Wolverine #45: Face to Face

Wolverine #45 is part five of the Sabretooth War and a pattern is beginning to appear with the story progression. So far, it seems that Benjamin Percy and Victor LaValle switch off on writing duties, though there is obvious collaboration. Both writers are extremely talented and prolific, but neither of their voices for these characters feel present. With Wolverine #45, Wolverine is absent from the issue until the last quarter or so, which is a shame for an issue of Wolverine. However, Sabretooth and Wolverine are finally face to face by the end, so moving forward things should feel a little more exciting. Geoff Shaw continues to do some incredible work and does a great job capturing the scale of this story. Narrative voice and tone might vary from issue to issue but Shaw, along with penciler Cory Smith and inker Oren Junior, retain a certain style that works for the story and the visuals. It helps to have Alex Sinclair and Cory Petit as the sole colorist and letterer respectively. 

Part of the problem with this issue might be the expectations of the Wolverine and Sabretooth. For one, this is being called “The Most Violent Wolverine Story Ever Told” and while the first few issues were promising, it is not living up to that. Secondly, Percy has noted that he was waiting to tell this Sabretooth and Wolverine story for the very end of his run, which is understandable but that puts a lot of pressure on himself. Wolverine is one of the longest and most successful series from this era of X-Men comics, so a lot is riding on this. LaValle did wonderful work with Sabretooth and Sabretooth & The Exiles, and this event feels like a pretty natural conclusion to those two series and it feels a little forced that they are concluded all in Wolverine. The story has felt a little stretched. This is part five of ten and there’s still mystery behind Sabretooth’s motives and his plan for being on Krakoa. Issue #44 ended with Wolverine rushing off to Krakoa to face Sabretooth alone but the majority of this issue follows Sabretooth and Quentin, the other Sabretooth variants, and then the Exiles all separately. Hopefully, these first five parts were set up and the last five stick the landing and deliver.