Wolverine: Revenge has been a fight comic that’s visuals first, story a far second. Logan has systematically gotten revenge in three issues in a tale that has thrown Wolverine into some alternate reality where the world’s greatest heroes died easily. Now, onto the fourth issue, Wolverine has found his revenge, so what’s the rest of this series for? We find out, but will we care?
Wolverine: Revenge #4 opens with a cowboy-looking Logan moseying into a town 20 years after the last issue. The Western theme feels a bit like artist Greg Capullo wanted to put Wolverine in a Western for the sake of it, but society has crumbled, so I guess it makes sense. Once there, he gets a beer in the house with various heroes wearing familiar costumes cheering him on.
The opening includes Forge, who connects with Wolverine and remarks they should let the past go. The opening seems to be trying to convince us that Wolverine has moved on from his revenge days, is a bit of a hero to the people, and may be wise enough to let the killing go for good.
Who are these people? I guess we’ll never know.
Credit: Marvel
That sets up a confrontation with Sabretooth, who Wolverine visits once a year to keep his powers at bay. It’s a confrontation of words, mainly about Wolverine giving in to his primal urges and putting Sabretooth out of his misery. This leads to the big action scene of the issue but doesn’t add much we don’t already know. The fact that it establishes he may be soft to convince a bunch of characters we’ve never met to kill him makes it rather pointless.
This is when the comic gets fairly good, with Capullo showing off his fight choreography and the brutality of the battle well. One villain can make you puke and fill you with bacteria, which creates a gross effect on Wolverine’s arms. It’s four against one and Wolverine makes them pay. It’s sharp art that will delight his fans and casual superhero fans too. The whole issue looks great, and that is the highlight for sure.
As far as the cliffhanger, it suffers from the same misstep as the character Wolverine fights in this issue: It’s a character with little setup and, thus, a mystery to the reader. There’s no reason to care about this final matchup as it’s a complete left-field surprise. Surely a familiar Wolverine mainstay would have been more interesting.
It’s worth noting that colorist FCO Plascencia, who has colored most of Capullo’s work over the years, only colors the first issue. While Alex Sinclair’s colors aren’t bad, the difference is fairly obvious and you’ll miss Plascencia’s work. The clean hues of Placencia are gone, and Sinclair’s rough style is present. Not bad, just different, and it doesn’t quite jive with the rest of the series.
Wolverine: Revenge #4 thrives on Greg Capullo’s stunning artwork and the intensity of its fight sequences but falters due to a meandering plot and lack of narrative purpose. The Western-inspired setting and visceral battles keep it visually engaging, but the story fails to justify its continuation, making this issue a spectacle more than a meaningful addition to Wolverine’s saga.
You must be logged in to post a comment.