journey of discovery. We readers discover what America would be like if supervillains were running the show. We discover how they came to power and what they did so Wolverine turned into a pacifist. Logan discovers how bad things are and if his inner berserker is really gone.

I enjoyed this book as an imaginative reworking of Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven. In addition to ripping off the plot, Logan is depicted almost exactly like William Munny both as a character and in his physical appearance. The ending is different.

Millar provides some interesting twists on various characters (mostly villains) which is fun if you are already familiar with Marvel's universe. The violence and blood are over the top so it certainly isn't for everyone.

Movie Review: The Wolverine (2013)

The Wolverine (2013) directed by James Mangold

Another film I meant to see last summer (along with Pacific Rim, World War Z, Much Ado About Nothing, Evil Dead, Man of Steel, The World's End). I like the character and Hugh Jackman is usually reliable. 

Wolverine followed in Superman's footsteps last summer. Both characters had a disappointing solo outing a few years ago (X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Superman Returns) followed by a much better, though not great, film this past year. Superman's reboot left him a bit unsure of himself as a moral hero (not his usual Boy Scout self); Wolverine's new film drains out his healing factor (not his usual immortal self).

Wolverine's movie starts with his memories of World War II, specifically when he was in a prison camp just outside Nagasaki before the atomic bomb was dropped. He saved one of the Japanese soldiers who eventually became a highly successful businessman. In the modern day, the businessman sends one of his workers with a gift for Wolverine and a request to come say goodbye to his dying friend. The businessman can afford the best of care but he's an old man and doesn't have much longer to live. Unless, of course, he could get healing powers like Wolverine's...

The plot moves on from there in fairly predictable but not unenjoyable fashion. Almost every Japanese stereotype is in the film (seppuku, yakuza, bullet trains, martial arts, samurais, family honor, ninjas, etc. etc.--except I didn't see any sushi or Godzilla*). Logan's loss of healing is a little bit inconsistent but is a good way to make him vulnerable. Hugh Jackman gives a good performance as a tortured soul dealing with a tortured body. And fighting like a crazy, one-man army.

Like Man of Steel, The Wolverine is a big step in the right direction for the character and a lot better than I was expecting.

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*Godzilla vs. Wolverine is a movie I would definitely make an effort to see in the theater.