Ultimate Wolverine #12: From The Ashes

After months of what felt like a story spinning its wheels, these last two issues of Ultimate Wolverine have started to pull the nose up as we inch closer to Ultimate Endgame. The last issue saw the Opposition be completely wiped out by the might of the Rasputins. Now we see the consequences of those actions as Logan storms his way into the castle for revenge, or at least that’s how it appears on the surface.

No matter the universe, Logan’s story is always one colored by the abuse done to him and how he chooses to process it. It’s not always healthy, but it’s what made him such an enduring character for 50 years. Ultimate truncates the wider story that is still being told in 616, but the central theme is still there. Logan’s abuse turned him into an animal, and he spends his long life trying to return to being a man and that starts by finally confronting his abusers. Normally, you’d expect Logan to burst into the palace claws slashing, and he does, but surprisingly his motive isn’t to destroy the Rasputins, at least not fully, but to save the “Phoenix Specimen,” AKA Jean Grey. Logan makes it his sole mission to rescue Phoenix, but their connection hasn’t really been shown to be much deeper than “both controlled by the Rasputins”. That’s all well and good, but a bit more interaction between the pair before this moment would have helped give this rescue a bit more weight. As it stands it’s more riding on the coattails of the relationship of their 616 counterparts, with a little Age of Apocalypse sprinkled in as well. 

Despite a few narrative hiccups here and there, Condon’s script remains tight and is packed with plenty of emotion to carry us through to the end from both Logan and his enemies. Our villains even get a bit more pathos as well, which has been building for the past number of issues. 

Alessandro Cappuccio’s pencils don’t always keep up with the emotion needed for the narrative, but the action throughout is fun and frenetic if not a bit awkward to follow at times and when needed, the issue has moments that absolutely pop off of the page which are highlighted by Bryan Valenza’s radiantly moody colors.