Wolverine #5.1 – Review

by Jason Aaron (writer), Jefte Palo (art), Nathan Fairbairn (colors), and Cory Petit (letters)

The Story: Melita throws a surprise birthday party for Logan, but the guest of honor finds himself side-tracked by some grotesque bad guys.

What’s Good: Wow, you could not get a comic with two more different halves.  On the one side, you get a feel-good party with the Avengers and Melita and on the other side, you’ve got a gritty tale of Logan battling cannibals in the backwoods.  How the hell can two such different things actually fit together?  The fact that Aaron manages this and makes both sides entertaining is already an achievement.

On the cannibal end, the Buzzard Brothers are a blast to read.  Aaron writes them with absolute glee and their dialogue is ghoulishly entertaining.  Yes, they’re appalling, but they’re also really, really funny, particularly when they bicker.  For them, murder and cannibalism is an everyday thing, so their dialogue and sibling animosity takes a ridiculous tone that I couldn’t help laughing at.  Despite being a bit of a cliché in concept, Aaron’s lively dialogue combined with Palo’s awesome character designs raises the brothers up into something special.

At the party end, the huge ensemble of Avengers actually helps rather than hinders.  Aaron successfully puts across the fact that Logan isn’t alone as he thinks.  The party comes across really naturally and is a perfect fusion of the mundane and the superheroic.  It feels like an ordinary get-together, till you notice all the jets parked outside.  Either way, all the characters work great and Melita is as likable as ever, if only because she acts like a perfectly normal human being amidst all the spandex.  Better still, her birthday present is touching.  I also have to highlight Deadpool’s role this month, which was absolutely hilarious, and I’m not even a fan.  Aaron used him so expertly this month, inserting him here and there as a kind of punch-line.  He’s far from being in a starring role, but his peripheral presence makes for plenty of laughs.

Weekly Comic Book Review’s Top Picks

Dean’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Hulk #29 – I’ve gushed about Parker and Hardman on this title before: Fast moving story with awesome linework.  But, I’d also like to show some love to Bettie Breitweiser’s coloring.  She colors the hulks so that they look like they are covered in actual SKIN and not highly polished/waxed metal.  Wish everyone colored this way!  Very pretty.  Runner-up: Spider-Girl #3 (for being ambitious and not a typical teenage girly comic)

Most Anticipated: Hack/Slash #1 – If you haven’t read the first volume of Tim Seeley’s creator-owned series, (a) what’s wrong with you and (b) now is your chance to jump on!  I love reading the adventures of Cassie Hack and her intrepid companion Vlad as they deal with demonic beasties and slashers.  This is just the thing for us desensitized people.  Yeah!

Other picks: The Walking Dead #81, Amazing Spider-Man #654, Incognito: Bad Influences #3, Haunt #13, 27 #3

Alex’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Secret Six #30 – As good as Sweet Tooth #18 was, I’ve got to go with Secret Six this week.  Despite being the first issue in a crossover I’ve been down about with a title I couldn’t care less about, this issue was just so much fun and was the funniest comic I’ve read in a while.  There are so many great, hilarious lines in this one and the new villain is utterly ridiculous on so many levels.  Even if the Doom Patrol were meh, Bane made up for it with ease.  That said, I wonder how long a title called “Secret Six” can go on with eight members.

Most Anticipated: THUNDER Agents #4 – I’ve been absolutely loving this new title by Nick Spencer.  The art is tremendous and it’s one of the smartest books around.  I’ve really been enjoying Spencer’s decision to start out the series by giving each member a sort of origin issue.   He’s done such wonderful jobs on his issues about Lightning and No-Man that I can’t wait to see what he has in store for Dynamo.  And hey, George Perez is drawing some stuff this month.

Other Picks: Punisher MAX #10, New Avengers #9, Amazing Spider-Man #654, The Walking Dead #81, The Flash #9, Wolverine #5.1, The Unwritten #22, Secret Warriors #24