Wolverine Max #7

by Johnny Freiberg on May 20, 2013

Wolverine goes to bury his dog who was killed by the people Candy works for. The mystery around Candy and her employers builds, and he confronts them.

Creative Team: Jason Starr (Writer) Felix Ruiz & Guillermo Mogorron (Pencilers) Dan Brown & Lee Loughridge (Colorists)

Thoughts: The first three fourths of the issue don’t really have much action to them. It’s intertwining character beats, plot momentum, and exposition. Under some writers, this could come off as boring, but it is pulled off perfectly. Nothing is held on for too long, switching from character to plot to exposition without any problem, and one is never left just wanting the action to happen. This time with no action also makes it so that when Wolverine finally pops his claws, it’s damn exciting. And the fight scene is very well done, for that matter.

Wolverine has some great character beats in this issue. It starts off with him espousing something akin to survivor’s guilt. He doesn’t die, and therefore has to see lives around him end. This is especially painful for him, as Dog was completely innocent, yet had her life cut short. Wolverine is a killer, and not necessarily a good man, at least in his own eyes. To see something so innocent die, while he will not, despite not being innocent, is very painful for him. Another great idea put out is how Wolverine grows strong attachments very quickly. He did so with Dog, and now with Candy. This can be a fatal flaw for him. Perhaps he has such strong feelings towards others because losing his past means he doesn’t have a connection to anybody, and so he craves interaction and emotional ties. Before reading this series, I had no interest in Wolverine. I thought he was a mindless killing machine with no depth, who was just put in books to increase sales. I still believe this to a certain extent; however, this shows me that he can be more.

I love the art in this book. It’s murky, almost in the vein of a Vertigo title. That’s an art style that I’m particularly fond of, but it also suits the dark tone of the book quite well.

Honestly, I can’t find anything I don’t like about this book.

Our Score:

9/10

A Look Inside