All New Wolverine #8
Written By: Tom Taylor
Art By: Marcio Takara
Colors By: Jordan Boyd
Letters By: VC’s Cory Petit
Release Date: May 18th 2016
Price: $3.99
Plot
Laura and Gabby attempt to have normal day in the park, well as normal of a day that you can have while trying to walk your pet wolverine and in central park and big surprise they get into trouble. As usual this somewhat normal day is interrupted by a literal call to action this time from Maria Hill. S.H.I.E.L.D. has a mysterious box with a weapon inside and because of this weapon several agents have disappeared. Among the missing is another hero that was assisting S.H.I.E.L.D. in this mission. Old Man Logan. He may not be the man that she knew but whether or not he’s her Logan or not it’s up to Wolverine to save him.
Story
I love All New Wolverine. It’s one of my favorite titles to come out of all new all different marvel and it’s actually the only x-men related comic that I’m still reading. One thing I love about this series is that the smallest events like the squirrel girl issue actually have an impact on the series. I always enjoy it when heroes try their best to do normal things with their lives and fail, because superhero stuff gets in the way. The relationship between Laura and Gabby is what really makes the book for me. If you’re a long time Wolverine then you should know that it’s sort of an implied tradition for Wolverine to have a young female sidekick and I think that Gabby fits that role nicely. I mean come on she’s so adorable sometimes it’s ridiculous. Her naivete and more innocent perspective is a great counterpoint to the much more jaded cynical Laura. They have a great older sister younger sister chemistry that makes me enjoy the smaller moments like Laura letting Gabby try chinese food for the first time that much more.
Like I said before the small life moments are what the series for me but as always being a superhero gets in the way of life, especially when you get a phone call directly from Maria Hill. I like this little bit of continuity. If you’ve read this series from the beginning then you know that Hill helped Laura when she first met her sisters, so it makes a lot of sense that Laura wouldn’t want to get dragged into Hill’s crap again. Hill brings Laura in to help deal with a mysterious weapon. As much as I love this series my biggest fear is that eventually this series may just become a Wolverine team up series, but I have faith in Tom Taylor and trust his writing. He’s already proven with this series that he’s really good at connecting plot treads from previous arcs nicely. Another thing that I commend Tom Taylor on is Laura’s constant consistent character development. One of the questions I’ve had since the beginning of All New All Different Marvel was how will Laura react/interact with Old Man Logan? She reacted pretty much how I expected. That man may look like her “father” but that doesn’t mean he’s the same man. Laura also shows great character development when she decides to help Logan in the end despite her feelings towards him, because that’s what her Logan would do.
I talked a lot about character development but I can’t do a review without talking about the action. All New Wolverine never fails to deliver in that in that department. Each issue shows just why Laura is the best at what she does even though what she does isn’t very nice. Just when I thought this series couldn’t get any crazier Taylor has Laura go up against FREAKING FING FANG FOOM!! Man this dragon has been getting around the marvel universe lately, and Laura pulls a classic Wolverine move and jumps right in to deal with the beast from the inside. I can’t wait to see where this goes from here.
Art
Losing an artist like David Lopez is a blow to any comic, but the art team of Marcio Takara and Jordan Boyd have come in and made this book their own. The action towards the end of the issue was dynamic and fluid. The double splash page with Fing Fang Foom (see above) was a definite highlight. It really got me pumped for what will happen next. I say this in every review when it comes to art the facial expressions are key. They were on point this issue especially when Laura was reacting to hearing about Hill working with Old Man Logan. Laura didn’t say much about it, but if you pay attention to her face during those scenes they say a million words in between the panels. It really added emotionally depth to that moment as well.
It’s amazing what kind of magic a colorist can do. Last issue I thought the art was good but it really improved this issue, and the colors are a big reason why. Jordan Boyd’s color work really helped make everything appear a lot more clear while at the same time still making scenes really pop.
The Verdict
This issue was great. Taylor continues to knock it out of the park with series. Not only did this issue have a lot of sweet fun moments between Laura and Gabby, but we also got some nice character development for Laura. When Maria tells her just who she’s saving it leads to Laura once again dealing with the central theme of her struggle to get out of Wolverine’s shadow, and prove herself worthy of the Wolverine mantle. It gives us a lot of great opportunities and I can’t wait to see where the story goes from here. I highly recommend that you go out and pick up All New Wolverine #8. It’s one of the few comics out there that can make you laugh, smile, and say oh damn all at once.