Fanboys Anonymous

Last week, I made it quite clear that I was not very satisfied with Frank Cho's Savage Wolverine #1. While the artwork was top-notch and the plot was intriguing, there was just a part of me that said "This is not Wolverine. This is not the Logan that I know." Still, being the Wolverine fan boy that I am deciding to stick with the series and see what this second issue of the series has to offer.

The book opens up by introducing a brand new character. Well, perhaps "introduce" isn't the best word to use. We're shown a character that remains largely unidentified for the majority of the book. There are hints at who the character is, but it actually took me some research to figure out that the character was someone named Amadeus Cho. Allegedly the one of the ten smartest people in the world, Cho, who not-so-coincidentally shares the same surname as the book's writer, finds himself mysteriously transported to the same island that Wolverine and Shanna are trapped on.

I will admit that the interaction between Cho and his A.I. program Calvin was quite well written. Furthermore, the sequence that follows his initial arrival on the island is also equally filled with light banter and clever writing. Then, of course, we get to Wolverine again. This is where the disappointment mounts. As with the previous issue, I have a problem with the way that Frank Cho is writing Wolverine, particularly how he is writing the internal monologue. For example, during a fight sequence, Wolverine thinks to himself, "I try to catch my breath. Instead, I cough blood. They close in, acting as one, giving no quarter. Nor do I." "Giving no quarter?" "Nor do I?" Are these things that we expect Wolverine to think? No. While Logan is certainly an expert at combat, the man has historically been known to put things rather bluntly. Did I miss something? Did Wolverine go to grammar school?

Ultimately, the way Logan's dialogue and monologue is written detracts from the rest of the writing, which, for the most part, was pretty good. Some of the humor (including a shout out to Hugh Jackman) seemed a little forced, but I can see this particular style of comedic script working for these characters.


Maybe I'm being a bit too critical... or maybe not. I'd like to think that it's the latter. Savage Wolverine #2 provides some satisfying action, an interesting plot, and beautiful artwork. Despite this, however, the foundation of this book is still not to the level that I would have hoped. Wolverine is having an identity crisis here, and I sincerely hope that this issue is somehow resolved as the series progresses.

Score: 6.5/10