Review: ‘X Deaths Of Wolverine’ #5 Comes To An End- Was It A Whisper Or A Bang?

Over the course of the last ten weeks, Wolverine has been taken on a journey that no one quite expected. This week, it all comes to an end, with an issue that might throw more than a few fans for a loop.

Benjamin Percy, Federico Vincentini, Dijjo Lima, Cory Petit, and Tom Muller conclude their story with a bang. But what of the story to set up the next status quo?

It’s an all out action issue as Logan wakes up from his cross time mission to come to Krakoa’s rescue. Along with his family, he is the only hope the island nation has against his Phalanx-infected future self. Even if he wins, Krakoa may still be doomed, thanks to Moira MacTaggert…

Fellow Comicon X-reviewer Scott Redmond and I have discussed this event each week. Our consensus has been that this series has been the stronger of the two, and that holds in this issue. Unfortunately, that’s only to a certain point though.

Now it’s not the art. Vincentini and Lima continue to put in fantastic work. I really hope to see them together on another book- whether in the X-line or not. They make the action clear, but they’re also incredibly dynamic in every panel. The book looks great, even if it’s a bit over the top in a few places.

The writing has two sides.

As a Wolverine action story, I think this is a great story. Logan and his Phalanx counterpart were great counters to one another, and Logan was believable as a hero. The supporting cast felt full fleshed out, and Sage’s inclusion in particular was a hell of a lot of fun. I mean, Percy giving Sage the line “I’m a living computer, I’m going to try to hack something” while she is holding a sword is just gleeful comics fun.

But as the next stage of the X-line? I think it failed pretty badly. Moira’s heel turn is the biggest problem, as it just doesn’t quite land. Her motivations make sense, and clearly she’s snapped under literal centuries of time where she failed over and over. The extent and severity of her descent into maniacal evil is where it doesn’t work. It doesn’t feel in-character, especially for the long history of the character, and what was established in House of X #2. Outside of Moira, a “moral of the story” told by Beast to Sage feels tacked on, almost an editor’s note than anything else.

Destiny of X starts this week, and I have a feeling it’s not going to draw much from this series. If it does though, I hope it’s the fun action side, because that was easily the best part of the entire event.

X Deaths of Wolverine #5 is available now from Marvel Comics.