Death of Wolverine #3

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k4tzm4n

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Edited By k4tzm4n  Moderator

The Good

Now this is how you write Wolverine! Charles Soule has won me over and then some with the way he's handling James Howlett and this chapter's a great addition to the story arc. It's character-driven, rich in Wolverine's mythos, moves the story forward (the plot thickens!), and has some very well choreographed action. The opening bit with Kitty Pryde is a real jaw-dropper and the extended sequence with this chapter's big bad is a gipping experience. Even when there's a little bit of downtime, it's still a totally engrossing experience because of how well-written the conversations are. The moment with Wolverine and Pryde sitting by the water and discussing his situation will have you leaning forward and giving their dialogue your complete attention.

Artist Steve McNiven, inker Jay Leisten, and colorist Justin Ponsor create a visual journey that's both beautiful and savage. From watching a vicious wound heal to immersing us in a peaceful and soothing setting, these pages are a delight and a tremendous compliment to Soule's writing. They capture Wolverine's heart when the moment is right and they capture his tough, formidable nature when everything begins to hit the fan. I especially love how the final splash page teases what's to come. It's a perspective that's been used time and time again, but I still appreciate the creativity behind it and it's done well. And the layout when Wolverine switches things up? Terrific stuff. Simply put, the visuals are oh-so-good.

As we race towards what appears to be his end, a gorgeous scene offered me a glimmer of hope. Could this story actually be the death of Wolverine, the X-Man, and not the death of James Howlett, the man? Could we actually see Wolverine finally find peace and happiness and enjoy some well-earned downtime before eventually being pulled back into this chaotic world? Even if that isn't the case, Soule has more than earn my faith and I'm undoubtedly seeing this through until the end.

The Bad

Minor gripe: why not take the regen serum? Wolverine just stated he has no desire to die in the near future, so why not take it just in case?

Potential continuity problems: didn't Maverick shoot Cornelius in the head way back in the '90s X-MEN run? And wasn't it strongly implied that Cyber died in WOLVERINE: ORIGINS? Yeesh, Cyber was resurrected only to die twice. Tough break.

Doesn't impact the score: I get this is an event and they want to make as much money as possible, but cut the fans some slack and also offer a $3.99 version that doesn't include the bonus content. I admire McNiven's pages and I know an extra dollar may not sound like much, but when you're shelling out a bunch of cash on new comics, a $4.99 cover price really stands out.

The Verdict

I'll admit I was very skeptical when DEATH OF WOLVERINE was first announced. Wolverine's previous run left a lot to be desired and this just felt like a gimmicky move ("come see this popular character die!"). Thankfully, Charles Soule and Steve McNiven are making me eat my words and DEATH OF WOLVERINE is a fantastic journey. It's exciting, emotional, and absolutely gorgeous. You don't even need to be a Wolverine fan because this is a great story that'll hook anyone. If Wolverine is going to meet his maker, this is the right creative team to show us how it'll happen.

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cerial442

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I agree 100% about the extra dollar.

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Blackice709

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was hoping that kiss was real for some reason xD

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DrDust

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brian88

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Yup that's wolverine the pedophile. Best there is at what he does and what he does best ain't very nice:)

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Super_SoldierXII

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Only minor gripe I have, is Wolverine throwing samurai armor on in the middle of a fight. I mean, it's not exactly like throwing on a T-Shirt (which would be hard enough to do in and of itself). Made for a very cool splash page, but feels a bit contrived.

Soule does indeed write Wolverine as he was meant to be written though to be sure ... sucks the journey ends in only one more issue.

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Super_SoldierXII

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@brian88 said:

Yup that's wolverine the pedophile. Best there is at what he does and what he does best ain't very nice:)

Pride hasn't been a minor for quite some time I'm afraid.

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Blackice709

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Only minor gripe I have, is Wolverine throwing samurai armor on in the middle of a fight. I mean, it's not exactly like throwing on a T-Shirt (which would be hard enough to do in and of itself). Made for a very cool splash page, but feels a bit contrived.

Soule does indeed write Wolverine as he was meant to be written though to be sure ... sucks the journey ends in only one more issue.

toldyahewasftl!

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Super_SoldierXII

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@super_soldierxii said:

Only minor gripe I have, is Wolverine throwing samurai armor on in the middle of a fight. I mean, it's not exactly like throwing on a T-Shirt (which would be hard enough to do in and of itself). Made for a very cool splash page, but feels a bit contrived.

Soule does indeed write Wolverine as he was meant to be written though to be sure ... sucks the journey ends in only one more issue.

toldyahewasftl!

Lol

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slade_wilson

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@blackice709: Dude me too

Loved this issue a lot

Kitty's phasing stuff with Deathstrike was wonderfully brutal

McNiven is an absolutely incredible artist

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CheeseSticks

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#10  Edited By CheeseSticks

was hoping that kiss was real for some reason xD

I was hoping it wans't true ahah. I don't want Kitty to be with a savage

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The_Titan_Lord

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#11  Edited By The_Titan_Lord

Nice

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danhimself

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The only issue I've had is the lack of Jubilee

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tchalla3000

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#14  Edited By tchalla3000

@cheesesticks: I'm glad it wasn't true too. Kitty was always depicted as seeing wolverine as a father figure. That would be very creepy.

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bump1010

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#15  Edited By bump1010

This is how you write wolverine. After Cornells terrible crapfest, its nice to be reminded that wolverine can truly be an awesome character.

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TylerDurden7272

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The only issue I've had is the lack of Jubilee

This! She better be in the next issue. They're probably my favorite duo in comics.

@brian88 said:

Yup that's wolverine the pedophile. Best there is at what he does and what he does best ain't very nice:)

Pride hasn't been a minor for quite some time I'm afraid.

True but he's known her ever since she was like 14 IIRC. And she's always sort of looked to him as father figure so... yea. I'll let it slide though. As long as they don't start a romantic relationship, I'm good.

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kidchipotle

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@k4tzm4n Yeah, Cornelius died in X-Men #7, but they'll probably explain his resurrection. I mean it's Soule, he doesn't screw up, right? RIGHT?

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Boynerdgeek

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This is really great Wolverine book. Charles Soule need to stop write Inhumans (which I find really boring) and I would prefer if Soule write Wolverine comics series.

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Cave_Duck

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I'm not really sure how I'd feel about it if it was the death of Wolverine the hero, and not the death of James Howlett...

After all the build up its expected that he'll have a dramatic demise, but on the other hand it'd be a kind of cool twist to not actually kill him...

Hmmm

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CheeseSticks

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This is really great Wolverine book. Charles Soule need to stop write Inhumans (which I find really boring) and I would prefer if Soule write Wolverine comics series.

Or Soule could write the X-Books instead of Bendis. That would be amazing.

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bump1010

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@super_soldierxii said:

@brian88 said:

Yup that's wolverine the pedophile. Best there is at what he does and what he does best ain't very nice:)

Pride hasn't been a minor for quite some time I'm afraid.

True but he's known her ever since she was like 14 IIRC. And she's always sort of looked to him as father figure so... yea. I'll let it slide though. As long as they don't start a romantic relationship, I'm good.

It was just Ogun f*cking around with wolverine. I don't see a romantic relationship starting up in just one issue over that. Besides isn't wolverine with storm still?

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Super_SoldierXII

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@bump1010 said:

@testament said:

@super_soldierxii said:

@brian88 said:

Yup that's wolverine the pedophile. Best there is at what he does and what he does best ain't very nice:)

Pride hasn't been a minor for quite some time I'm afraid.

True but he's known her ever since she was like 14 IIRC. And she's always sort of looked to him as father figure so... yea. I'll let it slide though. As long as they don't start a romantic relationship, I'm good.

It was just Ogun f*cking around with wolverine. I don't see a romantic relationship starting up in just one issue over that. Besides isn't wolverine with storm still?

Always knew Ogun had a thing for Wolverine. Lol.

Boils down to it, Logan just got frenched by an old Japanese dude. As if he wasn't already damaged enough. :P

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Teerack

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The last issue got pushed back again to the 15. Sigh... they really ruined the reading experience for this. I wish I had waited till all four where out before starting now.

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TDK_1997

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I really like what Soule is doing with Wolverine and it really sucks that the whole ride will be ending in the next issue.

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TylerDurden7272

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@super_soldierxii:

Hey. You know what I would love to see most in the final issue? I wana see Wolverine give in to the animal one last time. I want to Logan to go truly berserk. The kind of berserker rage that allowed him to take on entire demonic and alien armies. That was one of the of the coolest parts about Classic Wolverine. When you back him into a corner, he'd let the animal and it's saved his life many times. I wana see that rage again. It's been a long time since he's truly slipped into a demonic, animalistic, berserker rage and it looks like now he needs it more than ever.

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#27  Edited By Super_SoldierXII

@super_soldierxii:

Hey. You know what I would love to see most in the final issue? I wana see Wolverine give in to the animal one last time. I want to Logan to go truly berserk. The kind of berserker rage that allowed him to take on entire demonic and alien armies. That was one of the of the coolest parts about Classic Wolverine. When you back him into a corner, he'd let the animal and it's saved his life many times. I wana see that rage again. It's been a long time since he's truly slipped into a demonic, animalistic, berserker rage and it looks like now he needs it more than ever.

I feel the complete opposite. I prefer seeing him to continue falling back on his skill to be blunt. I have seen far too much "roar" and "raar" Wolverine in the past decade and too little samurai spirit Wolverine. He's ignored his martial prowess far too often already. I would like to see him forced to be more focused, more disciplined, and really bust out the skill and show what he can do now that he's not effectively indestructible.

Many martial street levelers lack a healing factor to fall back on ... and they survive and thrive just fine. (Mind you, they don't tend to take on armies of goons at a time like Logan has, but still.)

Without his healing factor, I don't see him surviving a berserker rage ... it's usually his ability to tank all incoming damage that allows him to survive gong balls to the walls like that.

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#28  Edited By Super_SoldierXII

@super_soldierxii:

Hey. You know what I would love to see most in the final issue? I wana see Wolverine give in to the animal one last time. I want to Logan to go truly berserk. The kind of berserker rage that allowed him to take on entire demonic and alien armies. That was one of the of the coolest parts about Classic Wolverine. When you back him into a corner, he'd let the animal and it's saved his life many times. I wana see that rage again. It's been a long time since he's truly slipped into a demonic, animalistic, berserker rage and it looks like now he needs it more than ever.

Though I suppose Cornell has had Logan acting like a whimpering, neutered dog for so long, (in my humble opinion, at Cornell's hands, Wolverine has already been dead a few years now and Soule is writing his resurrection) your need to see him let his inner beast out and show just how terrifying and primal he can be is understandable.

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bump1010

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#29  Edited By bump1010

@super_soldierxii said:

@testament said:

@super_soldierxii:

Hey. You know what I would love to see most in the final issue? I wana see Wolverine give in to the animal one last time. I want to Logan to go truly berserk. The kind of berserker rage that allowed him to take on entire demonic and alien armies. That was one of the of the coolest parts about Classic Wolverine. When you back him into a corner, he'd let the animal and it's saved his life many times. I wana see that rage again. It's been a long time since he's truly slipped into a demonic, animalistic, berserker rage and it looks like now he needs it more than ever.

Though I suppose Cornell has had Logan acting like a whimpering, neutered dog for so long, (in my humble opinion, at Cornell's hands, Wolverine has already been dead a few years now and Soule is writing his resurrection) your need to see him let his inner beast out and show just how terrifying and primal he can be is understandable.

I think Wells already did that personally in his savage wolverine story. it may have been brief but we did see the animal unleashed. I'm wondering how Soule is going to end this. Considering that Abraham Cornelius is involved I'm guessing there is something big. I haven't read stories with him in it but I'm guessing based on his wiki that he would only show up if something major was going on.

I just hope Soule has enough time to tell the story he's planning to tell.....

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Super_SoldierXII

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@bump1010 said:

@super_soldierxii said:

@testament said:

@super_soldierxii:

Hey. You know what I would love to see most in the final issue? I wana see Wolverine give in to the animal one last time. I want to Logan to go truly berserk. The kind of berserker rage that allowed him to take on entire demonic and alien armies. That was one of the of the coolest parts about Classic Wolverine. When you back him into a corner, he'd let the animal and it's saved his life many times. I wana see that rage again. It's been a long time since he's truly slipped into a demonic, animalistic, berserker rage and it looks like now he needs it more than ever.

Though I suppose Cornell has had Logan acting like a whimpering, neutered dog for so long, (in my humble opinion, at Cornell's hands, Wolverine has already been dead a few years now and Soule is writing his resurrection) your need to see him let his inner beast out and show just how terrifying and primal he can be is understandable.

I think Wells already did that personally in his savage wolverine story. it may have been brief but we did see the animal unleashed. I'm wondering how Soule is going to end this. Considering that Abraham Cornelius is involved I'm guessing there is something big. I haven't read stories with him in it but I'm guessing based on his wiki that he would only show up if something major was going on.

I just hope Soule has enough time to tell the story he's planning to tell.....

And, we were blessed with Joe Mad's art. Was a decent story. I like seeing Wolverine team up with Elektra. Also like the good ole banter between Logan and Peter. Logan did have a few bad@ss feats in that showing to be sure.

Awesome art. Awesome caption. But it does highlight my gripe about "animal" Logan though. Writers forget about his skill, or downplay it altogether ("I fight dumb till I start getting hit" type dialogue), when they focus on Logan's more "savage" side. I don't think the two need to be mutual exclusive.
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bump1010

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TylerDurden7272

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@bump1010 said:

@super_soldierxii said:

@testament said:

@super_soldierxii:

Hey. You know what I would love to see most in the final issue? I wana see Wolverine give in to the animal one last time. I want to Logan to go truly berserk. The kind of berserker rage that allowed him to take on entire demonic and alien armies. That was one of the of the coolest parts about Classic Wolverine. When you back him into a corner, he'd let the animal and it's saved his life many times. I wana see that rage again. It's been a long time since he's truly slipped into a demonic, animalistic, berserker rage and it looks like now he needs it more than ever.

Though I suppose Cornell has had Logan acting like a whimpering, neutered dog for so long, (in my humble opinion, at Cornell's hands, Wolverine has already been dead a few years now and Soule is writing his resurrection) your need to see him let his inner beast out and show just how terrifying and primal he can be is understandable.

I think Wells already did that personally in his savage wolverine story. it may have been brief but we did see the animal unleashed. I'm wondering how Soule is going to end this. Considering that Abraham Cornelius is involved I'm guessing there is something big. I haven't read stories with him in it but I'm guessing based on his wiki that he would only show up if something major was going on.

I just hope Soule has enough time to tell the story he's planning to tell.....

And, we were blessed with Joe Mad's art. Was a decent story. I like seeing Wolverine team up with Elektra. Also like the good ole banter between Logan and Peter. Logan did have a few bad@ss feats in that showing to be sure.

Awesome art. Awesome caption. But it does highlight my gripe about "animal" Logan though. Writers forget about his skill, or downplay it altogether ("I fight dumb till I start getting hit" type dialogue), when they focus on Logan's more "savage" side. I don't think the two need to be mutual exclusive.

This is not what I mean by Berserker Rage. The last time Wolverine truly went into a Berserker was back in the Claremont days. If he has thought and can control his actions then he hasn't truly given into the animal. The best example I can think of is Uncanny X Men 205 where Wolverine was extremely injured and being hunted by Lady Deathstrike so he was basically drooling from the mouth like a rabid dog and couldn't even recognize who his friends were. That's his TRUE Berserker Rage. A lot of times he'll go into a half Berserker Rage, where he's able to think and remember his skill but he's somewhat unpredictable and extremely fast like the time he beat Mr. X and Ogun (first time). I think it's cool when writers focus on both of Wolverine's sides. On one hand he's a very noble and honorable samurai warrior as well as one of the greatest fighters in the entire Marvel Universe but on the other hand, his mutation is almost the same as Victor Creed's. That Rage is a part of his mutation. He was born with it and there were many times where he's retreated off into the Canadian wilderness and lived with Wolves so he could explore his Savage side. Even though he hates that side of him now because it's caused him great pain, he also acknowledges that it's saved his life on many occasions.

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Smoking_Gun

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I enjoyed this issue, never a dull moment. I thought the way Kitty made Lady Deathstrike back off was great, what a way to use her powers. In retrospect, it should have been a give-away that Kitty was not herself, but it was fun to see regardless. I did have some mixed reactions to the kiss between Wolverine and Kitty, but ultimately was kinda bummed it wasn't real. I think Wolverine was more surprised by the kiss than the readers were. I know there is the father-type relationship between the two, but now that Kitty is a developed adult those same feelings may have adjusted. It is called the Electra (not Natchios) complex, where girls fall for a guy like their father or a father-like figure; the opposite of the Oedipus complex. The fight with Ogun was interesting to see, two warriors who should have no fear, but are still looking to protect themselves. What Ogun reveals is of course a big shock, and is sure to be setting up something big for the final issue. I am both looking forward to and dreading the net issue. I want to see what happens, but I of course do not want to see Wolverine, one of my favorite characters, die.

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azureblade

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I guess that will be it... Death of WOLVERINE... not Logan/James Howlett..... But the Aftermath preview of Nightcrawler tells a different story.....