Wolverine #34: A Calm Before the Storm

Wolverine #34 is the penultimate chapter in Ben Percy and Juan Jose Ryp’s epic Beast Agenda/Weapons of X storyline, and as such, hits on a lot of notes almost every penultimate chapter should. Our stakes shift, our villains have the upper hand, and the stage has been set for a massive twist. However, the book is a vapid reading experience, utilizing faux change in place of any real, tangible development for a major story arc that’s length has become dead weight upon its finer qualities. Ben Percy is in no way a bad writer, as seen with the moment-to-moment beats to this issue. Once you take a look at this issue in the grander story scheme, the repetition of ending up right where the struggle against Beast began over and over again becomes grating.

The issue opens right where #33 left off, Logan and Maverick bobbing and weaving through a sudden onslaught of missiles, fired off by none other than long-term ally Jeff Banister. Upon recognizing one another, they all pause to make good, giving Beast enough time to defeat them all and take Jeff on as a hostage. With any possible leverage left in his hands, Beast makes an attempt to settle things with Logan diplomatically, Maverick digging up anything he possibly can to stop Hank’s strange new marching orders as a leader of Krakoa.

As the issue flows, every scene showcased in the aforementioned synopsis is written as well as they could be, but for the most part with a sense of urgency or importance. The opening action lacks a sense of adrenaline or truth, Ryp’s art is fitter for the visually disturbing or conceptual, as seen later on in the issue when Logan sits down with Beast to hash out a potential solution to their conflict somewhat diplomatically. That scene is excellently written, with some real gravitas in its characterization of a broken-down Beast. It’s a standout for this arc as a whole but would’ve been stronger if it wasn’t sandwiched between drawn-out action sequences.

Normally, a moment like this would bump a book up with regard to the book’s overall score, but the beats are still circling the same drain as the previous few issues have. We still find ourselves where we’ve been the last couple of issues with Beast, the reader has not learned anything new about the character or spent time exploring any of its themes in rich execution. The one development that does occur is nothing more than a new plot device to bring about the end of Beast but said the development could’ve happened at any point within this story. Even with Jeff abducted, the overall pace of this story has been so aloof and slow, that any pertinent threat his abduction by Beast may have just doesn’t feel all that rife with weight. The book has lost a lot of tension with its meandering pace, which is a shame as this arc has been one of the most exciting Percy has gotten to write for the Wolverine title.

As of right now, the overall execution of this story is heavily reliant on how well it sticks the landing. This issue, in all of its faulty pacing, has set up the finale for a bombastic finish, but whether or not that will truly happen based on this issue, as well as #33, is no longer a surefire thing.