Wolverine #9 is written by Benjamin Percy, illustrated by Adam Kubert, colored by Frank Martin, lettered by VC’s Cory Petit, and published by Marvel Comics. Following the events of Wolverine #8, Wolverine once again dons his trusty Patch disguise to infiltrate the Legacy House and gain a lead on the whereabouts of his former Team X mercenary Maverick. The Legacy House auctions off artifacts from the history of the Marvel Universe to the highest bidder, and one of those artifacts happens to be Wolverine’s severed hand!
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During his run on both Wolverine and X-Force, Percy has incorporated spy fiction elements into his scripts. This issue is no different, as Wolverine’s entire mission feels reminiscent of a James Bond film. An example comes from an encounter with two guards who pat him down, and Logan quips that he’s “had a few surgeries” in reference to the process that gave him his Adamantium skeleton. Percy also peppers the script with flashbacks to Logan’s Team X flashbacks, which feature the clawed mutant and his mercenaries undertaking black ops missions.
Percy also introduces an intriguing concept in the form of the Legacy House. The idea of owning souvenirs from superhero battles is a really neat concept and tempting to comic book fans. Who wouldn’t want to own Captain America’s mask or Spider-Man’s tombstone? That’s what made the introduction of Wolverine’s severed hand most interesting and a little conflicting: it feels placed in there for shock value rather than organic story development. Hopefully, future issues will pick up on that.
Kubert and Martin make for a dynamic duo artwise. Kubert has made a career out of illustrating Wolverine, whether it be in short stories from Wolverine: Black White & Blood or team-up tales including Astonishing Spider-Man and Wolverine. This issue mixes elements of both, with brutal action sequences and Wolverine popping his claws more often than not, and his interactions with Maverick. It was highly reminiscent of the 90’s era Jim Lee X-Men, which remains one of my favorite takes on the mutant team. Martin shows the same control of the color that he did on King in Black, utilizing hazy tones for flashback sequences.
Perhaps the best artistic decision that Kubert and Martin make is breaking up several pages into twelve-panel sequences, with every odd panel featuring a flashback or a story sequence. The panels add up to make a character’s face. Whether it be Maverick, Wolverine or Sabretooth, readers will see the sheer detail Kubert puts into his pencils, and it’s amazing. It’s also a nice change of pace from every comic trying to ape Watchmen with the nine-panel grid.
Wolverine #9 is a bloody and brilliant spy tale, with the art and story reminiscent of spy films, including the James Bond and Mission: Impossible franchises. Fans of spy films or the 90’s era X-Men will definitely want to check out this issue, as well as Percy’s previous issues. For my money, Wolverine remains one of the better books in the current line up of X-Men titles.
Wolverine #9 is available wherever comics are sold.
Wolverine #9
TL;DR
Wolverine #9 is a bloody and brilliant spy tale, with the art and story reminiscent of spy films, including the James Bond and Mission: Impossible franchises. Fans of spy films or the 90’s era X-Men will definitely want to check out this issue, as well as Percy’s previous issues. For my money, Wolverine remains one of the better books in the current line up of X-Men titles.
