Wolverine: Enemy of the State, Vol. 2

Wolverine (2003) (Single Issues) #26-32

by Mark Millar, John Romita Jr. (Illustrator), Kaare Andrews (Illustrator)

Wolverine may be back in S.H.I.E.L.D. custody, but at what cost? As the X-Men mourn their fallen teammate in a funeral befitting a hero, Hydra celebrates the coronation of a new leader. And the reign of terror continues, as The Hand picks off the meta-humans, one by one... Will Wolverine be deprogrammed in time to stop the carnage? Plus, the secret origin of the Gorgon! Collects Wolverine #26-32.

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, X Men, Superheroes, Fiction, Comic Book

176 pages, Hardcover

First published June 14, 2006

About the author

Mark Millar is the New York Times best-selling writer of Wanted, the Kick-Ass series, The Secret Service, Jupiter’s Legacy, Jupiter’s Circle, Nemesis, Superior, Super Crooks, American Jesus, MPH, Starlight, and Chrononauts. Wanted, Kick-Ass, Kick-Ass 2, and The Secret Service (as Kingsman: The Secret Service) have been adapted into feature films, and Nemesis, Superior, Starlight, War Heroes, Jupiter’s Legacy and Chrononauts are in development at major studios.

His DC Comics work includes the seminal Superman: Red Son, and at Marvel Comics he created The Ultimates – selected by Time magazine as the comic book of the decade, Wolverine: Old Man Logan, and Civil War – the industry’s biggest-selling superhero series in almost two decades.

Mark has been an Executive Producer on all his movie adaptations and is currently creative consultant to Fox Studios on their Marvel slate of movies.

Reviews

[Ramón S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

🤯. Me encanta el arte de John Romita Jr. Es uno de mis dibujantes favoritos y siempre disfruto con sus creaciones. La historia es realmente trepidante y muy bien construida, es violenta pero Romita consigue que no sea ‘gore’.

[Lionel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little bit better... bit of course, it is easier to kill thousands of Hand's ninja or hundreds of Shield agents than one main character. Death of the Gorgon is good touch, and did in the same way as Greek mythological creature

[Gavin · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5Stars.

Art better, story not.

Killing. Lots. Elektra turns turns. Shady Fury with Northstar body.

Smart kill by Logan, stupid logic by Millar.

[Jaime Varas Cáceres · Rating 5 out of 5]

Una historia tan emocionante como la que le precede. Me ha encantado esta historia de Lobezno y el contexto en el que se desarrolla.

[Alex E · Rating 4 out of 5]

After the events of the last volume, Wolverine is brought back to the good guy side, and just in time to fight Elektra - who has been brainwashed just like he was.

Elektra leads attack after attack, killing hundreds, maybe thousands of Shield agents and civilians in the process. They have started brainwashing 3rd rate villains as well, so they really are amassing a whole army, which is not good for anyone. Wolverine, knowing their tactics and strategic locations, leads the fight against her and her army. Eventually Elektra reveals that she's been deep undercover (guess all those deaths were acceptable collateral damage) and they take down Gorgon and his army together.

Mark Millar had a tough road ahead of him by following up Enemy of the State, because the first half is so damn good. The second one is really good as well, but has some moments that are contrived and convenient and that took a bit away from the story in my opinion. But overall, a really good story and way to resolve the storyline. I think Enemy of the State is one of the best Wolverine storylines, and I highly recommend it for anyone who hasn't read it yet.

[Xavi · Rating 2 out of 5]

5. Poca cosa aparte de sangre y garras y un malo muy peligroso al que se vence de la manera más tonta posible, llamándose como se llama.

[Miguel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Impresionante

[The Geeky Viking · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second half of the Enemy of the State storyline from writer Mark Millar and artist John Romita Jr, Agent of Shield finds Wolverine freed from his brain washing at the hand of Hydra and the Hand and working alongside shield to bring down the bad guys.

This is a big-screen action comic that's simply out to entertain and it does that in spades. I'm a huge fan of Millar's work and this is one of his best.

[Seizure Romero · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Wolverine realizes he made a mistake here by leaving a few people alive, he kills them too. Except for Elektra, who is a badass in her own right and who has now disappeared. I smell sequel!

[Cristhian · Rating 4 out of 5]

La segunda parte del arco Enemy of the State es Wolverine: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. y a pesar de no ser igual de buena como la primera (tiene mucho menos coherencia) no le quita mérito.

What Millar giveth, Millar taketh away.

3.8/5

[Krzysztof Grabowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Druga część chwalonego Wroga Publicznego, mimo iż statystycznie ma gorszą ocenę, to była dla mnie o niebo lepsza. Przede wszystkim dlatego, że już wiedziałem z czym mam do czynienia, a całość dała mi wiele momentów, który sprawiały czystą radochę.

Po akcji w rezydencji X-men Wolverine wylądował w rękach S.H.I.E.L.D., gdzie przechodzi swoiste przeprogramowanie. Tysiące symulacji wykazują jednak, że nie będzie to proste, bowiem technologia Hydry "wgryzła" się herosowi głęboko w głowę. Fury ma jednak na głowie inne zmartwienia, bowiem akurat wtedy następuje zmasowany atak przestępców na helicarrier, z Gorgonem i opętaną Elektrą na czele.

Zaczyna się sieczka i powolna vendetta Logana, bowiem program "odnowy" poskutkował lepiej niż się spodziewano. Do bohatera dotarło, że śmierć dziecka znajomych to był tylko wybieg bezwzględnej organizacji. Tutaj następuje wyliczenie, ile przeciwników Rosomak ma wyrżnąć, po czym zakasa rękawy i zaczyna rzeź. Dłoń, Hydra oraz inne organizacje mogą tylko drżeć. Śmierć nadchodzi. Mamy tu całą masę akcji i wybuchów, jak przystało na akcyjniak.

Cieszy mnie, że Millar wreszcie wie, czym ma być ta seria, bowiem poprzedni tom kierował się w naprawdę dziwnym kierunku. Tu nie ma otuchy, jest tylko gorycz, bo nawet zwycięstwo nie smakuje tak jak powinno. Na uwagę zasługuje też ostatni, 32 zeszyt, w którym cofamy się nieco w czasie, do obozu koncentracyjnego, gdzie wylądował Wolverine. Ironia wypływa z prawie każdej strony, kiedy kierownik obozu za każdym razem próbuje zabić więźnia, który za każdym razem powstaje, doprowadzając nazistów do szaleństwa. Doskonała alegoria do ludzkiej niezłomności i zahartowanego ducha, którego nie da się złamać.

Romita Jr. nadal robi swoje, choć miałem wrażenie, że mamy tutaj więcej jaskrawych kolorów. Ale show kradnie Janson i jego zobrazowany obóz. Nie widzimy tutaj twarzy Logana, a zarys sylwetki, w masywną przewagą czerni. Świetny pomysł, nadający inny, ale jak najbardziej sugestywny klimat. Jestem zachwycony. Dlatego tym razem ocena będzie o oczko wyższa. Zasłużone 4/5.

[Rodolfo Santullo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cierre de la etapa Millar+JRJR en Wolverine y colafón de aquella historia que reseñara hace un par de días. Previsiblemente, con Wolverine liberado del control de los villanos e iniciando su loco raíd de venganza, la tensión baja un poco de nivel. Capaz que se debe a que ya no quedan tantos personajes invitados involucrados de verdad -salvo Elektra, que protagoniza una de las vueltas de tuerca más interesantes, el resto ni pincha ni corta- o que sabemos más acá o más allá qué va a pasar con Wolverine decidido a matar hasta al último involucrado en su caída y dominación contra su voluntad -calcula 52 mil, nada menos- que el devenir de la historia, aunque nunca deja de ser entretenido o emocionante, no está a la altura de aquel Enemy of the State. Pero que no se malentienda, la acción sigue estando, la aventura también, y los TREMENDOS dibujos (Romita Jr no afloja nunca) siguen valiendo por sí solos la adquisición de este volumen. Valen la pena los 12 números completos con la aventura entera de Millar y JRJR a cargo del mutante canadiense.

[Ljubomir · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure why "Prisoner Number Zero" is considered a part of this, but at any rate it is much better than the remaining six issues, which are even more over the top than the first part. It has a Poe-like macabre quality to it and it shows that Wolverine doesn't need to kill 52,000 men in order to be a bad-ass, though the whole series raises the question if being a bad-ass is the only thing he can be in the hands of Mark Miller (and "Old Man Logan" pretty much confirms this).
I might have even rated the whole volume a respectable 3/5 rating because of it, if it didn't end with a certain line first used by Alan Moore's Rorschach and subsequently overused by others to much lesser effect.

As for the rest, the final fight with Gorgon is good, and there's some good art, but other than that the story is way too overblown and doesn't make much sense.

[Dean · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this, though it was completely over the top and did get a tad repetitive by story’s end. Tie up was a little easy too.
That aside, this was destruction on an epic scale, with Wolverine back to his nasty self doing what he does best. Millar is not the most subtle of writers, but he does deliver entertainment in spades, which he does here.
Romita’s art suits the script perfectly, huge panels and layouts giving it an action movie feel. Loved his Wolverine, captured his essence well.
Grim and gritty, but epic.

[Michael Keskeys · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second half of the story is a little messy trying to fit it into everything else Wolverine is appearing in at this time but still makes for a good read . Does feel a little unresolved by the end, as Marvel moves on to the next big event from 2005 "House of M" but that's a whole other story (literally)

[Lillian Francis · Rating 3 out of 5]

26 - 31. Meh. Lots of killing. No real finesse. Art's still very sloppy.
Don't like what they've done to Northstar.

32 - couldn't get into it. Didn't seem important to current storyline. Skimmed. Hated the art.

[Mickey · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of the same from the previous arc. B-level action movie plot that doesn't really hold up to that much scrutiny, but in the end you're pulling for him to get revenge, etc. If you liked that arc, you'll like this. I found it to be just ok.

[C · Rating 2 out of 5]

Continuing the great x-read of 2017...

Felt this was pretty much disappointing all around. Not unreadable by any stretch, but not a book that I would recommend to anyone.

[Chantal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, aunque creo que esta continuación no queda a la altura de la primera parte.

[Judith Groen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very well action packed exciting comic. It was kind off brainless slashing, like Wolvie does best, but I loved it. Kill all of them bastards! Loved the Elektra twist.

[Vincent Russell · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite part was the mini story at the end.

[Carlos Miguel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me ha gustado bastante más que su primera parte “Enemigo del estado”. Curiosamente he disfrutado más del dibujo, que me costó en el anterior tono, y la historia me parece más divertida y entretenida.

[maksi · Rating 4 out of 5]

#6 números que se me hicieron cortos, me gustó la historia, me encanta ver a wolverine luchando y más con sus amigos.

[чарна · Rating 4 out of 5]

the ending was kinda rushed (loved nick fury tho) everything felt like that in the last issue

[David Austin · Rating 3 out of 5]

More dumb smashy smash, but fun aside from the edgelord bullshit. Great designs from JRJR.

[Luis · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Hand y Hydra aprenderán porque no debieron meterse con Logan

[carlos_persiana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Una entretenidísima secuela a una buena historia de acción.

[Marco · Rating 2 out of 5]

This second volume, once again read as single issues, directly follows part one, but does not really add much to the story. In fact, things get pretty repetitive. And some parts of the story make no sense at all, like all the villains the Hand kills and revives as servants, most of which have never appeared in any previous Comics at all. Dude, if you can't tell a story in a shared universe with what that setting provides you, maybe tell another story? Also, special dispensation for a big name character (who is very effective as a mass murderer) because you feel bad for having gotten him in that situation while literally slaughtering thousands (!!) of lesser characters, many of whom are also only in that situation because of Wolverine's actions, smacks of hypocrisy.
The volume closes with a pretty cool one-off set during WW II that apparently was meant to be a mini series but was cut down to just one issue. Which is plenty, as in hind-sight, it also makes little to no sense.

[Monean · Rating 5 out of 5]

The comic book is very terrifec!

[Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I re-read this one today years after my first read-through, and I found that I didn't like it just as much as I had then.

The restraint that Millar had shown in Wolverine: Enemy of the State, Vol. 1 was not present this time. There was more verbal abuse between characters, and the action was repetitive. How many ways do I really need to see Wolverine skewer ninjas, after all?

Romita's art was just a notch below his output in Wolverine: Enemy of the State, Vol. 1. Body proportions were often times ridiculous, and Paul Mounts' colour work was not as stunning as in the previous volume.

Issue #32 is a one-off with art by Kaare Andrews, about Wolverine in a World War II concentration camp. The officer who repeatedly kills him is going nuts due to the fact that Wolverine just shows up again, and again (and again). Some guys just can't stay dead!
This story was (according to Millar in the book's afterword) to possibly be done as a mini-series, and all I can say is I'm happy he didn't. One issue was enough. In fact, it was plenty. Besides, there are already guys out there stretching one-issue stories to four (or five, or six) issues. I'm looking at you, Bendis!

The overall result is a book that's still entertaining, yes, but definitely inferior to its predecessor.

* Baron von Strucker was killed off in Wolverine: Enemy of the State, Vol. 1. Years later, in Secret Warriors, Vol. 1: Nick Fury, Agent Of Nothing, he's up & about and is very much alive. Question: Does continuity no longer apply? Or did I miss the issue in which he's resurrected?
** The same thing applies to the Gorgon, who gets killed in this book, but who's also very much not-dead in the Secret Warriors series.