Writer: Jeph Loeb
Pencils: Simone Bianchi
*This review contains spoilers
The Bag
It's a comic arc like this that really makes me want to stop buying a title. The solicitations built the arc up from many angles, using lures of a so-called "superstar" team of Loeb and Bianchi and the tease that this may be the final battle between Wolverine and Sabretooth, but it just goes to show that these solicitations just cannot be trusted, and we as comic book readers need to be weary, even when "superstars" are involved.
Creators at Marvel are so interested in changing the way the "status quo" of the 616 that they are blinded to telling stories within any kind of status quo. I guess someone thought this idea of Wolverine and Sabretooth evolving from an ancient feral race was a good idea, but I don't really see how anyone could find that anything but insulting to the characters. As far as I'm concerned, the ones approving just saw Jeph Loeb walk in the room, knelt down, and starting washing and kissing his feet for reasons unbeknownst to me. And thus, this arc to change the status quo of Wolverine was put into action, but for what reasons? Does Wolverine really have to change as a character in such dramatic ways? His past is being rediscovered in the terrible Wolverine: Origins title, which should be developing the character in enough new ways that something else big isn't necessary. But, Marvel can't just sit on a character and tell good stories with what has already been developed these days. I compare this arc to the ones just previous to it, especially the one-shot with Wolverine protecting the African child, which was a great story that decided to tell a story that concentrated on Wolverine's already-established traits: his honor, his will to protect, and his sense of survival. The "Enemy of the State" and "Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D." were also fun arcs that told great stories and just developed what we already knew about Wolverine, which is fine. People want great stories, not "great" creators. If the creators can't deliver a good story about a particular character, put them on another title until they think of something else.
And so back to this arc, specifically. Here we have a six issue arc with Wolverine and Sabretooth battles that could have been better, a story that has completely failed, and characters that have been wasted. As for the first, the battles are really lackluster, and seem to be battles just to be battles. In fact, that's kind of how the arc started, if I remember correctly: Wolverine goes to kill Sabretooth. Very simple. Very bad. There are fights everywhere that just drag on and on, with a story that is embedded within that could have been told in two issues, provided the fights were slimmed down to a coherent size. Maybe Loeb was just given so much space that he couldn't have made them any smaller and threw a bunch of rehashed panels of the two getting clawed in the face. I seriously would not believe Bianchi if he told me he wasn't bored drawing those fights by the end even if he said it straight to my face.
And imagine if you had to draw the scene where Wolverine beheads Sabretooth for the (supposedly) final time! It would be pretty cool to say you did that, I would think, but after reading how he died, I would be absolutely pissed. First off, Sabretooth, in a supposedly more ferocious, feral state, doesn't even have a chance against Wolverine and his sword. This is upsetting because one, he died and was taken out with no problem, and two, he kicked Wolverine's ass multiple times in the previous issues and can't even make a scratch on him now, which seems to be pretty ridiculous. Sabretooth is a seasoned fighter, especially against Wolverine, and could do at least something. Secondly, the ending is Sabretooth kneeling down in a, remember, uninhibited state, telling his lifelong enemy to end his life without a fight. If that isn't the thing farthest from a feral state and farthest from Sabretooth's character, someone needs to tell me to stop being critical of these things with a swift jut to jugular vein.
As for the art, I don't like most of it. Bianchi has some beautifully done panels, especially involving close-ups of characters' faces. But, with odd full body shots of some characters and an inability to draw characters with simple design such as Cyclops, I feel that Bianchi still has a lot of developing to do. In reference to Cyclops in issue #55, the drawing is just completely off, from his visor to his stature. His lips especially stood out as just being huge blotches and made the face, sans the visor, look like shit. I get the impression that Bianchi is trying to be more realistic in his drawings, which is why Wolverine's ear-things look like large pieces of leather rather than like slim cloth, but ultimately I don't find it working very well.
The Tape
- Jeph Loeb fails to make a story worthy of the final tale of Wolverine and Sabretooth from beginning to end.
- Simone Bianchi fails to live up to his hype by drawing odd figures and portrayals of some characters, but does succeed in getting out some really pretty panels that show that he has a lot of potential.
- Marvel fails by trying to add depth to the character of Wolverine through storytelling that is supposed to be innovative and interesting through changing the "status quo", but ends up throwing characters' years of development face first in the mud.
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