Wolverine battles against the Pit in Wolverine #29, by writer Benjamin Percy, artist Juan Jose Ryp, colorist Frank D’Armata, and letterer Cory Petit. This issue is a feast for Wolverine fans, and that’s all there is to it.

In the Pit, Wolverine is tormented by his own memories. He regains consciousness, fights his way out, and then is recaptured and dropped back into his memory. On Krakoa, Agent Bannister’s daughter, who Wolverine gave Deadpool’s finger, comes through a gate looking for him. Wolverine starts to realize that something is in control of the Pit. He starts to fight against the demons inside of him, breaking free again as the Pit takes on a familiar shape: Sabretooth. At the Pointe, mutant children bring Bannister’s daughter to Sage. Wolverine keeps battling the Pit Sabretooth, but it constantly reforms, and the fight keeps going. However, he finds the control collar Beast used on him and puts it on Pit Sabretooth. This allows him to win, and he digs himself out. Sage and Bannister’s daughter find him, and the young girl asks Wolverine for his help with the “blue man.”

Wolverine has been a treat for Wolverine fans since it started, and this issue is no different. Percy knows Wolverine so well, and this chapter shows a lot of disparate moments from Wolverine’s history. It also digs into who Wolverine is and what his life is like. Pain is a big factor in his life, and he takes it because it’s his job to stop hate. It’s a perfect encapsulation of who Wolverine is and shows off just what Percy does so well in this book.

The Pit’s Sabretooth virus is very interesting. Readers of Sabretooth know that he was given the ability to shape the Pit into what he wanted it to be. This issue has an info page that reveals that Beast knew about this the whole time and did nothing to stop it. He considers that a feature of the Pit and not a bug. This opens up a fascinating question: did the Pit Sabretooth grab Wolverine on its own, or did Beast order it to? It’s a cool moment to realize that it could be either. It also makes the battle in the Pit that much cooler, as Wolverine realizes who he is battling. It gives the battle a personal dimension it wouldn’t otherwise have.

Ryp’s art is fantastic in this issue. As an artist, he does a great job with gore and violence, both of which require a lot of detail. That definitely comes in handy with this chapter, especially because he perfectly captures the textures of the Pit’s wood, which is important because he uses decayed vines as panel boundaries, a nice choice that gives the scenes in the Pit their own unique feel. Pit Sabretooth looks amazing, combining Sabretooth’s aesthetic with living flora. This is probably Ryp’s strongest art yet on the book. D’Armata’s colors are the icing on the cake. From the flashbacks to the colors of Pit Sabretooth and its vines, the colors make everything pop.

Wolverine #29 is brilliant. It cuts right to the core of who Wolverine is and reminds readers of that, something that some writers have forgotten over the years. The art is incredible and brings the whole thing to bloody life brilliantly. This story has been excellent so far, a crowning achievement for the book, and this issue keeps that up. It’s easily one of the best issues of this run so far.

Grade: A