A new issue of Wolverine is out this week, and while Logan dealing with Deadpool is over, he’s got a new annoyance to deal with this week: Solem. The Arrakko mutant that was once called “Wolverine’s Loki” is back, but can a Celestial judging all of Earth affect their relationship? Look, even predators in the wild can hunt together!
Wolverine #24 opens with Wolverine hunting a purple tiger-beast on Krakoa but is distracted by a vision of Moira. Soon he’s seeing undead versions of Jean, Daken, and Sabretooth, and a judgment is in order. Drawn in a slick kinetic style by Federico Vicentini, we witness Wolverine seeing what a Celestial wishes for him to see. For some reason, Wolverine gets extra time to justify himself to the Celestial, which sets in motion this story arc.
Cut to Hell, and writer Benjamin Percy has got us checking in with Hellbride, who is seriously peeved at Wolverine and Solem after they killed her husband. She’s the perfect enemy for Wolverine and Solem to band together and defeats, but not without some squabbles and a fight sequence that jumps to the moon. While this issue is mostly action and enemies letting bygones be bygones, it sets up a race that’ll be fun to track with a loose tie to the A.X.E. Marvel event.
I love baby back ribs!
Credit: Marvel
The action is excellent, thanks to Vicentini and color artist Frank D’Armata. Explosions, slicing of blades, and a San Francisco hotel room with people hanging on Solem are just a few well-rendered delights to be found in this issue. Vicentini is excellent at playing foreground and background, drawing the eye across the page. Colors help convey the atmosphere, especially in a scene with evil characters cast in blues and greens. Everybody will be talking about the fight on the moon, however, which uses a static background and plays within it using shadowy shots of Wolverine and Solem fighting from left to right. Throw in some fun nods to Cyclops getting his room trashed, and it’s a delightful action scene for more than one reason.
Both Solem and Wolverine get their data page quote. This help defines their outlook on life and establishes their perspective. Percy reminds us Solem is a man who revels in pleasure while Wolverine is all about pain.
This is a looser Judgment Day tie-in, however, and it’s a bit confusing what Wolverine’s plan is at this point. Given the main event characters are contemplating killing the Celestial as a last resort, it’s unclear if Wolverine doesn’t care about their plan or is ignorant of it. It also seems way too fair of the Celestial to give Wolverine extra time before being judged. That and why he’d need to create an avatar for them to fight is beyond me, but this is also outlandish superhero comics, so shrug it off and enjoy the ride, I say. Ultimately this feels like a jumble of recent ideas thrown in a Judgment Day blender.
The art is spectacular in Wolverine #24 and should have you on the edge of your seat from cover to cover. Add in the fact that Wolverine’s foe Solem gets more page time, and it’s an easy pickup for fans of the Krakoa era Wolverine. Just don’t think too hard about how this ties into the Judgment Day event.
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