green_tea_light's Savage Wolverine #1 - Savage Part 1: Snikt review

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    Savage Wolverine #1

    Summary

    A S.H.I.E.L.D surveying teams crash lands on the Forbidden Island in the Savage Land. Weeks later Wolverine awakens on The Forbidden Island also, unsure of how he got there. Logan and the remnants of the survey team quickly meet up, and begin working on a way to get off the island, before the natives find them.

    What I liked

    · Inner dialogue: Wolverine narrates his segments of the story with an almost noir style tone; which worked well for me, as I love a good gritty noir story. Like it or not, I found it a particularly interesting choice of voice for this series – being set in a jungle, rather than a built up urban area. However for some reason it fits, and helps give more depth to what isn’t exactly the most interesting story on the planet.

    · A good direction: I am going to mention the somewhat uninteresting plot later, however for now I will say that there is a lot of room for this story to grow. With the series being called “Savage” Wolverine, there is some element of suggestion that the series will remain firmly rooted in the Savage Lands for a while. If that is the case the narrative could evolve after some time and the Savage Lands could become a sandbox for a richer overall story.

    · Consistent artwork: There is no denying it. The art in this issue is pretty good. Unfortunately it didn’t quite save the issue for me –but it certainly took the edge off some of the more mundane scenes.

    What I didn’t like

    · Clichéd: I know this is a comic, but there is really no excuse. A forbidden island called “The Forbidden Island” – which is rumoured to have a curse on it – but explorers are too stupid to heed the warnings and end up crashing on said island... This is a tired concept and doesn’t make a good first impression.

    · Shanna: And people say comics are sexist... as if! On a more serious note – I have no connection with this character, and I didn’t feel like this issue tried to make me care either. I assume she is going to be quite integral to the Savage Wolverine plot, what with her wardrobe choice (or lack thereof) being relatively “savage” in theme – so I would like there to be more of an emphasis put on who she is and what she’s all about.

    · Not really about Wolverine: This book isn’t really about Wolverine. Wolverine is in it, sure, but he is not relevant to the plot – he simply is just the device the moves the plot along. I assume this is going to be expanded upon later, but as of now, it seems like he was literally dumped on the island so that he could a part of the story. Right now – any Marvel hero would fit the role he is playing in this narrative.

    · Inconsistencies: Wolverine is a master-tracker, but it takes him 10 minutes to decide an area is clear. Moreover, when he finally goes to the area – he is ambushed. This motif continues, as later on in the story Wolverine puts himself and Shanna in danger by misinterpreting her combat solution. For a book about the more feral side of Wolverine, his senses are a bit impaired.

    · Exposition: Why show the story, when it can just be exposited in a page of solid dialogue. The story of how the S.H.I.E.L.D agents attempted to survive on the Forbidden Island would have been quite interesting to show, maybe in flashbacks or smaller anecdotes. Instead Wolverine is filled in about the past events in a long ream of text. It seems a little lazy and interrupts the pacing of the book.

    Verdict

    There were some parts of this issue I really liked, and other I really didn’t like. It was strange how contrasting certain parts of this comic were. For example: on the one hand I found Wolverines inner dialogue to have a gritty noir feel, which resonated with me strongly, however on the other, the outer dialogue was cliché and somewhat stilted. This series seems to be playing into the “Savage” more than the “Wolverine” aspect of its namesake, with Wolverine simply being a medium to progress the plot. It’s nothing special yet, but it is still early days.

    4/10

    Other reviews for Savage Wolverine #1 - Savage Part 1: Snikt

      The Island 0

      I've been a huge fan of Wolverine for many years now, with the little runt being my third favourite comic book character, but I've been disappointed with his outings in the Wolverine, and Wolverine and the X-Men series' prior to the relaunched Marvel NOW! I decided to finally give this a try when the second issue was released, but haven't gotten around to reading any until now, with there now being three issues released, and one issue released in the other Wolverine series. I will however be dro...

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      Like a brutal, calculating, honorable BA Wolverine? Get it 0

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