Written by: Saladin Ahmed
Art by: Martín Cóccolo
Colors by: Bryan Valenza
Letters by: VC’s Cory Petit
Cover art by: Martín Cóccolo, Bryan Valenza
Cover price: $4.99
Release date: September 11, 2024
Wolverine #1, by Marvel Comics on 9/11/24, catches up with Logan in the forests of Canada right when an old enemy and a longtime friend catch up with him.
Is Wolverine #1 Good?
Hats off to Saladin Ahmed for being one of the few writers in Tom Brevoort’s From the Ashes era who understood the assignment. Wolverine #1 isn’t a perfect comic, but it gives you everything you should get out of a Wolverine comic and the promise that interesting things are in the making. At this point, that’s as good as long-suffering Marvel readers can expect.
Wolverine #1 begins with Wolverine running with a pack of wolves in the snowy Canadian forests. We last saw Logan in X-Men #1, and he decided to take a break from the hero business and humanity to get his head together. Fair enough.
Well, what’s a feral-minded mutant to do when he needs a break? He joins a pack of wolves, of course. Sure, Saladin Ahmed’s opening scene is a bit on the nose, but it suits the titular mutant as well as any other start.
Here, we see the not-perfect parts of this issue, namely the number of coincidental run-ins. Sure, you want as much action as possible in a Wolverine solo comic, but there will be more than one coincidental run-in before the issue is done, and it comes off as mildly lazy.
Speaking of coincidences, Nightcrawler arrives in the same part of the woods looking for Wolverine. It’s not clear how Nightcrawler knew where to find Wolverine or why he chose to disregard Wolverine’s wishes to be left alone, but here we are. Nightcrawler stumbles upon the dead security detail at coincidentally the same moment Wolverine shows up. The two greet, hug, and join forces when screaming starts nearby.
Wolverine and Nightcrawler BAMF to the sound of the screaming to find a campsite and one dead man who was punched to death. From the scents in the air and the description of the surviving campers, Wolverine figures out Cyber is in the area. Suddenly, Nightcrawler is nicked by a gunshot to the temple, and everyone scrambles to find cover. After a quick patch-up to Nightcrawler’s head, Wolverine charges out to find and face Cyber.
Once Logan and Kurt meet the campers, who don’t take kindly to mutants, the pace picks up with a traditional game of cat & mouse. Ahmed steadily elevates the tension as Cyber draws out his prey.
Letting Cyber go feels like a cheat. Ahmed sets up the scenario for Cyber to come back when Wolverine had him dead to rights and didn’t need to let him go. As the credits say, Wolverine’s the best at what he does, so an extra 10 seconds worth of damage for a lethal outcome wouldn’t have changed Kurt’s situation, so I call nonsense at the end of this scene.
The issue concludes with a helping hand from an unexpected and somewhat unwilling source and a one-eyed Cyber stumbling into a problem that could be a benefit.
Overall, Wolverine #1 gives you exactly what you expect – Wolverine being Wolverine. Saladin Ahmed’s basic plot gets the job done, even if it relies on too many coincidences to make it happen, and the cliffhanger ending is intriguing.
How’s the Art? Martín Cóccolo gets two thumbs up for a comic that’s sharp, gritty, energetic, and captures all the right action poses and hard-hitting moments to engage your eyeballs. Layer on fantastic colors by Bryan Valenza, and you’ve got one of the best-looking X-Titles coming out of the From the Ashes era so far.
Looking at the Big Picture, Wolverine and his fight with Cyber don’t show any signs of interconnectedness with the other X-titles launching in this new phase of X-title history. The last time we saw Nightcrawler, he called in Rogue’s Uncanny X-Men to visit a young mutant dying from cancer, but there’s no information as to how Nightcrawler got from there to here or why.
About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.
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Final Thoughts
Wolverine #1 gives you everything you want and expect in a Wolverine comic – brutal fights, hard-hitting drama, lethal consequences, and a decent setup for a new threat. Further, Martín Cóccolo’s art is some of the best of any X-title right now. That said, the script relies too heavily on multiple coincidences to make the final fight happen, so Saladin Ahmed’s strong moments are hindered by a lazy plot.
6.5/10
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