C2E2 Report: Wolverine – 3 Months to Die

 

Though I didn’t plan it this way, my final panel of C2E2 was Marvel’s Wolverine: 3 Months to Die. And while I regret not being able to see a couple of the later panels, I can’t say that it was a bad note to go out on. Full of interesting questions and big announcements, it was definitely one of the most exciting panels of the weekend. And so with that in mind, I’ve decided to skip ahead and write about it early.

Before beginning, Mike Marts warned us that, “in true Marvel fashion you should stay till the end of the credits. And on that ominous note he introduced our panelists, Charles Soule, writer of nearly everything including The Death of Wolverine and Thunderbolts; Jason Latour, writer of Wolverine and the X-Men; Russell Dauterman, the artist on the upcoming Cyclops ongoing; Jordan White, the fantastically mustachioed editor of Deadpool and Thunderbolts; Mahmud Asrar, the artist on Wolverine and the X-Men; and Greg Pak, who might have seemed a strange addition to those who had not yet heard the rumors.

The panel started with Dauterman, who was unequivocal in his glee and honor at being invited to work on Cyclops alongside Greg Rucka. Dauterman attributed much of his love of the X-Men, Marvel, and comics to X-Men: The Animated Series. With an impish gleam in his eye, Jordan White immediately leaned forward and invited us to take part in a ukulele sing-along of the show’s classic theme song, despite its lacking any discernible words. Unfortunately the internet has thus far failed in its basic purpose by not providing a video of the event, though a quick search can probably turn up video of other instances. Regardless, take my word that it was extremely well received.

Marts then turned to Wolverine and the X-Men. He asked Mahmud Asrar who his favorite character to draw was. Asrar had trouble with the question, saying that they’re all growing on him, but settled upon Storm. Latour mentioned that the series has been juggling quite a bit but that we’re getting to the point in the opening arc where things start to fall.

Then Marts pulled up the covers for Wolverine 8-12, the titular “3 Months to Die” storyline, one at a time. I imagine the reaction was just about exactly what Marvel was hoping for but, of course, it’s hard to deny the striking power of the images.

While the first of “3 Months to Die”’s five issues drops in June the title is entirely literal, as Charles Soule’s The Death of Wolverine will be released weekly in September. Soule described the miniseries as hitting fast and hard and explained that it would consider how Logan explores his own mortality after over a century of life and relative safety. He also revealed that each issue will look at a different time in Logan’s life and, by extension, another Wolverine.

Thunderbolts Annual #1 – Review

by Ben Acker, Ben Blacker (Writers), Matteo Lolli (Artist), James Campbell (Colorist)

The Story: It seems that Dr. Strange has gone insane, making people happy whether they want to or not thanks to his spells. Thankfully, the Thunderbolts are here to kill the mood…

The Review: There always comes a time when a reader has to weight down on what’s more important as far as personal experiences go. Does consistency holds a bit more value than pure entertainment? It may seem like a silly question, yet with so many retcons or with some concepts being handled in hazardous ways, it can be somewhat problematic if someone knows he should enjoy something, yet cannot for things that may seem minor at best.

In a way, this annual feels a lot like that for me. The premise is absurdly fun, with some very entertaining scenes and choices put down by the creative team, yet they do so in a lot of ways without any regard to previous stories or to the detriment of previously established elements. Is the story worth the disregard to continuity or is the lack of consistency with previous books something that hold this annual back?

This issue simply cannot be reprimanded for lack of trying, though, as both Acker and Blacker inserts quite a lot in terms of ideas, both old and news. With scenes like Venom and Punisher going to Asgard, Elektra and Deadpool going to visit Bloodstone Manor as they want to collect magical artifacts, there is plenty of opportunity for shenanigans that wouldn’t always be connected with those characters in the first place.