WOLVERINE: REVENGE #4: Revenge’s Children

Twenty years have past, Hickman, Capullo, Townsend, Sinclair, Plascencia and Petit catapult us to wild west like society where Logan has settled into the role of casually hunting down old enemies, and Forge and company has built a city and community called the Territory of the People. There are some fun cameos, including seeing an Ultron in a western getup and a Winter Soldier with a handle bar moustache in a western tavern environment but these are passing interesting things. It’s Wolverine’s relationship with Sabretooth and the fact that Logan has left Sabretooth alive albeit, mutant ability suppressed, limbs missing and in Charlie’s old ’90s hover chair (now THAT’s not something you see every day).

Hickman digs deeply into the antagonism between the two men, and while it seems like Wolverine’s resolve has softened, a ill-fated attack by the children of Omega Red sends Wolverine back into full blown revenge mode, even though his ire is (unknown to him) only slightly misplaced. The vicious circle of revenge is fully on display as violence begets violence begets violence. What is enjoyable is Hickman pulling together elements spread across the previous three issues together into a cohesive whole, the moment in this and the world we find ourselves in is fully realized, built through all that has come in the past issues, without ever having been the focus of the story he was telling. A world sketched then fleshed out in background while your attention was kept on the violence in the foreground. The idea of revenge making Logan an unstoppable force this whole series is about to be challenged by someone from Logan’s past acts of vengeful violence who’s motivation to seek Logan to exact there own revenge for a perceived wrong sets us up for a riveting final issue.

As for the art. It’s perfect. Let me be clear, every single panel is a flawless piece of storytelling from Capullo and Townsend while colorist Sinclair paints it in those golden oranges to invoke the feeling of a sunbaked western. From page one of Logan coming on horseback toward the viewer with the golden orange light of a sunset (absolutely gorgeous color work by FCO Plascencia who colored page one) to the last page and it’s reveal of who it is that has come for revenge on Logan. The visuals are masterfully crafted, paneled and colored. flawless from start to finish. The fight scene is brutal close encounter that dances masterfully between placing the opponents and close up violence. The scenes between Logan and Creed as they exchange words pulls in tighter and tighter as the exchange gets more and more heated. Every thing about the art in this issue elevates the script to a masterclass in comic storytelling.