WOLVERINE #13

[ SIGH, THE YOUTH OF TODAY ] 

The story of obligation is a time old tale in which a person is felt... errr... obligated, to subvert their will to that of another. I like to think of it as if a government tries to force their policies onto an unsuspecting populace. Or alternatively, this issue of Wolverine, Written by Jason Aaron; Drawn by Renato Guedes; and Published by Marvel Comics in September 2011.

THE STORY:

A Japanese woman reminisces about a tale of times past, in how she was forced into the employ of the mercenary organisation, called ‘the Hand’. Her initial time with this covert force, was a somewhat bi-polar experience overall – as on the one Hand ‘The Hand’ trained her to become an assassin – whilst on the other hand ‘The Hand’ tinged her life with fear... most notably, the Gaijin we all know and love called Wolverine.   

Meanwhile, in present times, the ‘Red Right Hand’ leader orders ‘Gunhawk’ to do battle with Wolverine.

Now the Japanese woman’s previous exploits do not end there, oh no, as she then recollects how Wolverine killed her colleges – killed her – and then, when she was brought back to life, was lead to the door of ‘Red Right Hand’... sealing a bond that still lasts till this very day.

Meanwhile, in present times, Wolverine defeats ‘Gunhawk’ – and then commences to face his foes in a darkened room.

To be continued...

THE REVIEW:

OK, so this is the penultimate chapter of ‘Wolverines Revenge’ – what have we learnt from all this then, huh? Err? Not much really – it was just another tale of times past, which justified why ‘The Red Right Hand’ hates Logan so much, whilst at the time presenting another battle with our favourite short and clawed X-man.

Still, saying all of that, this issue did seem a bit more focused by in large – as the transitions between the two story strands were not so intrusive – and the tale of the Japanese woman was a fairly nice one to read. Fair enough, it was nothing new as a story goes – because it was basically a relative revenge-driven plot-line, entailing obligation, hidden sects, and a Japanese flavour which I am sucker for. And in addition to all of this, the art by Renato Guedes was somewhat reminiscent of Ron Lim – which I find can be both a positive and negative thing in retrospect.

Overall, this issue of Wolverine is a ‘build up’ issue – just like the previous three chapters of this arc – and inadvertently elevates the expectations of the conclusion to insurmountable proportions. Well, I cannot help but ask myself one simple question – can Writer, Jason Aaron, and Artist, not Rob Lim, deliver on the conclusion? It’s taken a long time in the coming, and has gone about it in a rather long-winded and laborious way. Ohhh! What do I think about all of this? Me – personally speaking – I do not really know. I am hoping for the best, and dreading for the worst – just like this issue in fact.

So what do you think will happen next? If you guess the correct answer, I will email you a blank message at no extra cost.

THE RATING: B-