Comic Books

Hunt For Wolverine: Mystery in Madripoor #1 Review

An all-female mutant crew is on a mission to stop Magneto in his tracks.

May 23, 2018

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After the last two moody and well written “Hunt for Wolverine” mini-series released it was becoming obvious the general approach to these comics was dark detective work. Enter Jim Zub’s “Mystery in Madripoor,” which offered an all-female team following a lead that sends them on the heels of Magneto. It’s dark but also filled with the lightness of these fantastic characters.

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So what’s it about?

Read the preview.

Why does this matter?

This is one of a few series which all come together at the end of August in Hunt for Wolverine: Dead Ends, so if you want to know the whole picture you’re going to need to read this. Based on this issue it’s also a series that uses some deep cuts mutant characters which should satisfy longtime fans.

Fine, you have my attention. What’s good about it?

Close call!

This issue opens with a fantastic fight sequence between Psylocke and Wolverine in a flashback scene captioned with Psylocke reflecting on the man. Artist Thony Silas does a great job with this montage of fight moves showing the beauty and grace of each of these characters, but also their ferocity. They don’t play around and it’s a nice way to open the issue as it’s a reminder of Psylocke’s incredible fight skills and the history she has with Wolverine.

History is a big part of this issue and ties into a discovery this team discovers along the way. Madripoor holds a special place for Wolverine lore which includes the period in which Logan wore an eyepatch and did some James Bond style espionage. That gives Zub the ability to weave in some sneaky backroom dealings, remind readers who are still alive from those old days, and also incorporate a different kind of crime family.

The biggest draw of this miniseries is the interesting team dynamics in play on both sides of the good and evil in the story. I don’t want to spoil anything, but rest assured there are some long forgotten mutants that are used in this one (at least to my mind) and the heroes in this crew are quite eclectic. I’ve never seen Domino team up with the likes of Kitty Pryde, Storm, Rogue, Jubilee, and Psylocke so it should be fun to see how Zub plays them off each other.

A cool lineup on this team.

It can’t be perfect can it?

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The opening scene and a quick reveal midway through give readers a taste of Wolverine, but overall this issue doesn’t give off the Wolverine vibes some might expect. The cliffhanger doesn’t tie into his history either, probably why I’m jonesing for more Logan, but maybe more reveals are on the way. That being said, the plot of this issue is somewhat unsatisfying since it’s all a red herring and it’ll leave you waiting to see how it all ties into finding Wolverine for the next issue (or maybe the issue after that!).

Is it good?

A good issue due to the strong team dynamics and a killer opening fight scene. If you’re at all a fan of Wolverine’s period in Madripoor give this a shot. If you love the team Zub is using you best just buy it without giving it a second thought.