Any Way You Slice It: Reviewing ‘Wolverine’ #50

A war between Sabretooth and Wolverine was destined to end only one way. With one or both of them dead.

After ten issues, the milestone Wolverine #50 brings the Sabretooth War arc to it’s inevitable bloody conclusion. All hands of the event are on deck as Benjamin Percy, Victor LaValle, Geoff Shaw, Cory Smith, Oren Junior, Alex Sinclair, and Cory Petit close their story out.

Wow.

Unfortunately, that is not a good wow. I would say it’s an astonished wow, but that would not be the truth. One of the things that has plagued this series, even at its high points, is how roughly storylines have come to an end. The same can be said of its sibling title, X-Force, also written by Percy.

While Percy has big ideas and a solid grasp on Wolverine as a character and concept, the execution and conclusion of his stories are lacking. This is not all on him as LaValle is on this arc too, and the nature of the beast to finish Krakoa has been so fevered and frenzied that numerous books have hit like a dull thud. Unfortunately, even with all that, this was a poor way to end things.

Oh, no, Logan was depowered! Wait, nope, turns out Forge’s magic armor also can counteract the effects of his depowering gun.

Graydon Creed is here to fight! Oh, no, don’t worry, Sabretooth pops up and rips his heart out in three pages so he’s dead (again).

Sabretooth is cutting loose and a threat! Good thing Logan can just and slash then dice him into pieces with his magic “can kill healing factor folks” sword (again).

Ten issues, some of them good and some of them clear filler, to end with a wet plop thud. Not even the dull thud.

Look, as my intro stated, there was really only one way this went. There was going to be no more amnesty or forgiveness. This event started with Sabretooth eviscerating and dissecting Quentin Quire and Akihiro before massacring tons of nameless background mutants. That being said, the way it went down was rushed and lackluster. Cut out a few middle chapters or at least use them in a way that wasn’t clearly stalling for time and maybe we’re onto something better.

Smith, Shaw, and Junior do a good job bringing it all home. They began the arc together before switching off, and now they flow together again. Each art style is rough, with tons of depth and details buried within the levels of roughness. Helping bring out the sharpness of the characters and the battle being waged.

While the method was lackluster, the hack and slash fight of the two men was not lackluster in execution. Bloody slashed panels making big spreads is some good stuff. All of the panel choices were spot on, giving the moments even more life and room to breathe at times.

Sinclair keeps working to bring the brighter hero style colors that these stories need, while supporting the harsher darker tones of this particular story. Meeting that middle ground where things are toned-down but pops of color are dominant sprinkled throughout. It provides a solid bridge between the two art styles, helping blend their similarities and highlight their differences even more.

Plenty is left to be said before and after the slash-fest. Petit navigates the fights, spreads, and reveals to make the letters hit with power. Helping bring more weight to the Logan voice that Percy has been so good at this whole time, as the captions bring the whole Krakoa Wolverine book full circle.

Each character’s voice has weight, and little flashes of their style or personality. Whether through colors, or fonts, or just modifiers to the font, it allows the voices to form and resonate. Giving weight to the emotions that are meant to be evoked.

Circling back (sorry, not sorry) to my full circle comment, that was at least a good sentiment. Logan went from distrusting even the idea of Krakoa, to realizing that it truly was the best time for mutants and the happiest for him. Wild that this is the book we’re getting an actual sort of actual sentimental goodbye to the era, but here we are.

Alongside this story though are two backups that are rolling deep in nostalgia waters, naturally for a milestone issue.

First is a piece from Larry Hama, Daniel Picciotto, Yen Nitro, and Petit. Do you like old school Wolverine and Jubilee stories that include beating up old school Sentinels? Well this one is for you.

Pulled right out of the nostalgia files, Hama tells a story that clearly is from the era where he made his mark on the character. It’s wild to have this piece of status quo nostalgia sandwiched between two mainly Krakoa-era pieces ahead of the line going back to status quo (sort of), but also fits in a way. Overall it’s a fine story.

Logan feels a bit over talkative here, maybe he was more so then (I’ve yet to read that era of his solo), and it’s nothing particularly revolutionary as a story. Picciotto and Nitro nail that old school feeling, and make the story move and feel wide in scale. Telling the human guy that the Sentinel called him a mutant because he has Heterochromia (two different colored eyes, which my mother has) is a big stretch, but okay.

Second is a montage piece from Percy, Javier Fernández, Matt Hollingsworth, and Petit. Basically, it’s a wall-to-wall story of all the various moments, big and small, from Logan’s time of existence, but chiefly with the X-Men. Percy and Petit tell an overarching mental story through the captions, as Logan narrates. Basically, it’s about how much he’s lived through, the pain/suffering, and how he keeps going.

Fernández and Hollingsworth do great work at recapturing each of these moments, some of them iconic scenes, but in a way, that blends together naturally. All the colors are kept muted and toned-down, so that it’s all one dark, heavy, and hazy memory stomp for Logan and the reader. With just enough pops of color at times to remind us what type of world they inhabit.

It’s an end to Krakoa, but a point that things keep on going.

Wolverine #50 is now available from Marvel Comics.