You’ve read AIPT’s 10/10 X Lives of Wolverine #2 review, heard from Ben Percy exclusively on AIPT, and now the third issue in this excellent time travel series is out this week. This latest issue checks in on all the scenes set up last time, but there’s a growing unease as Omega Red may have found a new advantage. Can Wolverine sustain his time-tripping mind long enough to save Xavier’s past selves?
This issue is a perfect extension of the last, first opening with Jean Grey and Xavier aiding Wolverine in the present before jumping through a variety of times in a gorgeous double-page splash. Some of these timelines include new locations we’ve yet seen–and may not get to, given only two issues remain–and do well to capture the chaos and madness of this story’s plot.
From there we’re whisked off to Northern Canada where Omega Red attempts to kill Xavier’s lineage on a boat frozen in the ice. As Logan rushes in, Omega Red jumps from body to body, attempting to kill Xavier and eventually settling on a white whale. Eat your heart out, Moby-Dick! It’s a good example of how this series is taking big swings and landing them.
This issue revolves around one major conflict Wolverine isn’t sure how to solve involving his son, Daken. We learn the woman Wolverine was sleeping with, Itsu, is carrying Wolverine’s son, but is now possessed by Omega Red. That leaves Wolverine with few options as he doesn’t want to damn his son’s future from ever beginning. Thrown into the mix are some interesting data pages which reveal a possible loophole in Cerebro’s backup of mutants. That adds an interesting wrinkle to the concept of resurrection in Krakoa and it shows how the X-writers are continuing to find new ways to play with the concept of rebirth.
What an incredible double-page spread!
Credit: Marvel
This issue exemplifies all the ways Wolverine kicks ass thanks to Josh Cassara’s art with colors by Frank Martin. We get action scenes in Japan with Logan stark naked and beefed up muscularly, in Canada where he’s skinny and young, and during his days as covert ops a bit more seasoned. Scenes cut from one to another and never slow down, but also never feel confusing. There’s a lot going on in this book and somehow Cassara is keeping it all together.
It’s helpful that the scenes in the past use a weathered paper look in the gutters while Martin supplies different color tones for each scene too. The scene in Canada, for instance, uses cool blues and a more haunting tone.
An explanation is given as far as how Omega Red is rushing through time, although it’s a bit unclear how it all works. This is a sci-fi story to the max though, so it’s easy to not worry so much about that. Something that skims the surface is the conflict Wolverine is reeling from within his own mind. Jean references it early on, but aside from the big reveal at the end, it doesn’t quite work as far as a conflict that builds. It’s sorta just there.
X Lives of Wolverine #3 continues to be a thrill, featuring some of the coolest art in comics of 2022. It’s also a story that continues to make more sense with each issue, but it’s also a great “turn off your brain and just go with it” action fest.
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