Wolverine Revenge has been the R-Rated bloody adventure comic book that Jonathan Hickman and Greg Capullo promised. In a world that is dealing with a new dark age the villains of this story pushed Wolverine beyond the point they should have. Wolverine has tapped back into that no limit rage that makes him one of the most dangerous people on the planet. Adding that to him planning out each villain he is targeting and this is arguably the most dangerous Wolverine has ever been. How will things go next in this revenge story? Let’s find out with Wolverine Revenge #3.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artist: Greg Capullo
Inker: Tim Townsend
Colorist: FCO Plascencia
Letterer: Cory Petit
WOLVERINE REVENGE #3 SOLICITATION
“TARGET: DEADPOOL AND OMEGA RED! WOLVERINE’s quest for vengeance leads him from old friends to old enemies – with death in his hands! Jonathan Hickman and Greg Capullo take LOGAN to the brink – setting the stage for the next unbelievable chapter. Trust us – you’ll never guess where this one leads.” – Marvel Comics
REVIEW
Wolverine: Revenge #3 delivers the most heart this mini-series has had thus far. Now to be sure, his is still the bloody revenge thriller that has been promised from the beginning. But the unique mix of targets for this latest issue is what separated it from the previous two issues. Omega Red, Deadpool, and Colossus are all different opponents for Wolverine to take on. That mix allowed the storytelling to be more grounded.
Starting off with Wolverine taking on Omega Red helped maintain the entire momentum of this story. It kept up the energy for both the reader and Wolverine as the lead to display his no hold bars revenge tour. Especially coming off killing Sabretooth, we see how Logan carried that bloody fighting mentality against Omega Red. Logan purposely taking Omega Red’s attacks in order to get closer to the villain was a great bit of subtle choreography by Jonathan Hickman and Greg Capullo. It made how Wolverine ultimate used the tendrils he sliced off to break Omega Red’s neck extra brutal.
That brutality continued with what Wolverine decided to do with Omega Red. Rather than burying or burning the villain’s body, Wolverine decided to leave Omega Red hanging as a warning to anyone else that would mess with him. This further pushed the idea of how Wolverine is consumed by this revenge tour he is on that he isn’t just satisfied killing everyone. Each revenge killing is a warning sign to others who may have thought of trying something against him.
Getting over this frame of mind for Logan made the turn in the storytelling with Deadpool to be a bit of a shock. Seeing Wolverine and Deadpool get so philosophical about them understanding they carry all their sins and there is no going back. The way Hickman wrote this entire scene was a reminder of the setting. These characters are in a world that has gone to the dark ages and it is about either moving on or just ending it all for many living in this world.
Using all this heartfelt talk to have Wolverine ultimately swerve Deadpool when revealing he doesn’t believe they can be forgiven was its own sweet revenge. Seeing where he found Deadpool, Logan knew that his revenge would come from fighting Wade Wilson. Logan knows Wade well enough to understand that confirming to Wade that they can move is what will give him the revenge he is seeking. It was the most cold-blooded death at the hands of Wolverine that Logan caused. Which Capullo got across how Deadpool went from a hopeful smiling person to dying a horrifying death.
This all culminating with Logan confronting Piotr Rasputin as his final target be the appropriate way to end this revenge tour. Out of all his targets Piotr was the one that got to Logan the most because they were teammates for such a long time. And as we’ve seen in many stories throughout the character’s history fighting, much less killing, an X-Men has always been a hard thing for Logan to do. Because the X-Men are family to him and it was good to see Hickman to have Logan say this out loud.
Establishing Wolverine in this way made Colossus outright saying he saw Logan as nothing more than a teammate and maybe friend add to the brutality of their fight. It would’ve added to Colossus side of the fight if it was revealed what he meant by his decision to work with Mastermind was because of family. At the same time, this is a story decision that falls on this ultimately being Wolverine’s story and not Colossus. The main character doesn’t need to know every detail about those around his story. With this being a revenge story Wolverine is at a point even when its all done that he doesn’t want to know more.
Now that Wolverine has completed his revenge tour it puts into question what will happen in the final issue of this story. Logan eliminated everyone he was targeting. Does this now leave Logan with having to simply live in the world that is still dealing with a dark age scenario? Or will he now move to work with Nick Fury to figure out a way to save the world? What that answer is creates a lot of intrigue for how Hickman and Capullo will end this story.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Wolverine: Revenge #3 delivered the most balanced storytelling of this entire mini-series. Jonathan Hickman and Greg Capullo found ways to inject heart into this revenge tour that Logan is on. Those touches of emotions created a greater sense of drama for what continued the violence Wolverine committed to in order to get revenge he promised himself to deliver. By the end we are left wondering how this story will conclude after the dust settles from what happened in this third chapter.
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8.5 Night Girls out of 10
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