Review by Ian Keogh

The situation as it stands going into the conclusion to ‘The Sabretooth War’ is that all is not well between the Earth 616 version of Sabretooth and the other-dimensional versions of himself he’s gathered with. However, they’ve managed to slaughter several of Wolverine’s allies and nearly killed him. He’s tracked the original Sabretooth to what’s left of Krakoa, and Sabretooth’s former allies the Exiles are headed in that direction also. Vol. 8 ended puzzlingly with two versions of the same event.

Co-writers Victor LaValle and Benjamin Percy immediately reveal the truth behind that, and it’s clever manipulation of Wolverine, as Sabretooth wants something hidden deep beneath the island, and is aware there may be booby traps. The juxtaposition between the differently perceived versions of what’s going on sustains the opening chapter and the revelation of what’s being sought ramps up the danger.

Along with that we have Sabretooth’s monologue, attempting to conflate a hatred of Wolverine and wanting to see him dead with the almost orgasmic thrill of bringing him to the point of death, so wanting to keep him alive to recreate the feeling. Twisted and unsavoury doesn’t begin to describe it.

Any encounter between Sabretooth and Wolverine is going to be violent, and alternating artists Geoff Shaw and Cory Smith play that up with everyone looking blood spattered and the arteries spraying like fountains. It’s all gratuitously unpleasant. Take that parental advisory seriously, as part of the plot is to look at Sabretooth’s past, placing him in the bodies of his victims, and as he’s a remorseless killer, there’s little political correctness to events. That’s understandable in reinforcing who he is, but the repetition isn’t necessary.

If you find the violence and twisted justification of it to your taste, LaValle and Percy supply a finely paced thriller to which complications are constantly added, although overall the feeling is of a ten chapter story that could have been told in half the pages. They also deserve credit for the use of supporting cast who’re far from the headliners Wolverine usually teams with, but the way Wolverine’s powers are restored is an easy cop out. Yes, we want Wolverine with his healing ability, but two imaginative writers could surely have conceived something more credible even if Percy laid the seeds way back. Having said that, their reason for removing the powers in the first place only seems to have been to show Wolverine in a form of armour, which is cool.

The collection ends with two brief and unconnected back-ups. Larry Hama and artist Daniel Picciotto return to the Wolverine era Hama wrote when Jubilee was a strong supporting character, but Percy and Leandro Fernández supply the stronger story. It’s a summation of Wolverine’s life in eight tidy pages.