Wolverine #20
Deadpool wants to get back into X-Force and has a plan to help Wolverine in Wolverine #20, by writer Benjamin Percy, artist Adam Kubert, colorists Frank Martin and Dijjo Lima, and letterer Cory Petit. The creative team drops a wildly entertaining issue on readers that builds a new threat to Wolverine and Krakoa.
Deadpool narrates the beginning of the issue as Wolverine saves the treehouse from a truck full of C-4. Deadpool wants in on Krakoa and back on X-Force and does some fun fourth wall breaking. On Krakoa, Sage helps Wolverine hack the CIA to spy on the X-Desk and find his severed hand as Deadpool talks to Blind Al about his desires to join Krakoa. She gives him a file that will give him a way to prove that he's useful. Wolverine follows the info Sage got him and finds a wrecked convoy and the corpses of dead X-Men, including himself. He meets up with Deadpool, who wrecked the convoy, finds the briefcase he's looking for before the two are attacked by a helicopter. Meanwhile, a familiar face is watching the whole thing from CIA headquarters.
Deadpool is a character that doesn't always work, but Percy does a great job with him. The entire first part of the book is narrated by him, and he's basically the book's main character. Percy's brought up Deadpool's desire to be on Krakoa and shows how he tried to get onto the island during the opening segment. It's all very entertaining; Percy is a deft hand with Deadpool, and it will be fun to see him write the character more in the future.
As for the book's plot, it revisits the X-Desk plots that Percy built up earlier in the series. Some intriguing plot points also add to it, even before the big reveal at the end. For example, Dolores Ramirez goes to a diplomatic meeting with aliens at the White House and leaves with the briefcase Wolverine gets later. Who are the aliens, and why are they working against mutants? The wrecked robots and the end reveal are fascinating as well. What was the point of them? Percy's scripts ask many questions that could add up to cool stories later on.
Kubert's art is phenomenal, as usual. The beginning action sequence is given an exciting page layout that uses the beat nature of comic panels very well. He also nails the humor of Deadpool, which is done with body language. Martin and Lima's colors do a great job of embellishing the pencils, even if the coloring is a little dark in place, which could be a printing problem. The final page reveal is gorgeous, and Kubert and company continue their run of artistic excellence with this issue.
Wolverine #20 is more fun than just about any issue of any X-book has been in the Krakoa era. Percy builds a great plot and uses Deadpool adroitly, making everything that much more entertaining. The art team of Kubert, Martin, and Lima are on fire, but that's to be expected with a team this good. All in all, another fantastic issue.
