Fanboys Anonymous

Death of Wolverine #2 Cover by Steven McNiven

Poison.

It can take a while for some poisons to kill a man, let alone a mutant.

Wolverine is still with us, hanging in there, but not without a little help from an old friend.

We are now half way through the Death of Wolverine by the end of this issue.

Lets take stock of the story so far by Charles Soule. Wolverine has very limited time left, he is resigned to this fate. He has battled a cybernetic Nuke to find out he has a huge hit on his head. This in turn leads him to Mardripoor to find out who wants him dead and why.

This issue of Death of Wolverine plays an important role in connecting the pieces of the story together. We are introduced to further characters to the tale but ultimately part two of the story aims to lead us further along rather than resolving the narrative. Key to this is the exchange Wolverine has with Deathstrike.

Following Deathstrike's realization of Wolverine's new found weakness due to his loss of the healing factor, we are surprised to see Kitty Pride backing him up as the issue comes to a close.

The Madripoor night line beckoning to Wolverine.

The highlight of Death of Wolverine #2 has to be the pitched battle that could have been, between Sabretooth and Wolverine. The animosity and history behind such a fight would be epic at this point, however Soule has taken a great route in teasing this only to have it finish with Sabretooth being allowed to walk away. This will undoubtedly have ramifications for the Logan Legacy series which will continue to explore the relationship between these two characters further after Wolverine's demise.
The production quality remains at a high standard, I certainly don't have any qualms about paying the little bit extra on this series. The layout has returned to a more standard comic variant with advertising inserted back into the format. Although we still get a few pages of bonus material at the back. This is the same as the first issue; some script to art transition pieces and 'directors cut' narration.

Steve McNiven, Jay Leisten and Justin Ponsor don't drop a beat artistically. In fact it is great to see such wonderful collaboration in play. Ponsor's colors are bold and dramatic to compliment the sense of drama we are witness to in the Death of Wolverine.

Sabretooth vs. Wolverine

A stand out spread in issue #2, is the Sabretooth versus Wolverine 'dream' sequence. This vision from Wolverine of what could be viewed as the coming showdown or a combination of previous encounters, showcases the pencil work of McNiven and the inks of Leisten fabulously. It also great to see the pacing of the story manipulated to the tenth degree to drive home the story being told. Where fewer panels are required, fewer are used, but when action is needed, the count goes up. The variation of pace works so well that the story flowed without hesitation. This is balanced in the same manner by the lettering of Chris Eliopoulos, as he puts Soule's dialogue to the story.

The continuation of the sense boxes being employed embeds this dimension as a unique aspect of this series. It is the little surprises like this that make this such a great read. Another example is the depiction of Wolverine himself in this issue, when compared to the last. In Death of Wolverine #2 he is a wearing a cleaner, sleeker look than I was expecting, the 'disguise' fooled me and made me do a double take.

I continue to look forward to the next issue, which skips next week and is out on September 24th. The anticipation only heightens the sense of satisfaction as I get to enjoy this series. Are you looking forward to the next installment also? What have you thought about the Death of Wolverine so far? Leave you thoughts and comments below and catch us back here next time for issue #3.