Review by Karl Verhoven

Wolverines is a four volume series taking place in the immediate aftermath of Wolverine’s ‘death’. Charles Soule here collaborates with Ray Fawkes, having introduced the premise in the frankly poor Death of Wolverine: The Logan Legacy. There Daken, Lady Deathstrike, Mystique, Sabretooth and X-23 were captured by more recently revealed members of the Weapon X programme, and implanted with control words. Each has a single word that can either sedate or kill them, and in order for the hold to be broken the five must carry out missions. The first is to retrieve Wolverine’s adamantium-coated corpse from the now destroyed Weapon X facility, which goes lopsided when Mr. Sinister intervenes.

Soule and Fawkes alternate on writing chapters following the over-riding plot, with the artist changing with every new chapter, none of them greatly impressive. Wolverines features a fair number of brutal characters going about their violent business, and what opening artist Nick Bradshaw considers acceptable presentation may be far too explicit for some. His chapter ends with one person having an arm pulled off and an eye scooped out, and there’s no restraint or shadow. Bradshaw’s actually one of the better artists among a symphony of distorted people and style prioritised over clarity.

A form of Wolverine’s healing factor is necessary for the continued survival of the Weapon X newcomers, but retrieving it from Mr. Sinister won’t be easy. Just in case you;re considering an attempt yourself, his HQ is protected by “universal sensorium interface… parallel atmospheric shunts… a quark bell…” and more.

While this isn’t a team series in the conventional sense, the switches from character to character have little finesse, while some are ignored for too long despite there being room for guest appearances. It takes one hell of a time to plan a raid, and once it’s in motion Dancing With the Devil ends, with the X-Men’s participation picked up in Claw, Blade and Fang. There’s little here ranking above page filler of characters going through the motions, certainly nothing to make any readers care what happens. Wolverines can only get better.

The entire Wolverines series is also collected in the Death of Wolverine Omnibus.