The Last Wolverine #2: Is Wolverine In The Room With Us?

The Last Wolverine #2 is a poor continuation to an even poorer opening. Never before has a reader been able to feel the writer’s touch so invasively on a comic issue like this. “Feels like the world’s nothing but confusion these days.” This line, spoken by Vindicator in one of the first few pages, who was introduced at the end of the last issue, is the anthem of the first two issues. Nothing going on seems to follow a traditional story arc; instead, the reader is beaten over the head again and again with exposition.

Saladin Ahmed’s clumsily written dialogue full of repetitious exposition makes this issue a slog, but none of it is nearly as lazy as the characterization of his main character. Leonard Two Bears, the “Wonderful Wolverine,” has no flaws; he’s just a good guy who never fails. He agrees to help save Logan (aka Wolverine) instantly; there’s no motive behind his actions other than the fact that he’s clearly a Wolverine super fan. While his sunny disposition makes him initially likable, he has no character flaws. It’s possible that this type of character could be written where his lack of flaws becomes his flaw, which is achieved through his environment and other characters suffering from his own moral goodness. However, that shoe never drops here. He’s just successful at every action he takes in the fifty-two pages thus far, and there’s little reason given why he’s so competent despite being a self-proclaimed “small-time hero.”

There is also the poorly written Vindicator, who is supposed to be Wolverine’s wife, a relationship that is told to us rather than shown and is used solely as a reason to include her character, who lacks prior historical connections to these characters and places and whose set of abilities adds nothing to the mission of the story. At a very early point in the issue, Vindicator is initially surprised that Leonard agrees to help her save Logan practically instantly, but then she says that his drive to help her save Wolverine is why she asked him. This is, perhaps, one of the most, almost impressively, badly written comic books Marvel has ever made, although if you asked them in a few years’ time, I’m not sure they’d admit it.

The second issue’s one saving grace is Edgar Salazar’s artwork and Carlos Lopez’s color work, which make one of the most forgettable stories ever told more bearable thanks to its solid visual representation. The character designs, while sure to be controversial due to their radical changes to longstanding characters, are bright and pop against the backgrounds, which themselves are decently textured. There are no amateur mistakes, unlike with the writing. The line work is neat, and the balance of weight in each page is surprisingly even.