There’s a kind of joy in seeing writer Benjamin Percy bring more and more buckets of blood and gore to Marvel Comics, with Hellverine being one of his crowning achievements. The third issue, out today, continues to grow upwards. With art by Julius Ohta, Hellverine #3 is another shockingly good horror fest.
It’s not often I’m surprised by gore or violence, especially in a Marvel comic, but that was the case with Hellverine #3. The adult themes kick off the issue as we learn the backstory of General Harms, the man behind making the Destroyer soldiers. His time at war showed he was heartless, murdering not for fun but because he could. It’s a dark and certainly twisted look at the man behind a program that is abusing the soldiers turned into monsters and shows what he’s capable of.
With the villain set up, the story shifts back to Wolverine, who is taking in a house fire after defeating a Destroyer. Once again, Percy brings the mood down quite low and adult as the destroyer’s wife and child see him burning. It’s twisted, but Logan has seen his fair share of violence and isn’t too phased.
Trees fear him.
Credit: Marvel
Enter Akihiro aka the new Hellverine. Although he’s a flaming demon possessed by Bagra-Ghul, he’s the only hope we may have against Harms and a truly evil government operation. Ohta and color artist Frank D’Armata continue to impress with the flame effects. “Bat out of Hell” is a great way to describe who I am, while his cold eyes convey he’s possessed and unfeeling. He has a job to do, and he’s going to do it.
As far as gore, Ohta will blow you away with a massive amount of damage done to someone’s head. It’s pretty shocking stuff.
As far as the story goes, this issue does a lot to set up the villain side of things and show how they need to pay. As far as Wolverine, he’s used more to get into position to help his son, but the cliffhanger suggests that’s the last thing he’s capable of. Could the issue use more Wolverine? Probably, but when collected, you won’t notice.
Hellverine #3 is a wild ride, and I’m not talking about all the motorcycles. Ohta and Percy are delivering adults-only violence in a story that’s Hellraiser meets Wolverine.
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