Wolverine: Chop Shop #1 – Review

By Mike Benson (writer), Roland Boschi (pencils), Dan Brown (colors), Jeff Eckleberry (letters), Tomer Hanuka (cover)

The Story: After an evening of drinking, Logan gets picked up by a beautiful woman who takes him back to her place. After the festivities conclude, Wolverine wakes up hung-over and short a few organs. Realizing he was harvested for parts, Logan sets out for his revenge.

What’s Good: Even though this story is weak, Wolverine’s dialogue is written pretty well. Benson surprisingly finds a way to make the X-man shine through his narration.

What’s Not So Good: I know this is a one-shot, so it’s not supposed to fit in any particular continuity, but this is a bit too unconnected for me. Wolverine getting picked up, and hacked for organs is whatever, but seriously how can anyone not know who this guy is? He’s been involved in every global event for the last like, 40 years. It just asks too much of the reader. To make things worse, the organ-stealers are regular guys which kills the drama. Had it been a super-villain, some anti-mutant group, or someone trying to study his healing factor, sure I can buy that. All of which make more sense than a random hookup gone wrong. The backgrounds are another source of frustration. Half of them are dull, the others are just splashes of color to accentuate Wolverine’s rage. That’s something we should get from the words.

Conclusion: Logan’s narration and some decent art aren’t enough to save this bland story. This is a perfect argument for Wolverine’s over-saturation in comics. Just because an idea with him comes up doesn’t mean it needs to be published, Marvel! And clearly it doesn’t guarantee that it’ll be good. Save your cash folks.

Grade D-

– Ben Berger