Review by Karl Verhoven

Wolverines concerns four clawed mutants and Mystique co-opted into aiding mutants more recently freed from the Weapon X facility, with the now dead Wolverine’s healing ability key. Unfortunately before his corpse could be retrieved it was taken by Mr. Sinister, and the cliffhanger ending to Dancing With the Devil had the Wolverines turning up to retrieve it, only to discover the X-Men already present.

Ray Fawkes and Charles Soule alternate on the writing, and sometimes seem to be playing a game of leaving a cliffhanger just to see how the other will solve it, which is shortchanging readers as the cliffhangers are sometimes far too easily dealt with. A plot about Neuro willing to betray everyone is squandered, and the dialogue is at times wooden: “Have you all forgotten how I beat the Wrecking Crew? Perhaps a reminder, then. Here is why you will stay. Because I am Mystique and because I want you to”. That’s from Soule, but equivalents from Fawkes are just as easily highlighted, characters constantly explaining to the audience.

The art was no great shakes in the previous volume, but marginally improves here, with five artists again used over five chapters with all the inconsistencies that develop. Strangely, it’s the poorer artists from Dancing With the Devil who’re given another shot. The sample page is from Juan Doe. Even allowing for them being mutants, how does anybody twist themselves into those positions? Perspective is poor, foreshortening is poor, anatomy is poor, and although it works on the sample page, for much of the remainder the storytelling is also poor. Other artists have varying skills, but none of them are the full package, with Jason Masters on the opening chapter the best, although Jonathan Marks is improving, with interesting layouts and a love of technological detail.

With misgivings about the cliffhangers, though, the writing improves with Claw, Blade and Fang. As indicated by Mystique’s dialogue, the balance of power shifts, Fantomelle is great when she’s used, with infinite possibilities for an imaginative writer, and if some of the personal relationships aren’t greatly credible, there’s now a better purpose overall. An obscure character who initially seems a random inclusion serves up several surprises, offers possibilities acting to counterpoint the main plot and their presence delivers enlightening assessments of the individual cast members.

What had seemed a cash-in slung together with minimal thought now shows promise. Will Wolverines improve again with The Living and the Dead?