Review by Karl Verhoven
To outsiders, superhero comics must sometimes seem distasteful, and the evidence for the prosecution is the hullabaloo around the ‘death’ of Wolverine. Not only was the death trailed by a prelude volume, this core story wasn’t enough on it’s own, and several other graphic novels tie in, all bearing a ‘Death of Wolverine’ logo. Find them all gathered along with this in either the hardcover Omnibus or paperback Complete Collection.
Paul Cornell was the writer who began the process of incapacitating Wolverine over four graphic novels beginning with Hunting Season, but Charles Soule delivers the final blow. Coming into this story Wolverine’s healing factor has been disabled by a virus, and he’s being examined by Reed Richards. “You’re a prime candidate for heavy metal related leukemia”, is only the beginning of the bad news, as “that is if you don’t get endocarditis from all the bacteria you pull into yourself every time you lose your claws”. If that wasn’t bad enough news, it’s followed by learning that his weakened condition is public, and there’s a contract out on him.
That Steve McNiven is a thoughtful artist is apparent from the way he poses Wolverine. He takes the debilitated condition into account, and while there is a selection of the usual heroic poses, Wolverine’s often seen in positions of weakness and vulnerability. The one shortcoming is his drawing Wolverine as average height instead of short. Other than that, McNiven is proven quality when it comes to superhero action and he delivers on every page, best appreciated in the larger than usual format hardback. The quality is underlined by a substantial selection of bonus material featuring McNiven’s design sketches, and pencilled pages compared to Soule’s script. The bonuses also encompass an interview with Wolverine’s creator Len Wein and a full array of alternative covers to the serialised comics.
Given the premise, most readers will have a list of characters with whom they’d like to see Wolverine have a final accounting, and Soule is canny enough to feature several. Lady Deathstrike, Sabretooth and Viper are all seen, with Mystique a puzzling absence saved for The Logan Legacy, yet Soule is more selective with appearances from allies.
The subject may be unsavoury, but allocated the job of seeing Wolverine to his death Soule delivers a less obvious, yet better story than might have been predicted. It connects with a formative period in Wolverine’s life, maintains a melancholy tone, and in keeping with the character, only very briefly diverts into sentimentality. Job well done.
