Wolverine has been on a journey lately, tying up loose ends and teaming up with familiar faces. In Wolverine #39, Logan is off to Wakanda as he attempts to curb Orchis’s advantages. Along for the ride is Black Panther in a middling at-best adventure. It’s a fight comic first, a team-up comic second, and a skippable chapter in Wolverine’s adventures.
This issue ties a bit more into Fall of X than the series has been of late, opening with an emissary of Orchis attempting to convince Wakanda to give them their precious metal. They refuse, of course, but it allows some nefarious types to rise and work with them instead. Enter Wolverine, who does some detective work in Birnin T’Chaka.
Aside from the well-drawn fight scenes by Juan Jose Ryp, there isn’t much here. Wolverine gets to team up with Black Panther, sure, but they fight in nondescript alleys with low-stakes battles. The threat is never too dangerous for either, especially not with them facing the enemy. The action scenes culminate in a battle in a quarry, which is about as interesting as it sounds. The only saving grace of this issue is that it’s a done-in-one, so you can easily skip it and move on.
Top to chop things up.
Credit: Marvel
There’s a weak attempt to connect the location to Madripoor as if to develop the seedy underbelly of a Wakandan location, but it doesn’t work. We’re not there long enough, nor do we learn enough about the bad Wakandan that’s willing to work with Orchis. What is introduced in this issue will likely be forgotten quicker than usual.
It’s not until you realize the entire issue is built around giving Wolverine a vehicle that it’s clear this issue could have been a single scene rather than a whole issue.
From a machismo angle, there’s plenty here. For instance, Black Panther gets to show off a cool motorcycle, and there’s lots of punching and kicking. Heck, even Black Panther and Wolverine barely interact. There’s a weak attempt to connect the two and their current states as loners, but their solo adventures aren’t that similar when you’ve been reading both.
Wolverine #39 is an easily skippable issue. It serves little for the bigger story while delivering action scenes that lack stakes or danger. The issue looks good, but it all feels like it could easily fit into the first half of a better comic.
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