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.

Wolverine and the X-Men #1 – Review

By: Jason Latour (writer), Mahmud Asrar (artist), Israel Silva (color artist)

The Story: As the bard hath wrote: high school never ends…

The Review: It’s very strange to see a new Wolverine and the X-Men #1 so soon, but this is what we find ourselves confronted with. Jason Aaron’s post-Schism story for Wolverine and his school was a highly unique one, and one that occupied a very special place in Marvel’s lineup. Now that Jason Latour and Mahmud Asrar have taken over, the question on many minds is how much of the title’s charm was WatXM and how much was Aaron’s sensibility.

Well, to get right to it, it’s certainly not a repeat of Aaron’s work. Latour’s WatXM has a different feel, which might upset fans of the previous volume, but it’s not at all the reversal that the New 52 JLI was. Indeed, as we predicted last week, this could have very easily have been Wolverine and the X-Men #43.

The story picks up right from where we left off, with the solicit even assuring us that this is summer term. Our focus character is Quentin Quire, newly graduated and beginning his new job as a teaching assistant, though who he’s assisting is never made particularly clear. Quire’s always been a foil for Wolverine and, similarly, it’s interesting to see his individual brand of rebelliousness forced into a position of authority. The problem is that, unlike Logan, Quire isn’t dedicated enough to this new stage in his life to sell it in a first issue. He’d probably give up on it if it weren’t for his girlfriend, Idie.

Django Unchained #4 – Review

By: Quentin Tarantino & Reginald Hudlin (story), Jason Latour & R.M. Guéra (art), Giulia Brusco (colors)

The Story: Beware—the following story may be offensive to hillbillies.

The Review: Still haven’t seen the movie, folks.  I’ll get to it eventually, but I really just don’t have two successive hours to spend on anything lately.  But even without seeing it, I’ve heard a great deal about the controversy surrounding the film, though I can’t really comment on the particulars.  I don’t know how Tarantino handled it—I’m sure he added his usual fearless spin to things—but try to remember Django Unchained takes place in a controversial era to begin with.

The use of the word “nigger” is the least of it.  If we thought Schultz’s unhesitating willingness to shoot down a father in front of his son last issue was cold, Django’s lack of mercy in the role of a Mandingo “one-eyed Charlie” here is downright freezing, to the point even his mentor seems sickened.  Seeing Schultz avert his gaze when Django gives the go-ahead to set some dogs upon a runaway slave, Candie remarks, “Your boss looks a little green around the gills for a blood sport like nigger fightin’.”

“Naw, he just ain’t used to seein’ a man ripped apart by dogs, is all,” Django replies.

“But you are used to it?”

“Well, him bein’ German an’ all, I’m a little more used to Americans than he is.”

Winter Soldier #19 – Review

By: Jason Latour (Writer), Nic Klein (Artist/Colorist)

The Story: Tesla Tarasova tries to erase her past by using her cosmic ray powers and the Tarasova tesseract as Bucky tries to reason with her.

The Review: This was an ending that we almost didn’t deserve. This sounds a bit harsh, sure, but with this title’s cancellation due to low sales, Jason Latour could have given us as cheap an ending he could have wanted, admitting defeat as James Buchanan Barnes story came to a close for a while. Instead, he gave us something that not only pay respect to the work Ed Brubaker did on him, but also to the whole Winter Soldier series.

Winter Soldier #18 – Review

By: Jason Latour (Writer), Nic Klein (Artist/Colorist)

The Story: Tesla Tarasova tells us her life story and how she views her training, her life mission and the world in general.

The Review: It’s not fair. Really, parts of me are right now enraged after reading this issue. Having finished analyzing the various elements that compose this story, I can only come to a single conclusion: it’s not fair.

Do not misinterpret this, as this statement is only my vision of a harsh truth, a thought on the fact that this title will be over soon, as it has been cancelled. How can a title that has grown to become so amazing be cancelled like this?*

Django Unchained #3 – Review

By: Quentin Tarantino & Reginald Hudlin (story), Denys Cowan (pencils), John Floyd (inks), Jose Villarubia (colors)

The Story: At the Schultz School and you, too, can learn how to shoot a snowman in the heart.

The Review: To this date, I still haven’t seen the actual movie of Django Unchained, but even just reading its comic book adaptation, I think I’ve caught on to its unique appeal.  It’s a story of opposing forces existing side-by-side: blacks versus whites, the freedom of the bounty hunters versus the servitude of the slaves, the practice of killing without mercy against the travesty of enslaving one’s fellow man.

For an example of these strings of contrasts, you need look no further than in our dual protagonists.  Aside from the differences in their race and class, you can see that there’s a kind of tension between Schultz’s obvious kindness and patience with Django and his utter lack of sympathy for their intended targets.  It’s the kind of strange tension you see with mafia men who nevertheless love their families, and it seems to embody the fundamental paradox of humanity: a species in whom depravity and virtue can coexist very, very comfortably.

Winter Soldier #17 – Review

By: Jason Latour (Writer), Nic Klein (Artist/Colorist)

The Story: Bucky gets to know a little bit more about his target, Tesla Tarasova, as he prepares to right his wrong with her.

The Review: Let me be very clear right off the bat on this one: this issue wasn’t as good as the others and it is due to several little facts. While this is a strong way to start of a review, let me clarify that this is by no mean a bad issue, but it is merely a rather weak one when compared to the previous two by the same creative team.

Winter Soldier #16 – Review

By: Jason Latour (Writer), Nic Klein (Artist/Colorist)

The Story: Bucky tries to find Father Hammer, one of the commanding officers from his time as the brainwashed Winter Soldier.

The Review: Jason Latour continues to write up the continuous adventure of James Buchanan Barnes, a character created by Jack Kirby but brought back and modernized by Ed Brubaker. Writing a character that has been really developed and deepened by another writer is tough, but it is doubly so when writing exactly that character’s title. Some writers may do an error once or twice with the characters if he is in a team book, but that kind of leniency is not available in the titular book of said character. Still, Latour managed to write a pretty smart issue last time, so does he keep the same level of quality?

Django Unchained #2 – Review

By: Quentin Tarantino & Reginald Hudlin (story), R.M. Guéra & Jason Latour (art), Giulia Brusco (colors)

The Story: It only takes one phony tooth to take out a crowd of surly men.

The Review: It’s something of a luxury to review an adaptation when you’ve never seen the original.  Despite our best open-minded intentions, we tend to get pretty attached to the first version of any story, and anything that comes after seems pale or too different by comparison.  Maybe if I had already seen the movie version of Django Unchained, I might be a little more cautious about the comic, as I might with the cheapie “novel” adaptation of Avatar.

As it stands alone, though, Django Unchained the comic works very well.  The last issue established the premise and introduced the characters with surprising efficiency, and this issue rolls along at nearly the perfect pace, fleshing out the general direction of the story while giving us an outline of what’s to come.  I don’t know Hudlin at all, having never read his run on Black Panther, but he melds his familiarity with the original Django with his comic book writing skills very well to deliver the ideal adaptation.

Winter Soldier #15 – Review

By: Jason Latour (Writer), Nic Klein (Artist/Colorist)

The Story: Bucky gets pushed on a certain mission by Nick Fury and has to save an undercover agent from Hydra.

The Review: Jason Latour is not a lucky person. Having taken this title right after Ed Brubaker’s departure, he now hasthe pressure to please those who have grown with Bucky Barnes, the one character Brubaker took from obscurity to popularity in the pages of Captain America. It is sad to say, but many won’t continue reading the book simply because Ed Brubaker’s name is not on the book anymore.

That would be an error, since the book continues to be strong, despite the fact that the main voice behind Bucky is gone. As a matter of fact, Jason Latour actually does get the character here, providing us with the next step in his adventures after the conclusion of the last issue. Here, we see Bucky devastated, picking up fights in bar and getting drunk after having lost close to everything he cared about. With this tone set, here comes Nick Fury that pushes him with a traditional speech that is both comforting, yet utterly manipulative. Latour write a pretty good Nick Fury, but it’s his Bucky that really does shine here. The way he was written and how his dialogue is done, I could swear Ed Brubaker was still the writer.

A+X #4 – Review

By: Kaare Andrews, Jason Latour (Writers), Kaare Andrews, David López (Artists), Lee Loughridge, Jim Charalampiois (Colorists), Alvard López (Inker), Clayton Cowles (Letterer) 

The Review: I think it’s safe to say that nobody expected A+X to be quite this good. A quick look at the reviews for the last three issues show that nearly every major comic review website (ours included) has been mighty impressed with the consistently high levels of quality and effort found in each episode. In an era of ‘event fatigue’ and dubious reboots, this series’ amiable modus operandi is refreshing: one X-Man teamed with one Avenger. Them’s the rules, and aside from that anything goes.

This issue could be said to embody that freewheeling spirit more than any other so far; it’s leaking crazy like a broken faucet in Arkham Asylum. Ready the sedatives and wheel out the gurney, this patient ain’t going down without a fight:

Django Unchained #1 – Review

By: Quentin Tarantino (story), R.M. Guéra & Jason Latour (art), Giulia Brusco (colors)

The Story: It figures a dentist’s unflinching tolerance for pain makes him an ideal bounty hunter.

The Review: I don’t have too many unreasonable prejudices—I don’t think—and the ones I do have I usually try to suppress whenever possible, but I’ve got to say: I am not a fan of adaptations of any kind, from any one medium to another medium.  Almost always the original intent of the original author gets lost (see the Lord of the Rings films, or 2001: A Space Odyssey, the novel), even when the original author is involved.

Still, I decided to give Django Unchained a shot.  True, I’d never seen the movie (but then, none of us has at this point, presumably) and I really had no idea what the story was even about, but what the heck—live dangerously, I say, especially when the only thing it’ll cost you is three bucks.  I figured an adaptation which basically lifts the original script and provides some nice visuals ought to have a pretty good chance of being as faithful as possible.

Loose Ends #3 – Review

By: Jason LaTour (writer), Chris Brunner (art), Rico Renzi (colors)

The Story: The story of a hometown-crime-gone-bad heads to South Beach.

Five Things: 

1. Hooks you from the cover alone.  Man!  Do Brunner and Renzi know how to do a cover or what?  I hate to get into hyperbole, but this has to be one of the covers of the year (and I say that without “Best Covers” being something that I really track).  I just know that it’s rare to look at a cover and get this type of gut reaction.  You’ve got the sexy lady (with the juxtaposed brass knuckle necklace) dancing and she’s between the two guys in Baghdad and the concert in South Beach.  Not only does that fit the issue and kinda tell you what is inside, it’s visually exciting.  It makes you want to read the issue.  I saw a tweet from Dave Johnson (one of today’s BEST cover artists) that basically said that covers were all about DESIGN and this cover is a wonderful example of that.  It isn’t just about drawing a pretty image, it’s about creating a memorable visual that makes people want to read the book.

2. Electric colors from Renzi.  My knowledge of color theory is so lousy and colors are the area I feel least comfortable commenting about in reviews, but I DO know when I see something that is awesome.  Renzi is using an absolute riot of bright colors for this issue.  It’s complex and hip and perfectly puts you in the proper mood for the scene in question.  I wish I could say more, because this is clearly incredible coloring.  All colorists would like to have this effect, but very few can do it, they just surrender and color Wolverine’s costume blue and yellow like they’re doing a coloring book.  THIS is color as art.

3. Nuanced art.  You can kinda get lost in Renzi’s colors, but those same wonderful graphic design elements that are present on the cover are seen throughout the entire issue.  Most of the scenes are so electric that you almost miss the nuances in the art.  Like the fact that the central female character (Jes) looks sexy as hell until you get a close up on her when you can see how she’s a little haggard.  And that makes sense, she’s a small town honky tonk waitress, who drinks, uses drugs and has gotten beaten and raped in the last few days…  Brunner is able to perfectly capture the fact that she’s putting on a facade and when you peel that back, it isn’t that Jes is ugly but you can see the mileage.

Loose Ends #2 – Review

By: Jason Latour (writer), Chris Brunner (artist) & Rico Renzi (colorist)

The Story: A series of flashbacks gives us more details on our protagonists.

What’s Good: If there was a minor nagging complaint from Loose Ends #1 (which I loved), it was that you left the issue a little unsure about what was going on.  Sure, we’d been treated to a superb comic that featured a gritty come-apart in a roadside honky-tonk, but it wasn’t that clear who these characters were, what they were up to, whether they knew each other, etc.  To some extent, that shows some of the silliness of reviewing single-issue comics because I’m sure the creators sit there, reading the reviews and think, “Sheesh…how about wait for the second issue, guy!”  because things are clearer after a second issue.

This issue again features really stunning art by the team of Chris Brunner and Rico Renzi.  What’s amazing about the art is that is uses a technique that I don’t generally like that much (dot-overlay) to make the flashbacks clear.  Then Renzi colors these flashbacks with a uniform amber that allows Brunner’s inks to just sing.  It’s just a great example of a colorist not gooping up nice art.  THEN, when we get to the more present-day scenes, the colors are all kinds of bright and alive.  The art in Loose Ends is glorious.

And, I’m enjoying the story too.  Part of this issue is a flashback to a bunch of these characters as high school kids.  It allows you to see how they all fit together and really makes some of the events of issue #1 take on greater depth.  What’s cool about this scene is that the information isn’t just served up on a platter for you as I was repeatedly flipping back to check someone’s name from an earlier page.  It was a lot like a puzzle as the pieces snapped into place.  This is a dangerous trick for creators to try because if the comic isn’t captivating, the reader isn’t going to care enough to do the work.  But, Latour, Brunner & Renzi have made such an electric comic that the adventure is awfully fun.

Seeing how this flashback tied up some loose ends also gives me greater hope for the opening scene.  It shows a drug-land shootout that is gritty as hell.  I’ve got zero clue what was going on in this scene, but having see how neatly other scenes are being explained, I’m very confident it’ll all turn out.

Loose Ends #1 – Review

By: Jason LaTour (writer), Chris Brunner (artist) and Rico Renzi (colors)

The Story: The subtitle says it all: A “Southern Crime Romance”.

What’s Good: What a welcome surprise this was.  This is really the kind of comic that makes you want to scour the back of Previews to find hidden gems because, outside of Criminal, you simply won’t find outstanding crime comics at Marvel or DC.

The action all takes place in and around a roadside diner.  It really isn’t possible to spoil the plot because we really don’t know what is going on yet, but we spend this first issue just meeting the characters.  There’s the hot waitress that you see on the cover, some down on his luck criminal loitering in the parking lot, his ex-girlfriend and the typical drunk thugs hanging out at the bar.  Latour paces the storytelling very nicely and by the end of the issue, you feel like you have a pretty good handle on who these characters are even if you don’t really know what they’re up to.

Along the way, everything goes to hell in a hand-basket and we get a nasty, violent battle royale in the diner that doesn’t pull any punches.  Flipping back through those pages as I type this, that whole scene is just raw as hell.  There’s no stylized material arts or anyone being a badass, it’s just a nasty barroom brawl and the creators completely sell the realism of it all.

Dean’s Drive-by Reviews…

My pull list is way too long, so it seems like every week there are a few comics that neither I (nor any of my WCBR colleagues) has time to review thoroughly, but it still seems fair to give them the praise (or scorn) they deserve.

Skull-Kickers #3 – I was a little hard on the first issue of Skull-Kickers.  I didn’t think it was remotely “bad”, but didn’t see why all the fuss, why it was selling out, why people were able to sell their #1 issues on eBay at a profit before the book even hit shelves, etc.  It just seemed nutty that there would be so much fuss about a book that I thought was fine, but nothing special.  But, guess what…the 2nd issue was better than the first and the 3rd issue is the best yet.  This comic is really about a buddy-pair: rascally dwarf + huge, deadpan, contemplative dude.  There is lots of funny dialog between the pair and that almost makes the overall plot irrelevant.  It’s just fun.  The artwork is gotten better too, going from “fine, but nothing special” to “pretty good”.  If you haven’t been reading this, it might be worth checking out the trade in a few months.  Grade: B

Scalped #43 – THE WORST ISSUE OF SCALPED IN A LONG TIME!!!  Of course, that means it still gets a “B” and shows just how incredible Jason Aaron’s series is.  This seems to be kinda a one-shot with guest artist Jason LaTour and the story focuses on the all-hat, no-saddle Sheriff in the next town over from our beloved (?) reservation.  It’s just a solid story about humanity and heroism and how heroism portrays itself.  LaTour’s art is outstanding and fits with the look of the series, even if he did kinda mess up one climatic panel that shows how the bad guy took down the good guy (I stared at it for ~5 minutes total and am still unclear what happened).  Also, this issue’s story could be an important story element in a coming story arc.  We’ll have to see, but it is certainly worth reading this issue and series.  Grade: B

New Mutants #19 – The good news: I enjoyed this issue, which wraps up the “Fall of the New Mutants” storyline.  The bad news: I had a hard time remembering the events 5 days after reading it.  The title of the storyline is probably overly dramatic, but this story had a neat hook: An army expedition that went to Limbo for years and established a forward base there.  If you like the New Mutants, you’ll enjoy this issue, but it’s probably only for the mutant obsessed.  Grade: C+

Incredible Hulks #617 – I don’t like Hulk’s other son Hiro-Kala so that’s kinda affected my enjoyment of this issue.  And I just didn’t like the dramatic point of this story-arc: Hiro-Kala is flying an entire planet at Earth.  Established bad guys like Doom get to threaten the entire planet, but not newbies like Hiro-Kala.  The story is competently told, well written and the art is good, but I just didn’t enjoy this story arc at all.  Pretty sure I’m dropping this title.  Grade: C

– Dean Stell