Mini-reviews of new Wolverine appearances in comic stores on 12/05/07:
-Uncanny X-Men #493 (Preview): After a surprisingly strong Chapter 5, ‘Messiah Complex’ Chapter 6 stars Wolverine in what feels like a second-rate set up for a new X-Men series. Which is exactly what it is.
-Ultimate X-Men #88 (Preview): ‘Sentinels Epilogue’ by Kirkman and Paquette feels more and more like a bad soap opera. Present day Wolverine utters three sentences in the entire issue. And they’re not long ones. Future Wolverine gets significantly more face time and set up the next major story arc.
-Ultimates 3 #1 (Preview): Doesn’t really feel very ‘Ultimate’ to me and Wolverine graces only the cover (the inside third of the ‘Heroes’ cover) and not the issue itself.
Probable Wolverine appearances scheduled to hit stores this Wednesday, 12/05/07:
-Uncanny X-Men #493 (Preview): Chapter 6 of ‘Messiah Complex.’
-Ultimate X-Men #88 (Preview): Conclusion of the Sentinels Saga.
-Ultimates 3 #1 (Preview): Wolverine makes the cover at the very least in the third season of the Ultimates by Jeph Loeb, Joe Madureira & Christian Lichtner.
My thoughts on Wolverine appearances scheduled to appear in February 2008 according to Marvel Previews…
–Giant-Size Astonishing X-Men #1 by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday will wrap up what might be the best X-Men run ever.
-‘Messiah Complex’ ends in January leading to ‘Divided We Stand’ in Uncanny X-Men #495. It seems Wolverine will end up leading the newly-formed assassination team of X-23, Warpath and Wolfsbane in X-Force #1 and hunting down a fellow X-Man in Wolverine #62.
–Wolverine: Origins #22 shifts gears as Deadpool is welcomed to the proceedings.
-In the Ultimate Universe, Wolverine will appear in both Ultimate X-Men #91 and Ultimates 3 #3.
-In the Marvel Adventures Universe, more pedestrian Wolverine adventures await in The Avengers #21.
-And in the Marvel Zombies Universe: Marvel Zombies 2 #5 wraps up its run.
Two Wolverine appearances this week plus Marvel Previews for February 2008.
-X-Men #205 (Preview): Chapter 5 of ‘Messiah Complex.’ By far the best issue of the crossover with cover-to-cover action and a nice surprise twist at the end.
-Marvel Zombies 2 #2 (Preview): More Zombie fun that we all know and love, but Robert Kirkman is adding a more serious layer about what it means to be a hero and I’m not sure it works for this series. This is supposed to be good zombie fun, not a morality play.
Mini-reviews of new Wolverine appearances in comic stores on 11/29/07:
–X-Men #193 (Preview): “Guess that’d be a no.”
–What If? Wolverine: Enemy of the State (Preview): Wolverine kills everyone (almost).
–Ultimate Power #2 (Cover): Is it just me or is Greg Land’s artwork too much like a Victoria’s Secret catalogue?
Probable Wolverine appearances scheduled to hit stores Thursday, 11/29/07:
-X-Men #205 (Preview): Chapter 5 of ‘Messiah Complex.’
-Marvel Zombies 2 #2 (Preview): More Zombie fun.
Mini-reviews of new Wolverine appearances in comic stores on 11/21/07:
-New X-Men #44 (Preview): Chapter 4 of ‘Messiah Complex.’ It’s like we flashed back to a 1980s X-Men crossover. And not in a good way.
-Wolverine: Origins #19 (Preview): Between overly-convoluted plot twists and the sadistic depiction of Logan, Daniel Way and Steve Dillon continue to poison the past of a once noble character.
-Penance: Relentless #3 (Preview): So Speedball is now Penance. And Wolverine, for reasons unknown, is trying to stop him from launching… zzzzzzz… sorry… tryptophan and pointless comics putting me to sleep… zzzzzzzzz.
-Marvel Adventures The Avengers #18 (Preview): Genuinely dreadful series gets worse as Captain America reveals he knows ancient Greek.
-Ultimate Marvel Sampler #1 (Cover): Preview of upcoming Ultimate Universe storylines includes nifty Wolverine art.
Mini-reviews of new Wolverine appearances in comic stores on 11/14/07:
-X-Factor #25 (Preview): Chapter 3 of ‘Messiah Complex’ includes a rather lame Wolverine cameo.
-New Avengers #36 (Preview): Wasn’t Civil War supposed to have consequences? Can’t Bendis write something stronger than the Venom-bomb? Must we suffer through this Skrull storyline?
-Wolverine #59 (Preview): What is the only way to tell the difference between 110-year-old Wolverine and 12-year-old Wolverine? The length of his sideburns, of course. Dreadful art by the once-great Howard Chaykin.
Mini-reviews of new Wolverine appearances in comic stores on 11/07/07:
-Astonishing X-Men #23 (Preview): The penultimate chapter of perhaps the best X-Men series ever.
-Uncanny X-Men #492 (Preview): Chapter 2 of another bloated 12-part X-Men crossover.
Mini-reviews of new Wolverine appearances in comic stores on 10/31/07:
-X-Men: Messiah Complex (Preview): Silvestri’s art has a bizarre time-traveling effect that hearkens back to the painful days of ‘Fall of the Mutants’ some 20 years ago. As a result the intended grimness of this story is undermined by stiletto heels, impeccable makeup, perfectly-styled hair and overly suggestive poses.
-Ultimate Power #8 (Preview): This would have been much better if it hadn’t taken 13 months for 8 issues to come out. And there’s still another one the way before this thing wraps up. It seems as if Marvel has forgotten what ‘miniseries’ means.
