X-Lapsed, Episode 059 – Wolverine #1 (2020)
X-Lapsed, Episode Fifty-Nine
Wolverine (vol.7) #1 (April, 2020)
“The Flower Cartel”
“Catacombs”
Writer – Benjamin Percy
Art – Adam Kubert & Viktor Bogdanovic
Colors – Frank Martin & Matthew Wilson
Letters – VC’s Cory Petit
Design – Tom Muller
Head of X – Hickman
Edits – Robinson, White, Cebulski
Cover Price: $7.99
On-Sale: February 19, 2020
Welcome friends, to Wave Two of the Dawn of X line (also the 400th Program uploaded to the Chris and Reggie Channel)!
Today we’ve got a Wolverine two-fer – two complete stories… well, two complete “part ones”, to kick off the berzerker’s seventh (oi) volume. One’s got some Drug Cartel stuff… the other is all about vampires. Woof. Plenty of good conversation will be had, and there is some great listener mail to boot!
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@acecomics / @cosmictmill / weirdcomicshistory@gmail.com
Let's start with the positive- the art in this comic is amazing. Adam Kubert is an actual genius and obviously loves drawing Wolverine. I wonder if he is considered such a star that no-one dares to ask him to make changes. You mentioned Domino's scarring but I found Kitty wearing her old costume the most jarring.
I missed Bogdanovic's DC work and first saw him on Ecchs of Tens and was unimpressed. That may have been down to him drawing 2 issues both released in the same week as this story looked much better. He seems to be very influenced by Marc Silvestri which is appropriate for Wolverine.
I definitely preferred the first story. It was a bit of a collection of cliches but I felt like they were arranged in a fresh way and, in particular, the flashback device was well used. We've seen X-worshippers and drug cartels before but they were given new spins. Percy seemed to be holding back his pretentiousness as well which can only be a good thing.
I missed Curse of the Mutants and therefore I am not as wary of vampire stories as you. There are definitely parallels between Wolverine and vampires that could be explored. I don't think we needed a page of pseudo science to explain how Wolverine's blood is similar to vampire blood but I'm not adverse to the idea that drinking it would augment a vampire. I wasn't keen on the revelation of Dracula. I prefer my Marvel Dracula to be the regal character of the past whereas here he is a more obvious monster.
Omega Red bores me as well.
The vampire hunting nun and the religious allegories were a little unsubtle. I suppose we shouldn't criticise a comic where a man with claws fights vampires for a lack of subtlety but….
Thank you for your kind words about me being furloughed from my job. Fortunately in the UK it isn't as bad a situation as in the US. The government is paying 80 per cent of our wages and luckily I can live on that. I just have to buy fewer comics. I know there are a lot of people in the World who are becoming destitute when their work is cancelled so I consider myself very lucky. I'd also much rather be at home when Covid is increasing exponentially in London. My employer has been very good in making the shop as Covid-secure as possible but I have experienced customers trying to get too close or refusing to wear masks. It's definitely safer for everyone. And it means I definitely have time to listen to X-Lapsed every day.