Wolverine: First Class #17 Review: Eyepatches Are Back in Style

Hey, everyone, jrpbsp here…Here for the third and final review of the week we have ‘Wolverine: First Class’. Hope you enjoy it.

Wolverine: First Class #17 cover Wolverine: First Class #17 (preview)
Writer: Peter David
Artist: Ronan Cliquet

SPOILERS BELOW…

RECAP: The issue opens with Wolverine and Kitty at a political rally for Benjamin Wong, a candidate for the Senate. Logan is in his Patch persona complete with white tux. Wong sees him and it throws off the speech, but he is able to finish it gamely.

We flashback to years ago when Patch broke up Wong’s father’s criminal empire. Logan kills the father and his men but leaves young Benjamin alone.

We then jump to the near present with Kitty and Wolverine sitting and watching an advertisement for Wong’s campaign. Kitty believes in the man but Logan is sure he is dirty like his father.

Back in the present, Wong secludes himself in his office canceling his appointments. Patch and Kitty break in via Shadowcat’s phasing power and Logan confronts him. Wong reacts angrily and tells the pair to leave his office.

Driving home the duo is attacked by some goons who shoot a gas grenade into their car. Kitty phases it back and uses it against the attackers. They are then run off the road by a truck but phase clear. Three goons with flamethrowers go in to finish the job but Logan slices open one of the tanks. He bluffs them into standing down.

The truck returns to the building where Wong has his headquarters. Logan and Kitty are posing as two of the goons and face the man behind the attack who turns out to be Benjamin’s father. Benjamin barges in and confronts his dad ordering him out of the building and saying this is not how he wanted things to be. Wolverine is not convinced but Kitty still has faith in the candidate so Logan gives him the benefit of the doubt. Though he warns Patch will still be watching.

MY TAKE: This is a solid if not amazing issue. The plot is more complex then usual and it definitely has more adult themes of trust and family then we generally see in the series. But we are still not getting the level of characterization and interactions that made this series so good in the beginning. The strength of the series has always been the conversations and differing perspectives between the jaded and worldly Logan and the innocent and trusting Kitty.

Some of that is definitely shown here and I was glad to see it. We have Kitty’s faith and belief in the political promises and Logan’s view of distrust and doubt based on previous interactions with the family. But it felt rushed, maybe because a lot of the book is taken up by the beginning and the flashbacks and so there is little room for character exploration.

Still the story is more interesting then the guest star of the month issues we have been seeing. While the ending was mostly predictable, it was done well and the reveal had impact. I do wish we could get back to having multi-issue story arcs when it is justified though. This is a story that I believe would have flowed better had it been allowed some more room.

A minor nitpick that I wanted to mention was the fact that Wolverine was wearing formal wear as Patch to a rally. And especially that he wore it to fight a criminal empire. While yes Patch did often wear tuxes when he was out and about, when he was fighting crime he did not. It is simply too impractical and constricting not to mention the cleaning and repair bills.

The other minor complaint was the over reliance on Kitty’s phasing power. It seemed like it is the answer for every situation and I do not like seeing it used as a crutch. While it is certainly a powerful ability it seems lazy to use it to solve every problem that crops up.

In the end this is a good issue but it felt a bit rushed and incomplete perhaps due to the somewhat ambiguous ending. I did enjoy the plot and the story but would have like to see it explored a bit more. I especially would have liked to see a little more direct discussion and interaction between Wolverine and Kitty. However, this is comic is still better then the other youth-oriented issues and even ranks up there among the older-focused series.

Thanks for reading my review for Wolverine Files. I will be keeping to this format for the most part but please keep the comments coming and I will see everyone again next time.

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Renee
14 years ago

I’ve tried posting a comment without success. Let me try again.

Thanks for the review. I enjoyed the comic, too, but didn’t have a problem with the cover. Cameron Stewart is a pleasant, if not outstanding, artist and I enjoyed his Seaguy run. Did this cover read too “young” for you?

jrpbsp
14 years ago

The cover did read a little young and and a lot cartoony which is not an art style I really like personally.

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