X Lives of Wolverine #1 is finally upon us, and suffice it to say, you’re going to want to buckle in — it’s a doozy. A mere three pages of calm is all you get before the action starts, and once it starts, it’s relentless until the final panel. It’s clear Benjamin Percy isn’t screwing around, and if X Lives of Wolverine #1 is any indicator of where this new event is going, we’re all in for something special.
Marvel
Written by: Benjamin Percy
Art by: Joshua Cassara
Colors by: Frank Martin
Letters by: VC’s Cory Petit
I cannot think of any writer who has been able to so perfectly tackle Wolverine better than Percy. During his Wolverine run of the past year and a half, nobody has understood Wolverine and his complexities like Percy has. Wolverine, at times, can be a one note character, however, we’ve seen him develop into more than just a whiskey-swilling, stubborn killing machine. Percy has done a great job of adding and accentuating the many layers of Wolverine. The character’s depth is demonstrated very well in X Lives of Wolverine #1 — something that can even be appreciated by those who haven’t read the run leading into this event.
Those familiar with the character know of Wolverine’s loyalty, especially to Professor Xavier. However, in X Lives of Wolverine #1 we see just how far he is willing to go to protect the closest person Logan has ever had to a father, and boy, it’s wild.
“The X Lives of Wolverine #1 is finally upon us and suffice it to say you’re going to want to buckle in, it’s a doozy.”
X Lives of Wolverine #1 can be summed up in one word — trippy. But since X-Men relaunched, and with the creation of Krakoa, trippy is kind of par for the course with mutants these days. Yet, Percy elevates to the next level with X Lives of Wolverine, taking readers back in time and showing us an origin story that will undoubtedly have you picking your jaw up off the floor.
Another aspect of X Lives of Wolverine #1 is the out-of-this-world art by Joshua Cassara with colors by Frank Martin. Wolverine is synonymous with violence. Wherever he goes, death and destruction tend to follow. Cassara does a brilliant job at capturing that destruction with great action sequences that spread from panel to panel. However, there is more to Carssara’s art than just chaos; there’s also wonderful emotion. What draws me into great art is more than just what I see, but also how it makes me feel. Cassara several times uses close-ups of eyes to evoke anger, fear, betrayal and pain that really makes this story stand out and pull the reader in.
Overall, Percy nails this first chapter of Wolverine’s newest saga. Where it goes from here, I have no clue. But what I do know is the journey, and the death toll, should be wildly entertaining.
Want to hear more from writer Benjamin Percy? Go check out our interview on Geeks WorldWide Radio‘s TLDR podcast, where Joseph Gilmore and Nick Friar talk about Wolverine and more! — available on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts and Spotify!