Keep Your Head In The Game — Reviewing ‘Ultimate Wolverine’ #10

Once upon a recent time, Logan was a mind-wiped fully unleashed weapon for the leadership behind the terrible Eurasian Republic. Saved by his fellows in the mutant freedom fighter group known as The Opposition, he’s a force for good once more.

Eurasian Republic director Omega Red isn’t having that as the deadly villain comes calling in Ultimate Wolverine #10. Two forces collide as Chris Condon, Alex Lins, Bryan Valenza, and Cory Petit chronicle the next chapter of this tough series.

A game of cat and mouse has been played for months between the Eurasian Republic and the Opposition, with the former Winter Soldier (Wolverine) playing his part. Condon has been really doing a slow build which has been appreciated. It makes the relationships, the moments, and the stakes that much richer. We’ve met and lost characters along the way, and gotten to see just how deep the vileness of the Eurasian Republic’s leadership truly goes.

We feel that more as we see the anger of Piotr Rasputin, or Colossus to most of us, and the ruthlessness of Omega Red. They’ve been in charge for a long time, used to getting all their way and crushing others who might stand in that way. Having an opposition group, especially one formed by Piotr’s brother Mikhail, who has stolen their greatest weapon is a formidable thorn in their side.

I love how this issue goes down, with all the character beats, the action, the team-ups, and the culmination. With this one moment, the Opposition proves how united they are but also how much they have the Rasputin’s number. Through this one simple encounter, Condon showcases the true strength of the seemingly out of their depth freedom fighters.

Nothing is ever easy for the characters of this series, as they live in a rough dystopian style world. Lins captures a lot of that energy easily with the artwork. This really gives everything a very heavy and tough visual appearance. Simultaneously, there is a lightness involved as the characters seem to just glide across the panels and pages, especially in the action heavy sequences. A bit of lightness also comes from the exaggeration and somewhat whimsical sprinkle that finds its way into the proceedings.

This pairs well with the color palette that Valenza has pulled out, keeping things on a very even kind of muted level, somewhere right between the darkness and the light. Many of the spaces the characters occupy are gray and lifeless, speaking to the starkness of the world. They deliver a good backdrop to provide a more neutral overall feeling. The flashier colors of costumes and powers stand out but are not over-the-top, giving a splash of vibrancy in an otherwise drab world.

More characters have a lot to say in this moment of the story. All of it is very controlled across the pages as Petit guides it with care. He finds ways to really showcase the differences in character voices, even without having to greatly change the shape of bubbles or the fonts, using size to differentiate vocal tone, volume, and more. This keeps the bubbles in spaces that accentuate the rest of the visuals while also keeping the viewers eyes moving in a logical way.

Ultimate Wolverine #10 is now available from Marvel Comics.