Hey, look over there... aren't those the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse? No, not the X-Men villains, but the Biblical harbingers of the end of everything. They must be, because this is a positive review of an issue of Wolverine by a guy with a professed disdain or indifference to the character (depends on my mood).
Tieri finally capitalizes on the strength of the new direction begun in issue 181 here, bringing his mob story to a satisfying conclusion. I hope the true-crime riff continues, because it explores the title character as a rogue hero, but not a super-hero. It allows his more callous and intense side to shine through, but not to the point that he turns into an animal for the sake of the plot.
Neophyte mob boss Freddo Pazzo has decided to renege on his deal with Logan, and has taken captive the father and child the feral mutant hoped to help when he first approached Pazzo. Either Wolverine does one more mission for the punk godfather -- the elimination of a government witness that could bury him -- or the man and daughter will die in her place. Logan doesn't care for the amendment to their arrangement, and he makes his own alternate plans.
Chen's detailed style has taken on a more realistic tone with this new direction, and it helps to drive home the strength of the crime genre twist. He conveys the youth and cockiness of Freddo quite well, but more importantly, he brings out a lot of personality in the title character. Wolverine comes off as almost amused by Freddo's stupidity and lack of control. We also see the wisdom in the underboss's more experienced eyes, not to mention his battle of conscience.
This issue reads quickly, but it reads well. Instead of being deadly or primally resourceful, Logan is clever... one step ahead of his prey at every turn. He's walked into a situation on a whim, but he hasn't done so blindly. One gets the sense that he knew how everything would play out from the start, and the notion that he did so simply as a diversion instead of a driving need for justice adds another edge to the character and this story.
The one problem with this story arc is that Tieri drew it out for too long. The story itself is pretty much contained to issues #182 and 185, and those in between just plodded along. As a result, I don't expect this story will read as well in a collected format or in one sitting. But by itself, this is one of the strongest issues of the entire series.
