WOLVERINE: REVENGE #2: Old Business Before New Business

I was fairly harsh on the first issue of this series and in retrospect that’s because I think I had built up the idea in my own head that Hickman would do something very different from the norm with the story beyond major ultraviolence. After reading this issue it’s very clear that this is exactly what it was solicited as: A Wolverine story of revenge. once you accept that, it becomes easier to focus on the actual storytelling so here goes.

Hickman and Capullo choose to open with a reflective moment of loss. The mission failed, the American empire has fallen. It’s a psychological moment meant to drum in the loss on multiple levels as Wolverine stands in front of a casket covered in the American flag with Steve Rogers shield on it and exchanges words with Nick Fury, who turns out used his last LMD for the mission. It’s a fairly heavy handed use of symbolism but pulled off exceptionally by Capullo and the rest of the art team using heavy black’s and greys contrasted against the bright red, white and blue as Fury laments and Wolverine gets one more wisecrack in.

The rest of the book shows Wolverine planning and executing his revenge and I think in the hands of any lesser creative team this would have turned into a very standard and humdrum affair. But it’s Hickman and Capullo so it’s very much anything but boring. Hickman’s character interaction’s are excellent, he writes a fabulous Forge who isn’t above putting our vengeance driven Logan in his place, Capullo draws an absolutely lovely Dani Moonstar and every exchange in this issue between characters speaks to how well Hickman understands them. One of Hickman’s gifts as a writer is he can sell scientific comic nonsense to the reader in a believable and matter of fact way and this issue is no exception. Hickman shows of Logan’s wile in this issue. There’s no immediate charging off to kill the people on the list. There’s planning and reasoning behind every move and THEN there’s confrontation and the ultraviolence. This issue Wolverine crosses Mastermind off the list first and it’s a fun bit to see Wyngarde fall and how Wolverine and Forge use him to track down the others on Wolverine’s list but it’s the confrontation with Creed that’s a highlight of the issue for me.

Wolverine and Sabretooth have squared off a gazillion times and the fight is a bloody masterclass from Capullo, Townsend, and Plascencia but it’s the words the two exchange that lend the fight it’s deeper impact. The casual familiarity between the men that speaks of a lifetime of enmity and bad blood comes through the dialogue. Hickman manages to communicate how intimately Wolverine and Sabretooth know each other, Creeds arrogance even in the face of Wolverine getting one over him, Wolverine’s disdain for him, it’s all there in a five page confrontation brought to life by the art team ending the issue with a bloody (pun intended) marvelous splash that’s so good I am perfectly comfortable to call it iconic.

Capullo, Townsend and Plascencia don’t set a foot wrong. The coloring this issue is fantastic start to finish. Shout out in particular to Plascencia for making sure Dani Moonstar didn’t look white washed. Everything’s detailed and beautifully rendered. Facial expressions are wonderfully expressive particularly Creed’s in the last pages and so is the paneling as Capullo shows off how paneling can add to the dynamism of a fight scene. Cory Petit is as always a absolutely rock solid on lettering as once again the art team put on show that makes the cost of entry for the art alone worth every single cent.