Benjamin Percy is on a tear wrapping up storylines and loose ends for Wolverine and the X-Men. In Wolverine #38, out today, our favorite berserker hero is teaming up with Captain America to save Krakoa’s legacy. Or, maybe it’s just stuff, but some of it is quite personal and quite dangerous. It’s a heist of a sort involving a familiar auction house and a keen sense of friendship between two old soldiers.
This is a great done-in-one caper, kicked off in a bar over beers and quickly sending our heroes to cruise ships for some bruising. The narrative also fits within Captain America’s world as leader of the Unity Squad since it takes place over a single night.
Broken up into a handful of scenes, the comic moves along briskly, first having our heroes connect in a real way and then sending them on a mission. Props to the creative team for sneaking in a scene from World War II as well. The first leg of the mission ends up being a dead end, but Percy continues to show he’s one of the best ever to write Logan’s monologue through captions. You’re inside his head and it’s a certain place.
Their antics lead them to a cruise ship filled with rich people willing to spend millions on Krakoa memorabilia and artifacts. The idea of an evil organization stealing treasured items only to auction them off isn’t lost on me and it’s a reminder of how dark it is for mutants. This sequence is exciting with multiple fight scenes and fun sneaky hijinks for Captain America and Wolverine.
Two chums.
Credit: Marvel
The cruise ship sequence is also masterfully rendered by Juan Jose Ryp. Fans of action will get a lot of bang for their buck, whether it’s Captain America slinging his shield or Wolverine cutting guns into pieces. There’s a great near full-page splash of the party taking place before the auction that is fun to linger on as you take in all the patrons. Seeing Krakoan memorabilia is also great fun and the choices are clever. The climactic sequence reaches a crescendo when we get a full split of the ship as Wolverine cuts his way down through each layer.
While this issue wraps up Krakoa’s loose ends and delivers a good team-up, it does leave you wondering what happens with the auction house. I suspect it’s open-ended since we’ll see them again, but you’d think Logan and Cap would want to apprehend a few of them, instead, the story cuts to a scene with Nick Fury.
Wolverine #38 is a great team-up issue featuring one of Logan’s oldest and closest wartime friends. Given the state of Krakoa, this issue feels important as it wraps up what Orchis has done with what’s left of mutant culture while ensuring it’ll be preserved for whatever era comes next. It’s fitting the “Last Mutant Standing” story arc has Wolverine going on solo missions as the biggest mutant loner is best at wrapping up loose ends.
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