The Pale Girl strikes again in Wolverine #2, by writer Benjamin Percy, artist Adam Kubert, colorist Frank Martin, and letterer Cory Petit. As more shipments of Krakoan drugs disappear, Wolverine teams up with Agent Bannister to hunt down the Flower Cartel. Are things what they seem, though?

The Pale Girl and the Flower Cartel attack the Marauder, with the Pale Girl using her powers to control the crew to get the ship’s cargo. Bishop is the only one unaffected, but he’s thrown off the boat. Wolverine wakes up in the Krakoan healing garden after having a dream about killing his X-Force teammates last issue. Healer tells him how Agent Bannister sent him through a gate to Krakoa and then shows him Bishop and tells him about what happened on the Marauder. More of Agent Bannister’s men are killed looking for the Flower Cartel, and all evidence points to the Pale Girl. Bannister calls on Wolverine for help, and they take a boat full of Krakoan petals out, trying to lure the Cartel to them… but the Pale Girl is already there.

Percy is doing a great job with this book so far. There’s a two-page spread of Wolverine in the Hatchery, looking over the regrowing husk of Jean Grey. Cyclops is there watching him, and Wolverine’s inner monologue is talking about how friends, real friends, make the bad parts of life worth living. Wolverine promises Cyclops he’ll make up for what he did to Jean, but Cyclops turns his back on him. There’s so much melancholy and pain in these two pages, and Percy captures it wonderfully. This is Wolverine encapsulated- a man overcome by the sins of the past, trying to make up for it, but still hurting the ones important to him.

The whole Flower Cartel thing is also fascinating. Somehow, the Flower Cartel knows not only where the Krakoan shipments are coming from and going to, but also about the CIA agents looking for them. There’s a scene with Agent Bannister and his daughter where she tells him to call the mutants for help, and it feels like, well, like she’s not herself. It feels like the Pale Girl and the Flower Cartel are manipulating everyone. Percy is ramping up the threat in this one, and it works very well.

Adam Kubert is fantastic, as usual. There’s so much detail to everything, and his figure work and character acting are second to none. The two spread mentioned earlier is a triumph of great writing, but without Kubert’s art, it wouldn’t work nearly as well. Adam Kubert is one of the best artists working today, and it’s wonderful to see him back on Wolverine.

Wolverine #2 continues Percy’s great work on this book. He understands Wolverine very well and is building a very cool story with this one. How does the Pale Girl and the Flower Cartel know so much? Why are they always one step ahead of everyone? How will Wolverine beat them if the Pale Girl can control anyone? The books keeps asking questions, and it’s working very well. Adam Kubert’s art is grade A. He’s the best Wolverine artist ever. There’s really nothing else that needs to be said. Wolverine is the best there is at what he does, and this book fits him to a tee.

Grade: A