The 1988 “Wolverine” ongoing series loosely builds on the success of the miniseries six years prior, but confidently stands on its own merits with less emphasis on the super heroics and an even darker edge than before. The lack of reverence towards this ongoing series relative to the previous miniseries makes it a tough act to follow, especially for John Buscema and the rest of the art team. But they do deliver a solid first issue that, admittedly, doesn’t quite live up to Frank Miller and Chris Claremont’s story.
Written by Chris ClaremontCover by John Buscema
Pencilled by John Buscema
Inked by Al Williamson
Colored by Glynis Oliver
Lettered by Tom OrzechowskiWolverine faces off against a group of pirates on the Island of TelambangMadripoor, the best place to find trouble and lose yourself in it! It’s a key piece of Wolverine’s past, and death awaits in #1 of his first ongoing series.
Like many comics in the superhero genre, issue one of “Wolverine” piques your interest with an action scene. But unlike the bear in the opening scene of the miniseries, there is no sympathy or credibility towards Wolverine’s opponents. The pirates are ugly and cruel, with the victims whom they let live shown huddled together in their mutual terror.
All of this preamble before the fight entices you to keep reading as you begin to eagerly look forward to the catharsis of the pirates getting their comeuppance. It also speaks to the fact that in the late 1980s, comics were gradually becoming darker in the themes they were willing to tackle and the violence they were willing to depict.
It does seem a little unfair to criticise a penciller for not living up to the standards set by one of the most important comic book pencillers of all time, but there is a splash page on page eight that really shows the difference in quality between the two. Wolverine, donning an all black sleeveless look, poses in front of the pirate captain with pointy hair and big burly arms but Wolverine looks very peculiar.
The pirates before were well drawn in their ugliness and the innocent looking women were drawn attractively, but Wolverine seems to live in that uncanny valley being both and neither. His hair and sideburns are drawn with a strong sense of style, just so happening to make the shape of an ‘X’ when you look at it along with his hair. This is an interesting choice but undermines the realism the minimalist costume is trying to convey.
The fight scenes, while bringing their own chaotic flare to them, lack the sense of fluid momentum that Wolverine’s fights against the Hand possessed. One page beat where Wolverine is piled on by ten or so pirates, he stands up with all of them being under him, and when the page turns they are all thrown out of the wall together. This is a brings up the very same problem that th ehair and side burns did. The style of Buscema seems to contradict the story being told, as the very serious pirates fighting the very serious Wolverine get chucked through a wall.
Admittedly, Buscema on his better pages has an ugly grit to it in the best possible way. There are mobs of poorly trained men swarming Wolverine as he brutally fends them off bit by bit. There aren’t many fights that can create tension with Wolverine due to his power-set, but this fight is more about the catharsis than the actual conflict. Glynis Oliver’s coloring is once again used to great effect to stylise certain moments with an emotional and unrealistic color choice, much as he did in the previous four issues.
Something worth mentioning as well is how well Claremont controls the pacing in these fight scenes by placing the focus on certain panels by packing in more text or breaking up a sentence when panels are intended to be read in quick succession.
When the scene with the pirates is finished we are off, to Madripoor where the real plot begins, which honestly feels rather dull after such an action packed opening.
