Fight Your Future With Wolverine Annual #1
by Josh Davison
[*Mild Spoilers Ahead!]
After a brief team-up with the Amazing Spider-Man, Wolverine pas a visit to an old friend at a care home. Her name is Celia, and she and Logan were lovers in 1938. The two moved out west to California, where Celia tried to be an actress. Unfortunately, she and Logan couldn’t work things out, but Logan stuck around to keep an eye on Celia. This proved to be to her benefit when Celia was possessed by Morgan le Fey and her cult.
Wolverine Annual #1 rounds out the “Acts of Evil” one-shots with a clash between Logan and the Arthurian witch, Morgan la Fey.
We can well and truly accept that there’s no grander story to “Acts of Evil” beyond having Marvel heroes fight notable rogues whom they don’t usually encounter.
Wolverine Annual #1 is primarily told in flashbacks, with Logan looking back on the events that led to his parting from Celia, which largely involved Morgan la Fey, though Logan and Celia were already split up when Morgan arrived.
Morgan’s attacks on Wolverine largely involve what lies ahead for Logan in our modern day. Consequently, Wolverine is more confused than enraged.
What holds the story together is the complex relationship Logan and Celia had and Logan’s trademark determination to save her. Everything surrounding those two elements is lukewarm and not especially compelling or exciting.
Geraldo Borges’ artwork is damn good. Logan looks as much of the imposing brawler as ever. The opening scene with Wolverine and Spider-Man fighting the glass soldiers is great. That said, he still looks scared and vulnerable in other scenes, and that’s not an easy look to extract from Wolverine. Marcio Menyz and Miroslav Mrva bring a popping color palette too, and it adds a lot of energy to the proceedings.
Wolverine Annual #1 is a fairly fun and clever one-off story centering on everyone’s favorite clawed X-Man. While the battle against Morgan la Fey isn’t the most exciting or engaging duel in the world, there is a lot to enjoy in this tale. I can give it a recommendation. Feel free to check it out.
Wolverine Annual #1 comes to us from writer Jody Houser, artist Geraldo Borges, color artists Marcio Menyz and Miroslav Mrva, letterer VC’s Cory Petit, cover artist David Yardin, and variant cover artist John Tyler Christopher.
Final Score: 7.5/10
