Savage Wolverine #6 – Review

By: Zeb Wells (Writer), Joe Madureira (Artist), Peter Steigerwald (Colorist)

The Story: Elektra is elusive, Wolverine might have anger issues and Kingpin is shady. Also includes ninjas.

The Review: I had my doubts about continuing this series. After the last disappointing issue, I wasn’t sure if this title could keep my interest. However, I was quickly reminded that this title had kind of become some kind of home for writers and artists to do original stories featuring the ol’ canucklehead when I saw that it was both Zeb Wells and Joe Madureira that took hold of the title as a follow-up to Frank Cho’s tenure. Does this duo make a better argument for such a title when Frank Cho didn’t do so well in retrospective?

Surprisingly, they do give us a story that focuses a bit more on Wolverine, connecting a bit more with whom the character and what he does. The story starts with Wolverine being angry, out of his mind as we’re thrown to the end of a conflict where he took some big hits. As the story goes from here, we see a bit how he interacts with some of his Avengers team-up and with one of his always entertaining team-up partner: Spider-Man. Considering the lack of importance of continuity for this story, we are given the real Peter Parker version here, which could be considered a nice bonus for those not on board with the whole Spider-Ock thing, as we see his usual uncomfortable shenanigans and interactions with Wolverine, which are always entertaining.

Swordsmith Assassin #1 – Advanced Review

By Andrew Cosby (story), Michael Alan Nelson (Script), Ayhan Hayrula (artist), Andres Lozano (colorist)

The Story: This is a new 4-issue limited series by BOOM! Studios. We start in a Prussian army camp in 1870, where Toshiro Ono has traveled from Japan to retrieve a sword he made. As payment, he tells his story to the Prussian general who owns it. Ono’s story begins in his youth as an apprentice to his father, a Swordsmith. Ono learns his father’s craft, but neglects one small part of the honor of the elder Swordsmith. That flaw has terrible consequences for him as it sets him on a quest to re-balance his life and retrieve all the swords he made for less honorable men.

What’s Good: This is a fine piece of historical fiction. Historical fiction is not done well often, but I really like the setting choices of Prussia and Japan. They’re underused settings, so even though they are historical, to the reader they seem alien and real. Moreover, they’ve found an effective character in Ono, one who is justifiably motivated to atone for his mistakes. He is compelling and we understand his quest for the balance that he refused to learn from his father.

Also, the colors throughout the book are forceful. The Prussian army camp is grounded in browns and grays and muddy tones. The youthful views of Japan are warmed by orange, except for the blue and sterile gray tones around the telling of the core of his hubris. The scene of his confrontation with the villain are set in red. These coloring choices are not realistic, but stylistic, and they are effective at communicating each moment’s mood.

What’s Not So Good: Unfortunately, this very compelling story and script didn’t get the art to really meet the book’s potential. This was for three reasons. Firstly, I felt that Hayrula’s art had some proportion problems. Sometimes the body parts didn’t seem to be properly sized, like the Prussian general’s legs as he emerged from his tent. I felt the same thing looking at the grave of his father, which seemed tilted. Secondly, there is a stiffness to the poses, such as when the general passes Ono a glass of water. The general has already been established as a warm, confident character, but his body language here erases the good will, warmth and humor he’d been showing until now. Thirdly, the shadowing is also a bit heavy. Both the Prussian general and Toshiro Ono in different panels appear to have no left eyes at all, when in fact, both do and the apparent lighting we see in the rest of the panels don’t seem to be so poor that shadows should completely blot out one eye each.

Conclusion: Great idea for a story and well-written, although the art doesn’t meet the same standard. Worth a try. I’ll take a look at the next one.

Grade: C

-DS Arsenault