Note: WOLVERINES #1 will be released on January 7, 2015.
The Good
Who would've thought the Death of Wolverine could lead to so much? Following Wolverine's death, we had a couple series, DEATH OF WOLVERINE: THE LOGAN LEGACY and DEATH OF WOLVERINE: THE WEAPON X PROGRAM, carry on the story and introduced us to some new characters. We have a strange mix of characters that care or despise Logan and they are now forced to work together.
This weekly series unites the characters and storylines from those two miniseries. More importantly, the search is on for Wolverine's remains since the place of his death came crashing down at the end of DEATH OF WOLVERINE. This has been a point I've wondered about--how come no one searched for his remains upon hearing about his death? We've seen lots of other comic issues showing his friends and family mourning him but no one seemed concerned about retrieving his body or confirming he was actually dead.
There will be an interesting dynamic with these characters. Sabretooth is in a new state due to AXIS, Mystique was shown to have her own agenda in THE LOGAN LEGACY #4, X-23 needs to be in the spotlight more often, and Daken also is in a new predicament. The other new characters from THE WEAPON X PROGRAM series will take some more time to get used to. Seeing them go up against the Wrecking Crew is a great change of pace. They are not the foes you would expect them to have to deal with.
I'm a fan of Nick Bradshaw's art and FCO Plascencia does an amazing job on the colors. Unfortunately there's a "but" coming.
The Bad
As much as I enjoy Bradshaw's art, it doesn't feel like it sets the right tone for this series. Combined with Plascencia's colors, the book looks too bright and cheerful. We have a book full of deadly killers in search of a dead body. Even seeing Mystique covered in blood or Sabretooth get smacked by an enchanted wrecking ball doesn't look as "bad" as it should.
For readers that haven't read both DEATH OF WOLVERINE minis, they might be a little lost. It might be a hard sell for them to jump into a weekly book priced at $3.99 where half the characters might be unknown to them.
We also have a strange two-page shift in art as Alisson Borges fills in. The art is nice but it feels like an interruption by being a noticeable change.
The Verdict
Marvel's first weekly title is off to a good start. Charles Soule has brought in an interesting mix of familiar and new characters from the recent DEATH OF WOLVERINE miniseries. Readers that haven't read those might find themselves a little confused as to why everyone is working together. Nick Bradshaw's art and FCO Plascencia's colors look great but don't quite feel like the right fit for the tone of a book full of deadly killers. You'll definitely enjoy the visuals but it won't feel as heavy as it should. I am intrigued with the direction of this title so I am on board to see where the next few issues take us. Fans of the Death of Wolverine storyline and familiar characters should check this out. You'll just have to make the decision whether or not you can commit to a weekly comic.