Logan and Wade wrap up their team-up by… well… you’ll just have to wait and see in Wolverine #23, written by Benjamin Percy, drawn by Adam Kubert, colored by Frank Martin and lettered by Cory Petit.
Tony Thornley: Our favorite stabby boys are back, and I’m happy to see there’s some emotional depth going on here. And to talk about it, we would like to welcome… Oh son of a bitch…
Wade Wilson: Hi everyone! Favorite stabby boy #2 here, ready to make you feel emotions! Like sadness that I don’t currently have a series!
Tony: Dan! Are you serious? Do I really have to write with this guy?
Dan Grote: *nods*
Tony: Why?
Dan: Look, I don’t want those pictures out on the internet. Humor him.
Tony: FINE.
Danger Mansion
Tony: So there’s not a ton to this issue plot-wise in Wolverine #23, but I like that. It’s a story that allows for an exploration of Logan’s emotional growth as a person. I would really love to see this applied to a story with Logan’s kids, but using Wade as a start is a solid place to explore Logan as a better person.
Wade: Title of my sex tape.
Tony: *sigh*
The opening pages dive right into that idea. While Wolverine and Deadpool fight off the Danger-controlled Sentinels, Logan narrates instead of Wade. He reminisces about the Westchester Mansion, about how it was once home, but Krakoa is now. Percy also acknowledges that a return to the mansion (and in a meta way the old non-Krakoa status quo) is a very real possibility. Kubert’s repeated layouts take on increased emotional resonance, as he adds flashbacks in side panels, and when you also add the layer that Kubert was there for that era? It really hits.
Wade: When Jordan called me and asked me to guest star in this arc, I did have my choice of artists, and ol’ Kubes was my first choice.
Tony: In my mind, Wolverine #23 is a fantastic exploration of history and character growth, while also getting in a kick-ass Kubert-drawn action sequence. Of course, Wade isn’t nearly as effective as a Sentinel-buster as Logan is, and Wade never lived in Westchester, so centering this opening on Logan instead of Wade makes sense from a narrative standpoint.
Wade: It sure as hell wasn’t for a lack of trying. Did you know most of the mansion’s original defense systems were built with me in mind? Hell, that’s why I was drawn without feet in most of my early appearances— the X Mansion kept blowing them off! Just kidding, I just wanted to avoid the cheap Liefeld joke. It was because of Liefeld.
Also, the katana and gun was a budgetary tradeoff for hiring Kubert. Apparently over 30 years of experience makes a guy expensive to hire!
Tony: I did really dig the way Deadpool and Danger both showed their vulnerable sides. Wade knows that he’s an annoying @$$hole—
Wade: Sure do!
Tony: —but he deeply cares about his friends. So he doesn’t bug Logan about getting him onto X-Force this time, rather, he wants Logan to take care of Blind Al, and get her the Krakoan medicine that could save her.
Wade: I could make a few different crude jokes here, but I won’t. Al’s the best, and she deserves fancy comic book medicine.
Tony: Aw… that’s actually kind of sweet.
Wade: Are we bonding?!
Tony: …
No. [Ed. Note: Yes.]
Kubert and Martin deserve props for how they layout and color Wolverine #23. It’s a walk through memory lane (literally), and Kubert makes the pages feel like a map. Meanwhile, Martin’s colors are a mix of dark realism with a few overtones that give it a slightly wistful, dreamlike quality. It almost makes the requisite “punch some robots” scenes stand out.
Wade: Having been punched by said robots, I was in a wistful dreamlike quality for way more of the issue than you might have realized. Good thing Logan what around. It was like having a designated driver but for being punch drunk.
Tony: And Danger? She’s feeling lost and abandoned. Frankly, that’s completely valid. She was an important supporting cast member at worst, and a teammate and friend at best pre-Krakoa, but now she’s been forgotten. She’s an AI, the X-Men’s greatest threat, so I’m surprised she hasn’t been actively hunted down, but she’s hurt and has created a daughter and the AI X-Men to have a family again.
I don’t think Logan leaving her alone in the mansion is really going to come back to bite Logan in the sense that Danger is going to join Orchis, or whatever, but I will be interested to see if Hank or Charles will find out and rain hell regardless.
Wade: I checked the solicits and it doesn’t sound like it’s coming up between now and October, so our favorite Canucklehead is probably safe. Want me to ask Destiny to be sure?
Tony: No Wade, we’re good.
Welcome Home Wade
Tony: After all that, it almost seems like this arc was a four-issue set-up to get Deadpool on the X-Force team. Frankly, I’m okay with that. It adds depth to Wade joining, rather than the extremely frustrating and sometimes distasteful attempts he’s made prior to this arc. He proved himself to Wolverine, X-Force’s field leader, which led Logan to not just welcoming him to Krakoa but to the team.
It’s sweet, and maybe Deadpool has grown up a little.
Wade: Spoiler alert: I haven’t. But don’t tell Logan that. He will kick my ass.
Tony: Wolverine #23 is probably the best example to date of the title crossover between X-Force and Wolverine. I think most other examples have been groan-worthy and largely shoe-horning. Here it feels like its own story that leads into the other book instead. Maybe it’s partly because the arc started as a Weapon X reunion, or maybe antagonist Maverick has given the series a better distinct identity?
I’m not sure, but I’m glad the series had such a sharp upwards trajectory after X Lives/Deaths. I’m hoping that continues!
Wade: Of course it will! I’m in the supporting cast now!
Tony: Thanks Wade. I actually appreciate you stepping in.
Wade: Does that make us friends now?
Tony: Don’t push it.
X-Traneous Thoughts
- Where will Maverick pop up next?! Obviously here.
- Deadpool’s “Butthead of X” joke on the credits page was the best joke at Hickman’s expense possible
- Who in the X-Office will write me with emotional depth next? My bet is Leah! Vita would be cool too! And they do have my home title!
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.
