Written by: Charles Soule
Art by: Steve McNiven
Publisher: Marvel
We return to the second part of the most famous X-Man’s swan song with Death of Wolverine #2
We pickup where #1 had left off, with Wolverine in pursuit of Viper in Madripoor due to her being the one who solicited the price for his head. The story begins with a very different Wolverine than we are used to however, as he is depicted in disguise as a sort of Marv from Sin City meets The Most Interesting Man in the World from the Dos Equis commercials (Stay bloodthirsty, my friends?). Having this streetwise, gruff, Wolverine revealed with a two-page spread depicting him in a seedy bar in Madripoor surrounded by adoring women on both sides is a master-stroke of storytelling from both Soule and McNiven, lightening the mood in this otherwise brutal requiem for one of the most famous superheroes to appear on page.
The highlight of this issue is reveal of Sabretooth and the subsequent battle between him and Wolverine. Soule chooses to preface this fight with depicting a flashback between their prior bouts by having McNiven draw another beautifully rendered two page spread. These two pages serve as a great piece of juxtaposition, comparing the fights where Wolverine has his healing factor, rendering most flesh wounds healable, and then depicting the feral, desperate nature of the fights Wolverine has to participate in without said healing factor. This is genius, it clearly and artistically depicts the gravity of Wolverine’s situation without blatantly overstating it, instead choosing to depict the differences of brutality, one with a sense of immortality between the two combatants and the other a clear fight for survival (which seems to be the central thesis of this miniseries).
One minor fault with this issue is the appearances of the peripheral characters. Three characters appear in this issue (Kitty Pryde, Lady DeathStrike, and Sabretooth) without any forewarning or set-up reason for them to be around Wolverine other than the story needs them to be. The need to have these characters is apparent, and the story is better because of it, but it seems that the four issue restraint on telling this tale forces them to be shoehorned in instead of naturally appearing as the story would dictate.
Again, the $4.99 price tag is a little too much, but what you do get out of this issue is quality storytelling and art on all fronts. It’s been two issues and I still don’t think anyone is ready to see the old Canucklehead go.
