The amount of action in issue 2 of “Wolverine” dominates the majority of the pages, much like the first issue. But this issue ties the conflict between the combatants more with the story and doesn’t evoke the same cathartic one-sidedness of the previous issue.
Written by Chris ClaremontCover by John Buscema
Pencilled by John Buscema
Inked by Al Williamson
Colored by Glynis Oliver
Lettered by Tom OrzechowskiA cursed sword is seeking a kindred spirit, and a hero has already fallen prey to its evil! Is Wolverine next? Guest-starring the Silver Samurai!
Chris Claremont’s dialogue for Lindsay McCabe makes her stand out as a bubbly but resilient character that provides an engaging preamble to the fight that unfolds. The seedy bar in Oldtown really establishes the dichotomy of the Magipor and sets the scene for the incoming conflict. The atmosphere within the bar is dangerous and seedy, which makes Lindsay stand out all the more as an actress from San Francisco.
This downtime allows you time to embrace Lindsay as a character before the action takes place, where she isn’t going to make much of an impact on the story. There is also a very casual hint of romance inserted with “Patch” (Logan’s alias) and Lindsay McCabe. Later on in the comic, in the midst of a chase between Wolverine and a possessed Spider Woman, Lindsay begins to bargain with the Silver Samurai which effectively managed to utilise her character once more while giving a welcomed respite from the various fights within the issue.
The fight between Silver Samurai and Wolverine was a really effective build up of the tension as Wolverine scours the area for a threat and nearly finds what the reader sees in the corner panel; only for it to interrupted by the giant entrance of the character with the name in bold text and a capital ‘e’ ‘Entrance’ into the comic.
Wolverine, as he so often does in the first fight against a supervillain, loses with a totally valid excuse. Claiming that he doesn’t want to blow his cover by retracting his claws and cannot fight his hardest against an opponent who will lose to no less. Cliches aside, it does make me look forward to their next encounter so it is effective if nothing else.
The fight itself lacked fluidity, but instead opted for a snapshot by snapshot with no real sequence to John Buscema’s artwork. The effect makes the fight feel long and dragged out but fast forwarded to the highlights for the reader. This also allows a greater tolerance for large amounts of text which Claremont puts a lot in to get the readers up to speed. What is interesting about this era of comics is that for all of their emphasis on continuity and the complexities that entails; Chris Claremont has always made sure to explain necessary info for the reader to understand what’s going on.
What I especially love from this first fight is how it transfers to the second. The culprit of the gruesome murder whose silouhouted form and menacing eyes is all we’ve seen suddenly comes out to face the Silver Samurai, looming over Wolverine. What is so cool about this reveal is that the page-turn from the unknown threat into the Silver Samurai’s almost splash page makes you completely forget about the unidentified person hiding in the corner. When this person comes out, revealing she is in fact Spider-Woman possessed by the sword is a very well teased reveal.
The fight between Silver Samurai and the possessed Jessica Drew isn’t seen beyond Jessica’s reveal before it spills over to the relatively peaceful bar downstairs that reinforces the setting of Lowtown Magipor. The introduction of the possessed Jessica and is panelled in portrait style right beside Lindsay who has put on a bright yellow dress. This heightens The effect that the Black Blade has on Spider Woman and makes our perspective of seeing the fight from Lindsay’s point of view with the contrast in the two portrait panels being so starkly contrasted.
While the majority of the bar’s patrons fade into the background with stark stylized coloring, a few of the braver ones try their luck at taking the sword. This allows the Silver Samurai and the Black Blade controlling Spider Woman to make some fatal marks with their swords without injuring the other or ending their fight against one another too soon. It also enforces the feeling that both of these villains are elite fighters, especially when Jessica Drew beats the man who just beat Wolverine.
The ending of the comic has a strong cliffhanger feeling but also leaves the issue with more a footing in what the ongoing series has to offer. The lack of costume and use of an alias by Wolverine gives it a rough and tumble crime thriller as well as a pulpy serialised action/adventure with magical elements. While never straying too far from the superhero genre, it more explicitly shows the dna of the superhero genre.
