He’s the best there is at what he does, they are the best they are at what they do. He murders, they draw. Wolverine: Black, White And Blood #1 is an artist focused anthology in muted blacks, clean whites, and impactful reds. There are three short stories in this colection, the first by Gerry Duggan, Adam Kubert, and Frank Martin, the second by Matthew Rosenberg, Joshua Cassara, and Guru-eFX, and the last by Declan Shalvey. Let’s jump in.
Jason Large: Iām not entirely sure if thereās a reason for this book to exist outside of people like to buy comics which have Logan in them.
Jude Jones: There is none, and thatās one of my (many) problems with this book. Itās like a solution in search of a problem, and in the end the solution becomes the problem.
Or at least a little problematic.
JL: I find it interesting that this book is coming out in the middle of a line-wide event that also has an existing Wolverine book. This seems almost targeted at people who like Wolverine but do not like the current Krakoan age. It very much reminds me of the Classic X-Men line, except the reprints have been dropped for collections of backup stories. āSniktāinā to the oldies.
JJ: Not only does it feel disconnected to what Wolverine is doing now (and boy is he ever doing a lot as I try not to spoil anything), but
It feels disconnected to much of his history. On one level, I guess I get it: everyone gets to portray Wolvie in their own light. But thereās a lack of cohesion of character thatās jarring. Some of these representations donāt even feel like they were written for Wolverine – just cool scenarios that any āangst filled anti-heroā could plug and play into.
JL: If youāre looking to get more insight of X of Swords, you can skip this. If you want to see some great creators given space to tell Wolverine stories, this should be a fun book to follow. The reduced page count means they can be less focused on providing a full story narrative and more tone pieces. Unfortunately, the tone is something that never really seems to get past blood = tough-guy violence.
JJ: I get it. The whole point is to have more gore. But gore in and of itself isnāt scary or edgy. I think too many folk conflated gore foe gravitas, and the reader is worse off for this.
The Beast Within Them
JL: I know this is supposed to be about Logan being more a victim at the whims of Weapon X, an organization made of monstersā¦ but I cannot stop thinking about him being carted around Canada attached to a giant magnet.
JJ: God that was corny. But whatever. Hereās my thing: the coup de grĆ¢ce of this issue was Logan pausing when he realized the monster he was fighting could think, speak, and feel. I get it. Weapon X made him a monster. Except…it didnāt?
The history of Wolverine is filled with a lot of violence and self hate waaaay before he got adamantium. So in the context of other Wolverine books, this doesnāt quite make sense. But letās say this was alternate universe one-off Wolverine. Letās say this was an intro into his character. Maybe it works there, I guess? But so much of Weapon X, to me, was about letting out the anger that was already there, not creating it. So I just have a hard time reading this with anything but derision.
JL: With the running theme being not just Logan, but the tri-color look of the book, red is used not just as blood, but as the main source of unnatural lighting. This is most effective at illuminating the Weapon X handlers. The purpose of red = blood takes on more meaning when the story is meant to explore the beastly nature of these people. They are being bathed both in red light and in the bloodshed they are cultivating.
JJ: The art, I will say, is fantastic. Like exceptionally good – worthy of better words and plots and pacing. Red draws you in: it focuses you. Maybe even repulses you. But itās necessary. It doesnāt feel grotesque or excessive. It feels earned.
JL: The panel lay-out stood out to me: Large full-page to multipage spreads for outdoor settings juxtaposed by tight boxed panels representing the vehicle interior. The color scheme lends itself to establishing the bleak, cold Canadien wilderness, blanketed in mostly white snow.
JJ: there was a claustrophobia – a bit of anxiety – those interior panels gave. And yet! I did not feel that anxiety in the dialogue. And as much beautiful tension as the color provides, I just did not feel that same level of tension with the words.
JL: The multi-page action shot of the Wendigo pouncing on Weapon-X is great, but isnāt really enough to elevate this āThe Beast Within Them.ā
Iām sure we could go into more about the Wendigo and Weapon-X (per final āreflection in bloodā panel) both having victims within the ābeastsā, but I feel like itās both fairly obvious and also doesnāt really have anything deeper to dig into.
JJ: Pro tip: reread this without dialogue. It reads much, much better. Sadly.
I Shall Be A Wolf
JL: Iām always a fan of killing Nazis. (Now if you are reading this and thinking āBut Jason, those arenāt Nazis, theyāre Hydra!ā then congratulations: I do not like you.)
JJ: Speaking of Nazis, we are writing this on November 3rd. I hope when you read this on November 4th, weāve removed another set of pseudo-nazis from power [Ed. note: Literally editing this while drinking Bourbon, smashing that refresh, and accepting that I wonāt go to sleep knowing]. In any case, I love making Hydra/Nazis look foolish. I appreciate it. But! Always a but! I didnāt love how this worked out.
But not because Nazis were harmed. That was fine.
JL: This story works due to Rosenbergās use of Grand Inquisitor Hershās story-telling to make it clear to the reader how much trouble Hersh is in before the character knows it himself. The moment he says āBut you produced a set of knives, I am toldā pivots the entire tale from tense prisoner story to one about the inevitable reveal. The only thing left to do is make that reveal as gruesomely amusing as possible.
JJ: And amusing it was! But this is where my earlier critique of āyou could have plugged and played any āangst filled anti-heroā into this comic in the stead of Wolverine and it would have worked the sameā comes into play. Sure, less claws. Maybe ābetterā English. But nothing else would change. If Iām reading these stores to learn more about the character, then I need the stories to, you know, be more character focused.
But, thatās the comic I wanted and as a reviewer I have to be fair to the comic I have. And the comic we have made me chuckle.
JL: āHave you ever SNIKT!ed two sets of claws whilst jumping through the air?ā āIs it true that there’s a point on a man’s head where if you SNIKT! Itā¦ it will blow up?ā
Thatās my entire thoughts about this piece.
JJ: Confession: I have never heard anything make a sound anywhere near reminiscent of āsniktā in my life outside of X-Men movies, cartoons, and video games.
Cabin Fever
JL: The most interesting thing about this story is that I cannot remember the last time a big 2 comic had writing and art done by the same person. [Ed. note: Zdarskyās Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #310 and X-Men:Grand Design: X-Tinction Agenda are the ones the come to mind.]
JJ: And thatās pretty darn amazing! The story isnāt. Not at all. I feel like Iāve read some version of this story 100 times: āWolverine in isolation happens upon a lowly populated building. Bloodshed ensues.ā
JL: āAll I see is red.ā If only there was some way to use color to reflect that statementā¦
JJ: Everything about this was derivative. Itās all been done before. Done worse, to be sure. But also done better. And at this point itās been done enough. Thereās nothing about the plot thatās worth delving into. Nothing we learned about Loganās psyche or motivations or passions or regrets. Just the same āquick to kill but gentile with kidsā juxtaposition weāve seen a million times.
JL: I feel like you probably donāt want to leave a baby with the crooked cop, but we only have so many pages.
JJ: We talked about Nazis earlier, so Iāll reserve my view on crooked cops.
JL: I really donāt know if this book needs to exist, and the lack of anything really engaging in this book is a stark contrast to the oversaturation Logan has had within comics. Much like Major X, This feels like a harkening back to a time where X-Comics were not nearly as good as they are now.
JJ: WHY OH WHY DID YOU MENTION MAJOR X? Do you know how long I tried to forget that? [Ed. note: Real talk? Major X comes back in 2021 and Iād be here for it]
But yes, this comic wasnāt necessary, nor was it good. But if only for Kubert and Martinās art and coloring, itās worth a look.
JL: I will always take the opportunity to point out how bad Rob Liefeld is. The issue doesnāt feel blatantly bad in any major way, just unnecessary and utterly forgettable. The middle story is at least a bit of fun, but I doubt Iāll really remember anything about it by next week.
JJ: And maybe Iām being too harsh! Maybe you just want a comic with lots of violence! Thatās perfectly ok, and I donāt mean that dismissively. Itās just that weāve seen so many good, well thought out interpretations of this character recently; thereās really no reason why we should accept anything less. Unfortunately these stories, even at their best, are most certainly less.
JL: I donāt think youāre being too harsh at all. If you want to read a great story with Logan in it, thereās this event called X of Swords, itās great (so far).
X-Traneous Thoughts
- The lack of the oxford comma in the title bothers me. [Ed. note: And me! But not editor extraordinaire Dan Grote]
- Trying to think of what other color I would add to this if we were allowed a fourth. Fuchsia?
- I miss Laura Kinney. Also Jonathan. Two Wolverines who should each have their own book.
- Man, I hope weāre not hailing Hydra today.
A proud New Orleanian living in the District of Columbia, Jude Jones is a professional thinker, amateur photographer, burgeoning runner and lover of Black culture, love and life. Magneto and Cyclops (and Killmonger) were right.
Find more of Judeās writing here.
He/Him
Jason is born, raised, and currently resides in New Jersey with his wife, two cats, and one dog. He enjoys comics, games, art, and helped put together the logo and website for ComicsXF. He'd rather be in the woods.
