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WOLVERINE: NETSUKE #1
Mildly Recommended (6/10)
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Marvel Comics
Writer/Artist: George Pratt
Letters: George Pratt & Casey Burns
Editor: Mike Marts
Price: $3.99 US/$6.50 CAN |
Perhaps best known for his Enemy Ace: War Idyll graphic novel from DC Comics, painter George Pratt turns his attention to Marvel's most popular mutant. It will come as no surprise to those familiar with Pratt's work that this story is beautifully illustrated, and I'm pleased to find that the bad-ass/espionage approach to the title character that we've seen so much of lately is set aside. Still, though, I find it hard to connect with this character, and so far, he's the only one to be found in this story.
A vision of Logan's dead wife, Mariko, draws him back to her ancestral home in Japan. The feral mutant soon discovers that it was much more than a simple dream, as he finds himself face-to-face with an icy spirit and its mindless warriors. LOgan also discovers something in a small box, apparently a gift from the late Mariko. It's a netsuke, an ornamental accessory used to suspend a small pouch from the sash of a kimono.
Pratt's richly textured and detailed art is obviously the book's greatest strength. I'm put in mind of such other artists as Bill (Darededvil: Love and War) Sienkiewicz, Dan (Nocturnals) Brereton and Kent (Blood: A Tale) Williams. There are moments when I was reminded of Yoshitaka Amano's work on the recent Elektra & Wolverine: The Redeemer limited series. The darkness combined with muted colors are well suited to the legendary and supernatural tone of the story as well. And the use of unusual colors for the word balloons and narrative captions make them far less intrusive than they could have been.
Pratt's script definitely brings out the deep connection that Logan had with Mariko without requiring him to wade into the long backstory the two characters share. Pratt also elicits an atmopshere of the classic, historial and near mythic as he transports the title character into the setting of feudal Japan.
Ultimately, though, I don't feel I understand Logan as a human being. His character is a complex one, but that complexity of experience has made for an alien figure. I don't get a sense of real human emotion, nothing down to earth that makes it easier to relate to this tortured soul. Mind you, this isn't something for which Pratt can be blamed. It is the nature of the character. Fans of Wolverine in various incarnations will no doubt enjoy Pratt's more solemn take on him.
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