Synopsis:
THE MAKER’S ULTIMATE WEAPON!
Review:
Marvel didn’t have to go this hard.
But they did. No one is cooler than Wolverine, so it was inevitable that the newly minted Ultimate Universe 2.0 from Marvel Comics, beginning with last year’s Ultimate Spider-Man #1, would introduce its version of the X-Men’s famous gruff Canadian.
Writer Chris Condon (That Texas Blood) and artist Alessandro Cappuccio (Moon Knight) produce a captivating, brutal, and shocking new take on Logan. The story hinges on a crackerjack idea: Wolverine as The Winter Soldier. This makes enormous sense, as Logan was alive and active during World War II. Pancaking The Winter Soldier and Weapon X programs creates a new dynamic, but that’s not quite what is happening in this issue.
Because it’s a different universe, Logan is actually a product of The Eurasian Republic, run by the Russian triumvirate of Colossus, Magik, and Omega Red. This is more in line with the Age of Apocalypse dystopian take than anything else. It appeals, but for me, some of the potential in Logan being The Winter Soldier is lost because of this new circumstance he’s put in. Like Age of Apocalypse, this is a dark, gory book. Logan is a faceless, voiceless killing machine whose victims include major X-Men characters.
The comic is a mixed bag for me. Alessandro Cappuccio’s art renders a moody, dark, dynamic world through powerful storytelling. His take on Wolverine, particularly the face mask, creates the most visually interesting variation of him in years. The mask has a vaguely Darth Vader quality to it, and only heightens Wolverine’s mystery, detachment, and intimidation. Cappuccio renders the page in what appears to be colored pencil, giving the action a slightly hazy (though no less graphic) quality that might have been overwhelmed by a heavy ink line.
Condon’s plot is quick, lean, and engaging. Mileage will vary on the ending. For me, it’s boring to find Nightcrawler depicted so strictly by his faith again, though this is a variant. And he’s a variant who is immediately killed. He and Mystique, both rebels against the Republic, are brutally assassinated by their former friend. It’s shocking, it’s engaging, but it pings too loudly for me off of where the original Ultimate Universe ended. That project descending into violent anarchy, killing scores of characters in often grotesque fashion, nowhere more shocking than in the Ultimatum crossover.
For me, it’s far too early to kill off such major characters as Nightcrawler and Mystique, especially with such promise in this premise. The shock value works, I think, for the purpose. You have no idea what’s going to happen in this universe. Anyone could die. We’ve been down this road before in an Ultimate Universe, and it left the project in a dead end. But we’ll see where it goes.
Despite my reservations, the comic succeeds on the same level as the other Ultimate Universe 2.0 projects, as well as DC’s current Absolute initiative. Legacy characters get new, exciting, and in many cases, necessary updates. I’d argue Wolverine is a character in need of some renovation. He’s been dead, upgraded, dead again, and generally without direction in the last ten years or maybe more. He’s Wolverine, so all things are forgiven, but his mystique has worn off.
The Winter Soldier angle brings the mystique back. The Ultimate Universe is very different from the mainline Marvel Universe, so the backstory and history vary, taking a little air out of the concept, but it still works. Logan is a mystery again, a monster created and controlled by greater monsters, and we root more for his future than ponder his past.
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