WOLVERINE #4

[ GIMME A KISS ] 

• WRITER: JASON AARON
• ARTIST: RENATO GURDES
• MARVEL: $3.99 – December 2010

THE STORY:

Part four of ‘Wolverine Goes to Hell’ is an all battle issue. In Hell, Wolverine and the devil do battle in front of a swarm of devil-spawned demons, all of which spectate with gleeful anticipation on the eventual outcome of this continuing conflict. Boldly this skirmish is cruel and foreboding, with every ounce of energy expunged forced into either a swung of a fist or a despondent gesture. While this is happening, over on Earth a Devil-Spawned Wolverine attacks Colossus in Utopia. Fatefully this attack mirrors Wolverines battle in Hell, except that Colossus is aided by his fellow X-Men, Iceman, Angel, and Colossus’s sister – all to no avail. Then suddenly, simultaneously, on Hell and on Earth, Wolverine and Colossus are saved from their respective battles – when the wounded devil is dragged away by ravenous demons – and when the wounded Devil-Spawned Wolverine is dragged away by Ghost Rider and Mystique. The aftermath of this outcome is unresolved, especially when Wolverine is confronted by Pucks secret accomplice – Logan’s dead father. In the back-up feature, Gunhawk and his gang, save Tyger Tiger and burn down a bar in Mandripoor.

THE REVIEW:

I find that some ‘all battle issues’ are kind of monotonous. As if you’ve read as many comic books as I have (about two) and seen as many comic book fights as I have (about ten), then one face slapping is just the same as any other, HONK-HONK! Well? That is what I thought until I read this issue of Wolverine, BOING! Both Aaron and Gurdes have managed to create two simultaneous nutty fight scenes, while at the same time giving ‘us readers’ just enough exposition to plod the plot along quite nicely. If comic books could sing, then this one would be reciting the James Brown classic ‘Coming to America’ in Flemish, HURGEN! OK, my previous sentence may make no sense to a person with a semi-educated mind, but then again that’s my point with this issue – its makes no sense, yet it’s enjoyable all the same. I’m sure the ambiguity with what’s presently happening to Logan is an issue or two away from us, and in the meantime Aaron and Gurdes are keeping us entertained with this innovative approach to something most comic book fans have seen before. On a side note, the superfluous back-up feature – a ‘Scorched Earth’ tie-in – looks really nice on the page, but has as much relevance to Wolverine as a pair of roller-skates to someone in a wheelchair.

THE RATING: B