An Ending Of Sorts, Or Something: Reviewing ‘Wolverine’ #35

It’s the final confrontation between Wolverine and Beast, only one will be left standing. So says the issue’s teaser blurb. Except…that’s not quite the truth.

Through the months of reviewing this series, thoughts have gone up and down. Some issues hit, and some were a letdown. Consistently the character of Logan has been spot on. Another consistent bit of information is how much the series just seems to be piling up lots and villains with no real conclusions. Surprise, surprise we’ve got another one.

Now, let it be said, I did overall enjoy this issue and the way that Logan and X-Force did their thing. They rescued Jeff Bannister, destroyed Beast’s base and clone factory, and stopped him from enacting his horrific plans. Yet, the teaser most definitely lied.

There wasn’t just one that walked away from this confrontation. They both walked away. Well, okay to be fair Wolverine walked away and Beast zipped away underwater in an escape sub after being injured by Deadpool. Semantics aside, we got another plotline that is left dangling and incomplete leading right into another different plot.

No matter what the internet might say, most of us doing reviews don’t want to be harping on these things. Writing glowing reviews are generally easy. And like I said, overall, I’m quite pleased with the content of this issue just not in the overall execution of the arc or the series. Beast has been an absolutely awful character for years and it would have been cathartic to see him end (till returned for the status quo).

Instead, he’s free and roaming and likely to come back. I think Ben Percy is a fine writer and does Logan great justice. Some of the plotlines have been very cliché to Logan but that tends to happen tons with the character. Unfortunately, one of the weaknesses in his longer-form stuff is dragging out plotlines and beats for far too long. To the point where it feels more of a chore than a joy to get through them.

This arc finally made the Beast plotline mean something and then just sort of ended in a shrugging way. Now Logan has three clones to worry about, after his Ghost Rider crossover that is, and the Beast stuff had no actual resolution or justice. Comics, they give, and they take.

Everything is slick and shiny and bloody as it has been through the previous two arcs. This is the last issue with Juan José Ryp on board as an artist. That’s quite a run of issues as it goes all the way back to issue twenty-six. As much as artists shift on books in modern comics that’s nothing to scoff at, to have visual consistency for most of a year.

There are parts of Ryp’s work on this title that have soared and other parts that didn’t. His style is very slick as I noted and has kinetic energy in many cases, while other times it has leaned more static. Personally, I don’t think it’s the right art for a Wolverine book, far too slick and shiny and not rough enough, but it’s gotten the job done and grown on me a bit. A lot of that glossiness is also enhanced by the way that Frank D’Armata chooses to color things. Throwing a whole gallon of glossy paint on top of things in one sense.

Not that the colors are bad, not at all. There are some very solid choices that create a mood, making sure the tone is clear on the page with darkness or other elements. We get a very heavy feeling on many of the pages because of how the colors are a bit toned down and the darkness is taking the lead.

Speaking of kinetic and static, we get a page that embodies both. We get a wide shot of X-Force fighting through Beasts’ giant mobile base, viewing them on multiple levels within its chest. The base itself is very static, which makes sense as it is standing still currently, while the fights within have movement and a sense of weight to them. It’s a pretty cool page.

Once more Cory Petit makes sure that the slew of words, there are tons with Beast being in this story, of course, move smoothly. Little flairs of personality are dotted through each character’s words, giving them flavor and feeling. Slipping into sentence case to make sure that the normal volume is clear to the reader so that changes to lighter or louder volumes is actually felt.

Wolverine #35 is now available from Marvel Comics.