Comic Book Review - Wolverine #1

Wolverine Vs. Cyber in the Canadian wilderness…what could go wrong? 

The From the Ashes era of the X-Men has been going strong for the last few weeks. With the X-Men scattered across the globe, there’s been plenty of opportunity to delve into the many brand-new X offerings that Marvel Comics have thrown our way.  Now it’s Wolverine’s time in the spotlight as writer Saladin Ahmed and artist Martín Cóccolo explore the post-Krakoa era for Logan. With the character separated from the wider X-Men family, it’s the perfect time to focus on Logan as he attempts to discover his purpose in this new era. 

With this opening issue, Ahmed brings Wolverine back to his primal roots as he attempts to find solitude within the frozen wilderness. Teaming up with a pack of wolves, we catch up with Logan as he embraces this new role within the pack. Things don’t stay calm for long as we’re then shown Cyber who’s also in the wilds and is tracking Logan and his wolf pack. Meanwhile, Nightcrawler is also attempting to track down Logan with a mission of his own. 

In terms of actual plot progression, not a lot happens. Instead, a fair chunk of this issue deals with Logan‘s mindset now he’s away from Krakoa. That’s not to say that it’s a bad thing as I often find with Wolverine we get gory action and not a lot else. Here we see a somewhat vulnerable side to the character, one who’s reluctant to venture back to the civilisation he left behind. It also harkens back to those X-Men tales of old where the relationship between humans and mutant kind is very fragile - especially when helping a group of besieged campers who get caught up with Cyber.  

Currently, Nightcrawler's inclusion feels much to remind Logan of his past. Kurt goes as far as to say that he is here on behalf of Logan’s mutant family, and it’s one that desperately needs the veteran X-Men members' wisdom. However, with this issue cliffhanger ending we could see Kurt become the linchpin that keeps Logan from getting into too deep water

When it comes to writing, Ahmed utilises plenty of captions to capture the inner thoughts of his characters. While this did seem a little excessive at times, we are dealing with two characters in the wilderness on their own - they’re not going to be talking out loud anyway. When it does come to physical conversations Ahmed has both Logan and Cyber contrast each other. While Logan and Nightcrawler’s interaction with the campers touches upon the human/mutant relationship, Cyber’s confrontation with the group hunting him is pure chaos. Away from this the relationship between Logan and Nightcrawler is lighthearted and helps ease the tension that’s slowly building across this opening issue. As I’ve already touched upon, it seems that Kurt’s appearance is to bring Logan back into the mainstream X-Men series, as well as act as his conscience as this series continues. 

Cóccolo packs plenty of stunning art across this issue and does a superb job of drawing the animosity between Cyber and Wolverine. Bryan Valenza further compliments this issue with plenty of cool tones that build the frozen atmosphere of the Canadian wilderness. Special mention also goes to that final page which sees this issue conclude with one heck of a cliffhanger. It’s perfectly executed and makes you want to pick up Wolverine #2 

Overall while Wolverine #1 is thin on its plot it packs enough mystery to make you come back for the second issue. Ahmed similarly has a great grasp on Logan and it makes for a refreshing change to see him away from his X-Men family. With things about to heat up, it’s about to get quite violent for Wolverine and Nightcrawler. 

Rating: 8/10 

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