Wolverine #1
Wolverine tackles drug smugglers and vampires in Wolverine #1, by writer Benjamin Percy, artists Adam Kubert and Victor Bogdanovic, colorists Frank Martin and Matthew Wilson, and letterer Cory Petit. Back in his first series since his return from the dead, this book showcases two separate Wolverine adventures, as he goes on Krakoan business and deals with an old enemy.
There are two stories in this comic- in the first, Wolverine wakes up, heavily injured, surrounded by the members of X-Force- all seemingly dead by his hand. Five days before, Kate Pryde brings Logan news that shipments of Krakoan drugs have been disappearing. Meanwhile, a CIA agent named Bannister is investigating a drug house where all the cooks are dead by their own hands… and the place smells like flowers. Back on Krakoa, Sage tracks down a high concentration of Krakoan pollen to a place outside of Moscow and Wolverine, and X-Force go to investigate as agent Bannister gets a file about the illegal trade in Krakoan drugs- drugs that would save his daughter’s life. Wolverine and X-Force find a cult that worship mutants and are attacked as the cult ingests Krakoan pollen and tries to drink the team's blood in a vain attempt to become mutants themselves. Something happens to the cult, though, as they start to burn up before they can answer any questions. Logan tracks their supplier to Moscow and learns where they got the drugs. X-Force and the CIA both plan a raid on the same location. In the present, Logan comes across the CIA agents.
In the second story, Omega Red shows up to Krakoa, covered in blood and reeking of death. Wolverine doesn’t want to allow him to stay on the island, but Magneto says they have to and orders Wolverine to investigate where Red came from. In Paris, Wolverine finds a car full of corpses and goes back to Krakoa. He interrogates Red, who denies involvement and sends Logan to a club in Paris. He’s approached by a woman selling flowers and tries to get her to come with him, but she refuses. In the club, he is given poisoned absinthe and wakes up as he is being tapped by vampires. The woman bursts into the club and starts killing the vampires. She frees Wolverine, and he heads back to Krakoa, where he confronts Red again, asking him about the vampire. Red tells him a story about a saint, and Wolverine returns to Paris, meeting up with the woman, whose name is Louise, and is a member of an anti-vampire group called the Nightguard. They go on a hunt in the Paris catacombs and are attacked by vampires. A bunch of them drink blood from Wolverine and head away, where they are pulped and fed to another vampire, Dracula. It’s revealed that Omega Red is working for him in exchange for the Carbonadium Synthesizer. The vampires are rising, and they have a mole on Krakoa.
Benjamin Percy is a great fit for Wolverine. The first story of the book is basically an X-Force story with more of a focus on Wolverine, but it does something very interesting. At the beginning of the flashback section, it shows Wolverine playing with the children, just like in House Of X #1. Many readers might have thought that was a throw-away panel in HoX, but Percy reveals it’s something more important- Logan is happy. Being on Krakoa, surrounded by his family and friends with the threat of death gone, has made him happy. This is a very important development for Wolverine and an interesting thing to lay out at the beginning of a story where it was just revealed that he may be responsible for the death of his friends. It’s classic Wolverine story structure- giving him the things that make him happy and taking them away but done in a new way. Wolverine can believe that he’s overcome everything, but in the end, something will always happen to bring the pain and horror of his life right back.
The second story sees him confronting one of his most murderous enemies, Omega Red, and it asks the perfect question- should the X-Men really trust all of these villains they’ve welcomed into their midst? These killers and monsters may be mutants, but does that mean they should be welcomed into society with open arms? Omega Red is actively betraying the mutants for his own good. When everyone finds out, is this going to change the way Krakoa deals with evil mutants? Also, it’s cool to see vampires again, especially Dracula. The X-Men and Dracula have a history together. It also makes sense that they’d want Wolverine’s blood. It’ll be interesting to see where this goes next, as Dracula seems to be setting up vampires as a counter-power to the mutants.
As for the art? It’s just great. Adam Kubert is an old hand when it comes to Wolverine- drawing Wolverine is what made him famous. Kubert’s penciling is better than ever, and this issue showcases that. There have been times when his linework is a little sketchy, but there’s none of that here. His figure work and character acting are top-notch, and his return to Wolverine is like two old friends getting back together. Victor Bogdanovic is new to Wolverine, but his art is no less great. His style is more cartoony than Kubert’s, reminiscent of the manga style of 90s artists like Joe Madureira and Roger Cruz, but it looks great, even in a bloody and dark story like this one. His action pages are great, and his character acting really gets across what it needs to.
Wolverine #1 is a perfect beginning for Wolverine’s newest ongoing series. Benjamin Percy is a great fit for Logan. He gets how to tell fun Wolverine stories that play off the stories of the past without being exact copies of them. He gives Wolverine starved readers two excellent stories that will leave them begging for more. The art by Kubert and Bogdanovic fits each story wonderfully. Reuniting Kubert and Wolverine is perfect, and it will be cool to see what he does next with the book. Bogdanovic is new to the character and brings new energy to the whole thing. For readers who have been waiting for Wolverine to get his own book since the lackluster Return Of Wolverine, this book is perfect.
Grade: A+
