Laura Kinney: Wolverine #3 // Review
Laura just got blown-up. Literally. So she’s going to be feeling more than a little bit scrambled as she wakes-up on the couch of an assassin-turned vigilante. She overhears the situation with a fellow mutant...someone else is in trouble. The assassin is upset, but she knows better than to try to argue with someone who can survive a major explosion and still be good enough to hear both sides of a phone conversation without even trying to listen-in. The former assassin is going to have a hell of a time looking after her friend in Laura Kinney: Wolverine #3. Elektra Daredevil guest-stars in another fun and engaging adventure by writer Erica Schultz that is brought to the page by artist Giada Belviso and colorist Rachelle Rosenberg.
Laura and Elektra are breaking-in to a hospital in order to get ahold of a kid who has the mutant power to blow-up. He’s a human bomb and they’re going to try to sneak into his room in a fully secure hospital with no additional back-up and no specific plan. So what’s the worst that could happen? The good news is that they’ve both got insanely amped-up instincts and are capable of taking down a small army between the two of them. The bad news is that the kid in question doesn’t know these two women are coming to talk to him. It could be dangerous to startle a guy who can blow-up.
Schultz’ writing is a lot of fun. She’s worked with Elektra extensively before. Now she’s working with Laura Kinney. Laura, Elektra and Erica are a lot of fun together. There’s a sharp sense of humor the animates everything around the edges. Schiltz moves the action through everything quite briskly with ample time to show quite a bit of grace, style and general badasssery between Laura and Elektra. Laura has been a lot of fun in her first couple of issues with Erica. It’ll be fun to see where she takes her next as she’s going on a road trip with another ridiculously augmented warrior.
Belviso’s art style takes a bit of getting accustomed to. There are moments when the action might feel a little stiff, but it’s largely because she’s framing it in a way that can feel a bit weird. That’s actually a good thing, though as it can be really, really difficult to capture action on the page in a way that feels genuinely interesting. Belviso’s art feels like it’s attempting to find new ways to capture the same, old action with acrobatics and adamantium claws. Once the reader gets accustomed to the specifics of Belviso’s style it’s actually a lot of fun.
Schultz has found those elements that make a Wolverine a Wolverine and tilted them specifically in the direction of someone who is distinctly UN-like Logan. She’s got her own personality and her own issues and she’s quite unlike anyone else on the comcis page today. Schultz has done an impressive job.
