Review: Wolverine Vol. 2- Killable

Quick Summary

Pros: The examination of Wolverine’s status as a hero is interesting.

Cons: The main story still has a number of flaws. The virus hunting side story is completely unnecessary and distracting. The art is not that good.

Overall: What could have been a heartfelt story about Wolverine is marred by a intrusive subplots, random out of character moments, and bad art. There is a unique look at Wolverine facing mortality and his legacy in the world here but it is hard to really appreciate it under everything else. Fans of the character might find this to be a interesting time period in Wolverine’s life but everyone else might just find it to be a mess.

Story

Wolverine Vol. 2: Killable is an alright story about Wolverine that is hampered by a number of unnecessary distractions. The main story, focusing on Wolverine being hunted by an unknown adversary, is nice and really digs into his character by trying to figure out who he is as a hero and just as a person. However, a lackluster trip to Wakanda and an ever-present subplot about an alien virus make this hard to appreciate. If the main story were better or the distractions were not there this could be a solid book, unfortunately this simply isn’t the case.

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The collection starts out right where the last one left off, Wolverine has lost his healing factor and is now subject to a myriad of problems which he previously had never gave a second thought. Shaving, drinking alcohol, and walking down an alley are now major life hazards. These are things that Wolverine, and most readers, haven’t considered before and are thus even more surprising. It turns small and mundane problems into major ones and makes the story interesting as well.

Things takes a slight dip in quality when Wolverine enters Wakanda in order to assess a possible manifestation of the virus from Hunting Season. He fights Black Panther, who’s purpose in this story seems to be little more than to tell Wolverine that he is afraid of dying, something most readers should have already realized. It also is where the story splits in two, with one half following Logan’s pursuit of an unknown antagonist  and the other half following S.H.I.E.L.D.’s pursuit of the virus.

The Logan half of the story is the best aspect of the book. It shows him pushed to his absolute limits and tortured in ways that he has never encountered before. Sabertooth breaks him down and shows that he isn’t exactly the hero he pretends to be. Then, in the final pages of the book, Wolverine is offered his healing factor back in exchange for the continued life of the virus, an offer he rejects. It is a heroic moment that doesn’t discard Sabertooth’s criticism but does manage to show readers why, despite all his flaws, Wolverine is still a great hero.

Yet even the best part of this book has its flaws. The security guard goading Wolverine to attack him seemed unrealistic and clued readers into the fact that this might actually be Mystique. Which also doesn’t make sense because, just a few moments earlier, Wolverine said he could tell when Mystique disguised as someone. Then he slices the security guard’s arm off. Wolverine has endured far worse insults and been fine with it, so it seemed very out of character for this to happen.

The real flaws in the book come into play with the addition of the virus hunting side story. This distracting subplot seems completely unnecessary to the entire book; it isn’t interesting and just serves to distract from the book’s positives. The only thing it helps with is the book’s conclusion but the same effect could have been done with a few brief references to the virus, rather than an entire subplot devoted to it. Overall, it brings down the book’s second half in a major way and makes the entire thing even harder to read.

(spoilers end here)

Art

The artwork in this volume maintains the artists from the previous volume, meaning both Mirco Pierfederici and Alan Davis put work into this collection. This is unfortunate because, as we mentioned in our review of Vol. 1, neither artist’s work is that great. The first issue of this collection is alright but the quality sharply declines after this. Good art may have been able to make this a better volume all around but unfortunately this is simply not the case.

Continuity

Wolverine Vol. 2: Killable flows directly out of the events of Wolverine Vol. 1: Hunting Season (Review).

The story here continues in Wolverine Vol. 1: Three Months to Die Book 1.

This volume also references the stories from other comic books, all of which are detailed below.

• Nightcrawler’s death is mentioned. This happens in X-Men: Second Coming.
• Black Panther and Storm’s marriage comes up a number of times. This marriage was annulled in Avengers vs. X-Men.
• Maria Hill states that Wakanda is “reeling from recent disaster.” This is most likely a reference to Doomwar and Avengers vs. X-Men.
• Wolverine mentions a conversation between Black Panther and Storm. This conversation happened in Wolverine and the X-Men Vol. 5.
• Kitty Pryde mentions that Wolverine got his memories back somewhat recently, this happened in House of M.
• The death of Wolverine’s childhood friend is mentioned multiple times. This occurred in Origin.