Ultimate Wolverine‘s been a brutal ride so far. It’s seen Logan fighting to overcome his Winter Soldier programming, and then working with the Opposition to fight the Eurasian Union’s tyrannical rule. It gets to a point where you think “can’t this guy catch a break?” Ultimate Wolverine #9 actually takes somewhat of a breather from the heavier narrative, giving readers a standalone issue where the Opposition attacks a Master Mold factory that’s creating mutant-hunting Sentinels.
This is still a Wolverine book, meaning that Chris Condon and Alessandro Cappuccio insert some horrific moments throughout. One of those moments involves Wolverine coming face to face with the Sentinels, who’ve been enhanced with mutant body parts. Not only does this reveal the grim fate of another fan-favorite X-Men character, but it also shows that there’s no lengths to the atrocities the Eurasian Union will create. It also makes the Sentinels more terrifying; it’s one thing when they were giant mutant-hunting robots, but mutant-hunting robots made with the parts of mutants? An entirely different ballpark.
On the flip side, the Opposition has their own Sentinel, and it turns out this Sentinel has a mind of its own – literally. It also forms a bond with Wolverine, which I genuinely love both for the bonding moments and the themes that Condon’s playing with. Both Logan and the Sentinel were designed as killing machines, yet overcame their “programming” to do good. The Sentinel is even capable of rudimentary speech, meaning it’s less Terminator and more Iron Giant – which I love.
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Another thing I love? The Sentinel’s design. While Bryan Valenza gives the Sentinels their standard purple and blue color scheme, Cappuccio also introduces elements that makes them unique. For the Sentinel that’s joined the opposition, it’s had an “X” marked on its chest, announcing its new loyalties. For the Sentinels that battle Wolverine, the mutant parts they’re utilizing for power are shown hardwired into their stomachs, leading to some intense body horror. In true Wolverine fashion, Cappuccio also gets to draw Logan carving through the Sentinels, shredding metal and blood alike.
The biggest moment of Ultimate Wolverine #9 that stood out to me is when Logan finally catches a glimpse of the scientist who experimented on him in his Winter Soldier days; he goes utterly berserk, tearing through Sentinels in an effort to get to her. It’s a great way for the creative team to showcase a new side to Wolverine’s berserker rage, especially letterer Cory Petit. Petit gives Logan a jagged, blood-red howl that’s utterly haunting, and shows that even though he’s left the Winter Soldier behind, his darker nature won’t be so easy to shed and could prove to be a problem for the Opposition.
Ultimate Wolverine #9 offers a standalone story that puts yet another horrifying spin on a staple of the X-Men mythos, while showing that Logan still has some demons left to conquer. Whatever the next issue brings to the table, it should continue to explore these elements.
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