SAVAGE WOLVERINE #1

Why is Wolverine suddenly 'savage'? Has he mistakenly eaten too much cabbage? I know that it can give you some gip. Especially if you feel it on your hip! Whilst musing about an age old adage. Or then again maybe it's because the Publisher: Marvel Comics, and the Writer / Artist: Frank Cho, gave him this title in February 2013.

Out of the following 6 scenarios, which 2 have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with this first part of a STORY entitled, 'Savage'?

Eight months after Shanna and a group of SHIELD agents crash into the 'Savage Lands', guess where Wolverine suddenly finds himself? The said same Jungle perhaps? Or...
... maybe he finds himself in Walmart? Pushing a trolley around the aisles, and shopping for some bargains.
Now once Wolverine eventually regains his senses, he quickly has to fight off a group of nomadic warriors, and gauge from a half-dead SHIELD agent they're carrying, the location of a fortification in the distance.
But before he decides to follow this arduous path, he grabs a handful of half-price DVD's from a nearby shelf.
By whim of fate, Wolverine run's into Shanna sometime later, who tells him what's been happening to her in the interim.
Just after this tale is relayed, though, trouble comes a calling prior to a bomb being put in it's place.

What is the most memorable SENTENCE OR CONVERSATION spoken in this issue?

Whilst Wolverine was battling the army of jungle warriors, I got a right buzz reading his hard-boiled yet fractured monologue. I particularly enjoyed that page where he said...

'The math is on there side. A crippling blow from my right [Wolverine screams]. It was a matter of time before they got a lucky shrike. But unlucky for them, the pain drives me berserk. First I disarm him [decapitated hand goes flying]. Then I take a little off the top [decapitated head goes flying]. Then I get real nasty. In less than ten moves the fight over'.

Ka-pow! In one fowl swoop both words and pictures complement each other in a very cleanly executed manner. Bravo, Frank Cho. That was a blast.

What was the BEST thing about this issue?

My God! Can Mister Cho draw women! I mean -- phew -- Shanna -- what a well built specimen if ever I saw one! But I wonder where Frank find's the human representations for these nicely-crafted individuals? Porn sites perhaps? Or maybe he does his etchings whilst he wanders around gymnasiums?

Still, whatever the case may be, keep up the good work, buddy. You rock BIG TIME.

What was the WORST thing about this issue?

If I had to pick something I didn't like about this tale, I would have to point at the last couple of pages where Wolverine and Shanna have an argument with each other, whilst they were being attacked from above.

Nah! This is a silly thing for two trained combatants to do, right? Loose their cool under pressure like this.

What was the most INNOVATIVE thing about this issue?

Although I'm pretty sure that Doug Moench did a similar thing in the pages of Batman many a year ago, I did like the manner in which Frank laid out his dialogue within the page margins of this book.

Lovely. Just lovely. And very complementary to a hard-boiled adventure of this ilk.

Pick TWO CHARACTERS out this comic book, and compare them individually to a SIMPSONS CAST MEMBER.

PATTY BOUVIER as SHANNA: Not only does Selma's sister have the physique of a true warrior, but she also has the lungs of a steam powered train too. Coff-Coff!

MOE SYZLAK as WOLVERINE: Now if you think about it, dear reader, it's either Moe or Mr Burns, huh? And at least Old Syzlak has a nice pair of side-burns.

What WORD or PHRASE could you use to sum-up this story?

'Never fight fair with a stranger, boy. You'll never get out of the jungle that way' -- Arthur Miller

What SONG, THEME-TUNE, or MELODY, would complement this tale, as well as add and extra dimension to it by default?

Come on. Man up. What could be better than to compare this jungle based adventure with the Token's song, 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight'?

All together now. Weeeeeeeeeeeeee! Yiii-Yoo-Womba-Wayyyy!

ANYTHING Else?

In my most humble opinion this was a very nice start to a very nice-looking ongoing series. Furthermore, the story was adventurous in nature. The style was simple and classy. And the overall sheen shows a rather promising future for Wolverine and company.

However, to juxtapose my positive outlook, if I may, most of us Wolverine fans have seen this type of thing before, haven't we? Where a series starts off on such a good footing, a couple of months down the line we see it falter because of editorial edict or a change in the creative team.

Please don't let this happen again, Marvel. At least promise us 'Loganites' that this title will be consistent in some way shape or form.

GIVE IT, IT'S DUES: A very promising start by a very creative force.