Wolverine: Revenge is back after a two month break since its third issue was released. The third issue did have a sense of finality to it as Wolverine took out all the villains who wronged him and his allies. It left this story in a spot that puts into question what is next for the final two issues of this mini-series to deal with. That is something that hopefully Wolverine: Revenge #4 will answer. Find out if it does with our review.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artist: Greg Capullo
Inker: Tim Townsend
Colorist: Alex Sinclair
Letterer: Cory Petit
WOLVERINE: REVENGE #4 SOLICITATION
“AN EYE FOR AN EYE! Time has passed since WOLVERINE’S quest for vengeance began. But as an eye for an eye escalates through the years, revenge becomes a FAMILY AFFAIR! And this is going to be one HELL of a reunion! A shocking development in Hickman and Capullo’s saga of the Wolverine that must be experienced to be believed!” – Marvel Comics
REVIEW
Wolverine: Revenge #4 brings us back to an alternate Marvel Universe that doesn’t sell why we needed to return. The story is structured in a way that this fourth issue as the start of a sequel to a successful first movie. The problem with that is that this sequel story comes across in a way that it was a story that was forced to be told because of the original story’s success.
Right away the forced nature of Wolverine: Revenge continuing is felt with the twenty year time skip that is followed quickly by another year time skip. The initial time skip brings us into a world that we have zero connection to. That is because other than Nick Fury and what remained of SHIELD we didn’t see the rest of this Marvel Universe in previous issues. So it left this universe as a blank slate that was never fully developed.
That lack of development is spotlighted in the final panel of the second page. Right when Logan walks into a bar filled several characters dressed as Giant Man, Captain America, and Winter Soldier there is zero connection to this location. These characters all come across as random cosplayers dressed in western version of Marvel heroes costume.
The failure in creating a connection with this version of the Marvel Universe made it tough to get into the character arc Hickman was leading Logan down on. Logan was just a wanderer without a purpose in a world that that has moved on and gotten used to its current status quo. There wasn’t much to care about wanting what was next for the man known as Wolverine or this world.
Which is further emphasized by how quickly we get another one-year time skip with Wolverine tracking down a heavily injured Sabretooth. Hickman certainly knows how to write the rivalry between Wolverine and Sabretooth. That is the one major selling point of this fourth issue. The way they get personal does well in getting over why Sabretooth was the one villain left alive.
Unfortunately, this does not sell the final story it sets up with Wolverine fighting the Omega Men, the children of those Logan killed. The way the Omega Men are presented felt like a deus ex machina to continue a story that didn’t need to continue. Each of the kids are one-note versions of their parents. That does nothing to build excitement for how a Wolverine no longer at his peak will deal with them.
The one real bright spot of Wolverine: Revenge #4 is Greg Capullo’s artwork. Capullo does a very good job at creating a world that has moved on without Wolverine. The way Logan walks through this world shows us he has become a character who isn’t connected with his surroundings. While others have moved on Logan can’t forget what the world once was.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Wolverine: Revenge #4 arrives after a two-month break with a continuation to a story that we have moved on from. This leads to this return to come across as a sequel to a story that didn’t need one. It is unfortunate because there was so much potential with this mini-series. All that we can hope for is that the finale can nail the landing this penultimate issue awkwardly pushes it towards.
Story Rating: 3 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 5.5 Night Girls out of 10
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