Wolverine: Infinity Watch #4
Matt Meyer
Recap
Wolverine has been captured by the Fraternity of the Raptors, led by a corrupted Robbie Rider, and is being mercilessly tortured!
But Loki has an ace up his sleeve - he's traveled back to Earth to shanghai Rider's mother, in a supremely convoluted effort to guilt him into surrender!
Too bad Rider thinks it's just another of Loki's illusions...
Uh, oops.
That got dark fast! And things don't get any less weird from there. There's also a ghost basset hound running around with a bat with "time-diamonds" sticking out of it, and Wolverine running around with a sort of belt-loincloth combo made from the armor of dead Raptors.
Also, to make matters even more interesting because there aren't already enough elements thrown haphazardly into this story, some time cops show up thanks to the sustained and ongoing abuse of the time stone...
And lastly, the big musclebound space nut from issues one and two shows up again, back for more and still hot to get the time gem for himself.
Needless to say, there's gonna be a lot of insanity next issue when this thing wraps up.
Review
After getting off to a rocky start right off the bat with a cover that forcibly reminds us that, yes, hot claws are still a thing, Wolverine: Infinity Watch continues to move the goalposts for just how nonsensical a comic can get. Four issues in, and writer Gerry Duggan is still finding new ways to show he isn’t taking any of this seriously. It’s one thing to write a funny comic, and another to write one that’s self-aware and humorous in that way. Duggan wants the latter, but fails because ultimately, nothing in this story is being taken seriously at all by the writer. Worse still, it’s clear Duggan isn’t even trying to make it anything other than a bad joke.
Admittedly, the bit where Darkhawk accidentally kills his own mom (don’t worry, she gets better) is actually pretty hilarious. But literally every other gag in this issue falls flat on its face, the result being anywhere from eye-rolling groans to outright loathing at a comic that refuses to display anything even remotely resembling an actual human emotion. Wolverine running around wearing a belt made of dead Darkhawks’ armor is a particular low point. It’s not funny. It’s just juvenile and dumb, and an insult to readers’ intelligence – not to mention their hard-earned dollars.
But maybe light comedy was always the point. I’ll admit that. Wolverine in space with an Infinity Gem is a pretty silly concept in its own right. But thinking back to the Marvel Legacy one-shot that midwifed this plotline, I have a hard time believing that this soulless absurdity was ever what Jason Aaron had in mind. Which is too bad, because honestly, a ton of fun could have been had with this premise had it been in the hands of a writer who knew how to make it work. Gerry Duggan, though, is only interested in cheap laughs. Don’t be fooled – nothing of real consequence is happening here, except that Loki’s next trick will be when readers realized how badly they’ve been swindled out of their hard-earned money for this nonsense.
Final Thoughts
A bad miniseries continues to get worse in Wolverine: Infinity Watch #4. Danger, Will Logan-san, danger!
Wolverine: Infinity Watch #4 (of 5): In Space, Nobody Can Hear You Scream This Series is Ridiculous
- Writing - 3/103/10
- Storyline - 2/102/10
- Art - 5/105/10
- Color - 5/105/10
- Cover Art - 3/103/10
WOLVERINE: INFINITY WATCH #4 (OF 5): IN SPACE, NOBODY CAN HEAR YOU SCREAM THIS SERIES IS RIDICULOUS
Definitely agree with the review. And adding Bats the Ghost Dog did nothing for the great character created by Donny Cates. I usually love seeing him but here it was wasted.