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WOLVERINE #173
Not Recommended (1/10)
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Marvel Comics
"The Logan Files, 1 of 3"
Writer: Frank Tieri
Pencils: Sean Chen
"Laying the Groundwork"
Writer: Matt Nixon
Pencils: David Finch
Inks: Norm Rapmund
Colors: Avalon Studios
Editor: Mike Marts
Price: $2.25 US/$3.75 CAN |
Longtime fans of the title character might enjoy this new storyline, because Tieri brings together a vast array of characters connected to the bestial mutant. Personally, this did nothing for me, because the story is built on cliches, coincidences and implausible plotting and pacing. The art is rough around the edges, and two creative teams seem to be working on the same story.
While Wolverine spends time with old friends in Canada, Omega Red and Lady Deathstrike are hunting down those closest to him: his best friend in the X-Men, his lovers, his foster daughter, parental figures... you name it. Meanwhile, at the new Weapon X project, a plot against Wolverine is taking shape, while a new weapon ends up robbing Logan of his mutant powers.
Chen's usually clean style lacks definition here (as it has in past issues), and I have to think that Norm Rapmund's inks are the reason. The same sketchy look is to be found in the back-up story, featuring Rapmund's inks on Finch's pencils. The male characters also look a little too much alike, but that's something I think Chen has to assume responsibility for. Meanwhile, Finch's work is unremarkable, coming off as mostly an imititation of the work of Jim Lee.
I'm at a loss to understand why two writers and two pencillers were needed for this story. The backup segment is interconnected with the main story; in fact, both seem to be telling the same tale. Tieri and Nixon seem to deal only with characters as they once were; Alpha Flight here is pretty much unchanged from the versions from the 1980s when they first appeared in Uncanny X-Men. These characters do not develop; changes and evolution are undone in favor of stagnant visions of yesteryear.
Tieri's story is the kind of thing I might have enjoyed in my childhood, as he tries to connect the story to just about every supporting character from the world of Wolverine. But it's done at the cost of any sense of believability. The villains traverse the globe in a matter of what seems to be minutes, with no explanation. The hero loses his powers Just When He Needs Them the Most... yeah, right. It's all too much to swallow.
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