X Lives Of Wolverine #2
Wolverine has to relive the worst parts of his past to save Xavier in X Lives Of Wolverine #2, by writer Benjamin Percy, artist Joshua Cassara, colorist Frank Martin, and letterer Cory Petit. This one jumps back and forth between time periods, with Percy and company digging deeper into Wolverine to mine some appropriate character drama.
This issue jumps between 1900 Canada, where Wolverine leaves behind a bear fight to go and save Xavier. Wolverine lies with his wife, Itsu, but Omega Red is there in post-WWII Japan. In Cold War-era Colombia, Wolverine and Team X prepare to commit an atrocity to teach the people a lesson, and instead of going to save Xavier, he decides to stop it. In the recent past, Wolverine and Domino take Omega Red on a probationary X-Force mission to a Russian bathhouse to pick up the leader of the Moscow Hellfire Club. Red separates from the others and is confronted by Mikhail Rasputin, who lets Red know about his resurrection and the tracking device in his carbondanium synthesizer.
Percy eschews any kind of linear storytelling in this issue, and it makes the whole thing work all the better. The overall plot takes a backseat in this issue; while it’s still all about Wolverine going back in time to stop Omega Red, Wolverine realizes that he can change his past. Take the Team X mission. Wolverine and company destroyed a cocaine production facility and then killed the surrounding villages to put the fear of the US into the people around. Wolverine decides that instead of immediately going after Xavier, he’s going to stop it. He doesn’t care about the sanctity of the timestream; he cares about saving innocent people from him. In post-WWII, Omega Red takes over Itsu, and Wolverine has to fight her, maybe even kill her. In one time, he’s choosing to change the past, and in another, he’s forced. What makes it all the better is that the Sabretooth of the Team X time decides to go after Wolverine as he tries to save Xavier, adding another danger to Wolverine in that time.
Percy made the right choice to go nonlinear here. This book would have been an exciting yet formulaic story but taking it out of a traditional framework makes the whole thing work better. It heightens the tension that readers feel and adds something to the story that wouldn’t otherwise be there. As usual, Percy nails Wolverine in every aspect. He capture his interior voice in the captions expertly, and Wolverine rebelling against his past and trying to fix things is Wolverine in a nutshell. This is an X-Men event book, and Percy still manages to capture the character of Wolverine perfectly.
Cassara does a bang-up job on the pencils in this issue. If anything, the art in this issue is better than the last. There’s a beautiful full-page spread of Wolverine laying with Itsu, not knowing Omega Red has taken her over, Red’s tentacle curling into the air towards the reader. The action in this book looks excellent, and Cassara’s figure work is top-notch. Martin’s colors are also improved over the last issue as if he now understands how to better color Cassara’s work. Recent X-Men events have impressed with their art, and this one is no different.
X Lives Of Wolverine #2 is an improvement over the first issue, and that’s saying something. Percy goes nonlinear, and it improves the story immensely. Event books are light on character, but Percy uses it expertly here. Cassara and Martin are doing amazing work together, and this issue’s art is better than the last. This story is shaping up to be something special, and this issue is setting up something great.