Mini-reviews of all Wolverine appearances in stores on 09/19/07.
-Wolverine: Origins #17 (Preview | Preview 2): I am amazed that no one, including Daniel Way it seems, realizes that the Devil’s Brigade was an actual World War II commando unit. It had nothing to do with World War I. It was a Canadian-American unit designated as the 1st Special Service Force and was activated on July 20, 1942. Doesn’t anyone do research anymore? See Wikipedia for more details. And the continued unveiling of Wolverine’s past as mere melodrama orchestrated by Romulus, to my eyes, has cheapened his past considerably.
-Marvel Adventures The Avengers #16 (Cover): Another dreadful issue. Who, other than Wolverine completists, are supposed to be buying this crap?
-World War Hulk: Frontline #4 (Preview): Cover appearance only.
Mini-reviews of all Wolverine appearances in stores on 09/12/07.
-New Avengers #34 (Preview): I am not a fan of this Skrull storyline at all. And while I like Leinil Yu in general, his inking on New Avengers is too heavy and the coloring is overpowering (especially the overwhelming use of red on the inside of the eyelids).
-New Avengers/Transformers #3 (Preview): This series is getting dumber by the issue.
-Ultimate X-Men #86 (Preview): It being Ultimate week, I reread the last few story arcs of Ultimate X-Men. Kirkman is a terrific comedy writer, but his run on the X-Men has been fairly pedestrian (aside from the inspired Ultimate Cable). This series is simply meandering, the characters don’t feel unique and the villains weren’t that interesting when they first appeared in the regular Marvel universe. Hopefully the planned Ultimate Universe makeover will give this series new life.
-Ultimate Power #7 (Preview): Jeph Loeb takes over writing duties and Wolverine reappears (finally). This series would probably be a lot better if it were shorter and came out at a better clip. Nine issues over a year is way too long for a mini-series.
-X-Factor #23 (Preview): Brief flashback cameo in “Endangered Species” backup.
I’ve been performing tons of HTML code cleanup on pages 000 through 005 and will continue to do so across the entire site.
–005: Sabretooth and Silver Fox has been updated and rewritten with new entries for Wolverine #55, Wolverine: Origins Annual #1 and references to Japan.
-I have shifted events slightly in 004: The Amazing Skunk-Bear due to recent revelations in Wolverine’s early life.
-Dream sequences and subsequent evolutionary theories posited by Jeph Loeb in Wolverine #50-55 have been added to 002: The Origin.
Mini-review of Wolverine appearance in stores on 09/06/07.
-Wolverine #57 (Preview): Substantial World War I reference with lame Wolverine foreshadowing, new love interest, new nefarious organization and new villain who happens to be faster than Wolverine. Considering Marvel has been around for 45+ years, one would think they could tap into existing characters.
Mini-reviews of all Wolverine appearances in stores on 08/29/07.
-World War Hulk: X-Men #3 (Preview): Crappy mini-series wraps up with nice ending.
-Black Panther #30 (Preview): More fun with zombies!
Mini-reviews of new Wolverine appearances in comic stores on 08/22/07:
-Astonishing X-Men #22 (Preview): Best comic on the market. Oh and Wolverine appears, too.
-Wolverine #56 (Preview): Uh. Galactically stupid issue. All I can say is at least it’s better than Frank Tieri’s stuff.
-Cable & Deadpool #44 (Preview): More insane fun with Deadpool and Wolverine. And great art by Ron Lim.
-Marvel Adventures The Avengers #15 (Cover Only): Another dreadful issue, Lord of the Rings style.
Mini-reviews of new Wolverine appearances in comic stores on 08/15/07.
-Wolverine: Origins #16 (Preview): I’m really starting to hate the way Daniel Way is handling Seraph.
-Sub-Mariner #3 (Preview): Cool fight, dumb premise.
-New X-Men #41 (Preview): I really like Kyle, Yost and Young. Not to be confused with the band.
Mini-reviews of new Wolverine appearances in comic stores on 08/08/07.
-New Avengers #33 (Preview): I really used to like Brian Bendis. But he seems so desperate to make this Skrull story about paralyzing paranoia that it just is not working for me. Anyone else agree?
-New Avengers/Transformers #2 (Preview): First issue was fun. This issue is lame.
-Ultimate X-Men #85 (Preview): Looking forward to the Jeph Loeb’s Ultimatum because this series is so pedestrian right now.
Wolverine ‘Evolution’ Review/Rant from Wolverine #50-55…
Comic book writers tend to warn us that we are not allowed to be critical of their stories until the entire run has been completed. Well, the “Evolution” storyline is now finished. And while Jeph Loeb has shined on Fallen Son, he has been simply dreadful here, in stark contrast to the beautiful art rendered by Simone Bianchi. From the ridiculous evolutionary theories that would put any scientist to shame to the overly dramatic representation of new uber-villain Romulus, Loeb has sleepwalked his way to sloppy and cliche-filled writing. Most galling is his apparent disregard for the characters. He seems to relish polluting the Wolverine mythos, winking at us the whole time. I know this is a fictional fantasy world. But for many long-time readers, we would appreciate being treated with a little more respect.
Mini-review of new Wolverine appearance in comic stores on 08/01/07.
-New Warriors #3 (Preview): The return of cool Wolverine. On sale now.
