Vampires need some stabbin’. It’s a good thing Logan is a stabby boy as Benjamin Percy, Scot Eaton, JP Mayer, Oren Junior, Matthew Wilson and Cory Petit show us in Wolverine #12.
TT: Pierce! It feels like it’s been a long time, but it’s only been about a month since we got our last issue of Wolverine!
PL: I think it’s just the days getting longer going to your head. These Wolverine issues do tend to sneak up on me, though. It’s good to be back in action with ya, bub.
TT: By the way, have you had a voice in the back of your head lately? Something saying, “Hey, write more about comics…” It’s like our esteemed editors are trying to turn us into something horrifying and otherworldly or something.
PL: Oh yeah, ever since I got the vaccine. Those microchips are something! Anyway, want to take the first stab at this one?
TT: Always with the puns!
Turn, Turn, Turn
TT: So, for some reason, I thought we were getting a skip month this month, so I’m glad to see things moving at a decent pace again. This issue is essentially an action piece with some exciting developments.
We pick up where we left off the last issue. Louise is still fighting back against her growing bloodlust, trying to keep herself from turning like the rest of her order. Logan has some experience fighting a monster inside, so he’s exactly the right person to console Louise.
I dug how this scene balanced that bit of character development with “This is a Wolverine book, we need to do some stabbin’.” Percy continues to do an excellent job with Logan, the person, even if the plot is a bit on the rote side. I did feel like the art continues to be overly stiff. Eaton and Mayer’s action is pretty good, but the people seem like action figures when we get in close.
PL: This was a fairly dull, “moving the chains” type of issue for me. Many writers fall into the same trap with Wolverine that they do with Batman. The action feels secondary to whatever narration they’ve cooked up to either sound cool or move the plot along. Percy falls into that trap here.
“Monsters sometimes have the advantage when fighting monsters” and “I stab the ones who need stabbing” feel like placeholder lines. It’s disappointing after the compelling writing that Percy was doing during the Maverick arc.
The art certainly doesn’t help. Scott Eaton is a skillful draftsman but Mayer’s inks don’t elevate his line work. Matthew Wilson’s colors in the opening scene lean in on an unsightly yellow and brown scheme. I get why you would want to use yellow, brown, blue, and red palettes in a Wolverine, but I don’t have to like it.
While I agree with you on the general stiffness of the book, I thought the figures and expression work in the five pages that Oren Junior inked were an upgrade over the rest of the book. I can’t blame the art team for taking their foot off the pedal a little bit in a book filled with vampires. They aren’t interesting visually or narratively at this point. I hate vampires, Tony.
TT: You and Wesley Snipes, bud.
I thought this was the strongest issue of the vampire arc so far, but I can’t disagree with you. Twelve issues in, and I believe this is half of a good Wolverine series combined with an okay “Wolverine versus the vampires” story.
Wolverine’s Strange Bedfellows
TT: Remember how last month I said that I hoped Wolverine would recruit some more allies in his fight? Apparently, Omega Red heard us and said, “You know what, Logan DOES need help.”
I dug the whole “Omega Red gets his $#!* together” subplot, leading right into Logan and Louise acquiring help. It helps to thematically tie everything together and open the arc again.
PL: I am an unabashed Omega Red fan, so I’m curious to see where this goes. Louise is growing on me, too. How many teams will Wolverine be on in the Krakoa era? X-Men, X-Force, this new vampire hunting team?
Did Forge make her the suit specifically to block the sun and allow her to walk around in daylight? Did she just walk outside during the day without wearing the helmet? Am I missing something?
TT: Yeah, that detail wasn’t super clear. The comic book super-science babble here was pretty fun for me, though. It’s stupid fun, which not enough comics do.
Another thing I liked about the issue was how much it felt like a Bond movie, but with vampires. There’s the opening action scene. There’s visiting Q (Forge) and then M (Beast). There are all sorts of super-spy shenanigans, but again, with vampires. It was enough silly fun for me that I think I forgave some of the weaker parts of the issue a little more willingly.
Pod People
TT: Why has it taken so long for one of the Five’s eggs to be used in this manner? I mean, we’re two years in now, and we’re JUST getting a husk getting used as bait for something? That’s great stuff.
PL: That we’ve seen. We have no idea what the Five might be using other husks for, and honestly, I don’t want to know. I’m just surprised no one made a joke about it. Where’s Madrox and Strong Guy when you need them?
I like Omega Red’s plan here, but it feels like it’s taken entirely too long to get here. But it’s a fun use of the Five from Percy, and anything that gets us out of this vampire arc is a welcome development.
TT: Yeah, I agree. Again with the super-science too. Splicing the decoy Logan clone’s cells with bioluminescent creatures is one of those things that falls apart if you stare at it too long, but if you squint at it, it’s a fun idea.
And while the vampires are suffering from indigestion, Logan and Louise jump out and stake a bunch. It felt like enough that the story could have ended there, with Dracula threatening eventual revenge.
However, we get a teaser that surprised me. Logan and Louise head to Otherworld, specifically Servalith. At first, I thought that Louise would stick around there and get cured of her Dracula-style vampirism for something more D&D. However, it’s not that one bit. Logan and Louise will team up with Death!
X-Traneous Thoughts
- Dracula is now officially a vampire redneck. It’s Marvel Universe canon now. Get used to it.
- Heh, “red” “neck” “vampires” I get it.
- I like that X of Swords has some lasting effects here. I didn’t see that coming, but it makes a ton of sense.
- Logan teaming up with Death and the vampires of Servalith was the only thing that didn’t make me groan that the arc wasn’t over yet.
- On to the Hellfire Gala next month, then a Solem arc. Is the Solem story going to have anything to do with the vampires? No idea!
- Oh, we forgot to welcome our new editor, Andrea! Welcome to the Canuckle Head Corner of CXF!
Tony Thornley is a geek dad, blogger, Spider-Man and Superman aficionado, X-Men guru, autism daddy, amateur novelist, and all around awesome guy. He’s also very humble.
Pierce Lightning is a longtime comics journalist and critic, singer for a band called Power Trash, and staving off the crushing heel of capitalism with every fiber of their comic book loving being.
