Wolverine: Revenge

When Asteroid M crashed through the atmosphere and Magneto breathed his last, he released the largest EMP the world had ever seen.  It fried nearly every electrical device in the world and in order to save hundreds of millions of lives in the western hemisphere, Nick Fury assembles a team to go to Russia and steal the last known working cold fusion reactor in the hopes of saving millions of lives.  Of course, Wolverine is part of this team but he and his comrades aren’t prepared for the treachery waiting for them at their destination.  With their hope for the future in ashes, there’s only one thing left for the Ol’ Canucklehead.  But when that’s gone, what will he have left after that?

“Revenge” comes from the A-list creative team of writer Jonathan Hickman and artist Greg Capullo.  That’s a lot of talent to throw at a concept that boils down to Wolverine killing some bad dudes (and one not-so-bad dude) who deserve it.  The good news is that it winds up being a very entertaining take on this straightforward setup that even has some surprises in how its story plays out over the course of five issues.  Those are mostly courtesy of Hickman, who demonstrates a very firm grasp on all of the characters involved here, particularly in regards to the title character’s vindictive relentlessness.  It may be satisfying to see Wolverine be the best at what he does, but it doesn’t make his life any better and leads to an ending that’s darkly satisfying.

All of this is fantastically rendered by Capullo.  He may not be as heavily into detailed pencilwork as he used to be, but what he delivers here is still stylish and effective.  From the opening dinosaur battle in the Savage Land, to a fateful battle between Logan and his longtime nemesis, to an even more fateful battle against the above-mentioned “not-so-bad dude,” to the setting of the story’s final act, the artist invests everything with enough style and clear, emotive storytelling that makes it captivating to see on the page.  Even if this is an alternate-universe story with no bearing on the Marvel Universe itself, that just works in “Revenge’s” favor as it makes this a Wolverine story that can easily be enjoyed by anyone.