Wolverine #13 – Review

by Jason Aaron (writer), Renato Guedes (pencils), Jose Wilson Magalhaes (inks), Matthew Wilson (colors), and Cory Petit (letters)

The Story: It always comes down to those damned ninjas.

What’s Good: In another flashback into the past of a “Wolverine victim,” Jason Aaron gives us an inside look into the Hand.  Overall, I enjoyed Aaron’s take on the ninja cult You get your honor-based suicides, your unsettling scenes of children killing each other, but most of all, Aaron adds a very, very unsettling wrinkle to the Hand with the role of its women.  I won’t spoil it, but in both dialogue and….occupation….it’s genuinely disturbing stuff and due to Aaron’s writing of it and Guedes’ unnerving illustration of these women, it may very well be the creepiest thing I’ve read in a major Marvel comic this year.

The art continues to be solid.  Renato Guedes’ action scenes are fast and fun and his illustration on the world of the Hand is appropriately dark with a hint of the grotesque.  His level of detail is rock solid as always and there’s little to complain about, particularly given that Matthew Wilson continues to find the best possible palette for Guedes’ work.

And oh yeah, we get one hell of a cliffhanger as well.  It’s really one of those endings that’ll leave you salivating for the next issue, but without feeling cheap or leaving you feeling cheated.

Weekly Comic Book Review’s Top Picks

Alex’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Detective Comics #880 – I absolutely loved Scott Snyder’s take on the Joker, a horrific monster who dwells in the very subterranean, dark heart of Gotham.  Not only was the Joker creepy as hell, but Snyder did a great job in fitting him seemlessly into the themes regarding Gotham that Snyder has made integral to his series.  Oh, and the James Jr. slasher flick cliffhanger was pretty fun too.

Most Anticipated: The Punisher #1 – Greg Rucka returns, not just to Marvel, but to comic books in general (seriously, where the hell is Stumptown?). The Punisher has often struggled outside the Marvel MAX imprint.  Too gritty and realistic and he doesn’t quite fit in the superhero abundant Marvel Universe.  Too wacky, and you end up with weirdness like Frankencastle or Frank as an angel. I think Rucka is a writer who will manage to find the balance and, at the very least, I’m sure will get some dark, noir-y goodness. And certainly, the art is going to be absolutely gorgeous.

Other Picks: Flashpoint #4, Batman: Gates of Gotham #4, Scalped #51, Secret Six #36, Wolverine #13, Superboy #10, Sweet Tooth #24, Amazing Spider-Man #667, Moon Knight #4

Dean’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Captain America & Bucky #620 – This one comes with a big asterisk as I just came back from vacation and haven’t picked up some primo books from the LCS yet (American Vampire, Detective Comics, etc.), but this issue really illustrated by Chris Samnee and Elizabeth Breitweiser are two of the brightest lights out there on the artistic front.  Sure, the story of how Bucky became THE Bucky is entertaining, but Samnee and Breitweiser are the real stars here.

Most Anticipated: Scalped #51 – With the sad news that Scalped will be ending with issue #60, you just KNOW that Jason Aaron is going to be bringing the heat for the remaining 10 issues.  He’s been pretty unafraid to do bloody and traumatic things to these characters, so I can only imagine what he’ll do now that he isn’t saving anything for future story arcs.  The end starts here!

Other Picks: 50 Girls 50 #3, Severed #1, Infinite #1, Hulk #38, Punisher #1, Rachel Rising #1, SHIELD #2, Sweet Tooth #24