This is definitely one of those books that's paced for the trade, because as I get deeper into it, I start to realize how much I like it. Rucka and Robertson started off slow, but each issue has built upon the last, and been better than the last for the foundation that's gone before, and though I've never been the world's biggest Wolverine fan, it's stories like this one that let me see the appeal of the character. Rucka's story is an exploration of a bad guy steeped in corruption and deliberate blindness from the institutions meant to protect us from it, and he puts Wolverine forth as the guy who ignores the rules and does what's right, no matter how messy and violent that can get. It's an intriguing proposition, and it certainly makes Wolverine a more interesting book than it has been in a long time.
Really, though, the notion of Wolverine as this sort of ruthless tough guy who goes after the bad guys no matter what has been done before, and in this book. In fact, it's something that previous writer Frank Tieri did in his last run on the book. So it's not just the concept here, but the execution. Rucka's Wolverine is a man of few words, but there's never any trouble understanding what he's thinking. He's an uncomplicated guy, which is down partly to his animal nature, and that's been building in the background of this story from the beginning, if you look at Wolverine's choice of reading material, and it continues here, if you look at the first thing he does when he rides into a new town. Wolverine goes about things in a wholly different manner than most costumed crusaders would.
One of the reasons that it's easy to read Logan is because of the work being done by Darick Robertson. He carries a bored expression when he's being threatened or dealing with the aggressive Joe, and it's easy to see the anger on his face when it becomes necessary as well. When he's hearing what happened to Lucy, how she got to where she was, you can't help but feel a little bit sorry for The Brothers, because it's plain on his face what he's going to do to them. Robertson's expressive work doesn't stop with Logan, either. Much of the characterization of the likable Agent Cassie Lathrop comes in the smug, amused look that is on her face for a lot of the issue.
Of course, that doesn't mean the dialogue isn't important for developing the characters either. Rucka is not as known for his dialogue as someone like Bendis, but he has a way with character interaction nonetheless. There's plenty of wit in the exchange between Cassie and her boss, and instant chemistry between Logan and Joe. When Logan and Joe are talking about Lucy, even though the readers barely knew her, the pain of her loss comes through loud and clear, and it's hard not to relate to both characters and wish for something very bad to happen to the men who killed her.
Rucka gets around to explaining more about the villains this issue, and I find myself anxious for the whupping that Wolverine will no doubt be laying on them. Corruption and depravity can be seen in the headlines every day, and it's not hard to superimpose the torture of Lucy and her dad on the ills that have happened to real people, or to imagine a sense of catharsis in seeing Wolverine deal with the types of people who would do that sort of thing. Rucka is writing about a fictional character in a fictional world, but the use of the ATF, militia nuts and other fixtures of real modern culture makes it easy to relate to the story.
