Daken: Dark Wolverine, Vol. 2: Big Break

Daken: Dark Wolverine #7

by Rob Williams, Ron Garney, Matteo Buffagni (Illustrator)

In his bid for power, Daken has already taken control of Madripoor's underground criminal element - and Wolverine's son is just getting started. Next on his list is the City of Angels. That's right, Daken's headed to Hollywood - but he's got a score to settle first. Enter Wolverine and the Avengers!

Collecting: Daken: Dark Wolverine 9.1, 10-12

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

112 pages, Hardcover

First published October 26, 2011

Reviews

[Sam Quixote · Rating 2 out of 5]

Daken sets out to Hollywood to make something of himself – unfortunately, “making something” to Daken means controlling yet more drug trafficking in another city from Madripoor to Los Angeles. But as he plugs in to the LA drug scene, tied inexorably with the movie industry, he finds a new drug called Heat is the only drug to affect him, beating his healing factor like nothing else before. The downside to the euphoria are the blackouts and, just as these start, someone is going around LA cutting up wannabe actors…

Daken is a great character but I think in the hands of an inferior writer to Daniel Way and Marjorie Liu such as Rob Williams, he can devolve into a rather dull anti-hero, chasing drugs, money and power rather than something more interesting. And while the sub-plot of the mysterious murdering butcher of LA is mildly interesting, the cop character investigating the murders and Daken is more of a template character that many people who have read crime books or seen crime TV shows or movies will have seen before (think Clarice Starling).

Ron Garney supplies art for the first of the four issues, a less talented artist picking up the bulk of the book though I did like his depictions of Daken’s mind on Heat.

Daken as a character is deeper than he is presented here and his actions, while villainous, are far from the complex charm of his earlier stories and I feel he deserves better stories than the one in “Big Break”. For a better Daken story see “The Prince”.

[Jesús De la Jara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Daken ahora va a la ciudad de Los Ángeles donde espera hacerse de más poder y gente influyente como el actor Marcus Roston, a quien tratará de seducir. Para su mala suerte la agente del FBI Donna Kiel está tras sus pasos y ya sabe que él es el autor de despiadados asesinatos en la ciudad. Para colmo de males se ha vuelto adicto a la droga "Heat" que para empeorar las cosas altera su factor curativo.

[Dean Simons · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tone and characterisation don't quite gel here. Entertaining but not especially memorable. One for fans.

[Brenden Barnett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic for fans of the Dark Avengers/Dark Reign storyline. It is explicit and dark, however, and rarely is as action packed as other volumes of the story.

[Elliot · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is quite fun in its way, especially considering I don't really know Daken as a character. The best bits are the artwork when he's on mind-altering drugs - they're beautiful.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Daken has taken over Madripoor, and is on top of the world. Until an unkind word from a rival sends his mind reeling, and all of his ambitions are called into question. Heading across the world to Los Angeles, Daken sets out to prove himself all over again, but a new drug addiction, an extremely persistent FBI agent on his tail, and a potential serial killer mean that his new climb to power might not be as smooth as he would like.

New writer Rob Williams takes over Daken's adventures and wastes no time in getting his story started. We open with issue #9.1, one of Marvel's old initiatives that was meant to signify jumping on points, which is oddly appropriate. Williams manages to acknowledge Way's previous 8 issues and also invalidate them all at once in just a few sentences, which propels Daken's new adventure. It's a clever introduction, and well-executed as a jump-on issue as well. Ron Garney draws this issue, but he's a bit lighter on details than he usually is here, so it's not his best work.

The remaining three issues are Act 1 of a greater drama I think; Daken's story is told out of order, but the three issues do loop around on each other by the end, so it's not entirely without reason. I'm not sure if the drug addiction angle is a good one to take, personally - I get why a person so used to power would find something like that alluring, but it makes Daken more of a blunt instrument than the precise scalpel that he has been in the past, so it almost feels like a different character.

The artwork is primarily Matteo Buffagni, who does a decent job bar a few dodgy faces in one issue, while Riley Rossmo goes super psychedelic for the Heat sequences in each issue. The contrast is very strong between the two, and I get what they're going for, but I don't think it plays to either artists' strength overall.

At only four issues, this trade doesn't feel like much more than setting the stage for something else. The transition between creative teams is well handled, but I'm not entirely sold on the direction of the A plot just yet. The B plot involving Agent Kiel and the serial killer is far more compelling, so I hope that takes centre stage soon as we move forward.

[Adam Stone · Rating 2 out of 5]

A basic rebellion against father figure story where Daken gives up his quest to run Madripoor in order to try and take over the drug cartels of Hollywood. While it's certainly not the worst X-related book of its time, it's somewhat boring. The queer celebrity, the one police detective who figures out what's going on, the other police detectives disparaging her, the drugs altering the visual style of the book. It's all pretty basic. I struggled to stay focused on it even though, again, it's not terrible.

If you really loved the Daken character from Wolverine: Origins, Volume 5: Deadpool and Dark X-Men, this might be worth your time to check out. Otherwise, it's kind of a meh story that doesn't have any real effect on X-continuity.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Its hard to like Daken, the character, because he was such a lazy invention. Here, writer Rob Williams dives a little more into his psyche and its nice to see. The effects of Heat were a great surprise and the visuals were fantastic. The fight with the surprise guest star was underwhelming. The art overall was good and I liked the introduction of Agent Donna Kiel. She looks to be a good foil to Daken. Overall, this might be the best a Daken book can hope for, a decent read.

[J. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I keep trying to like Daken. As a character, and a concept, I think he has promise. Here, we have the writer more explicitly turning to the 'I'm not my father' theme, but it (unforunately) still isn't very interesting.

[salomé · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ça commence à devenir intéressant

[Leila Anani · Rating 3 out of 5]

Daken the wayward son of Wolverine has left the Dark Avengers and after a fight with a villain who accuses him of only being able to destroy things takes a long hard look at his life and decides to try creating something instead. There's a wonderful sequence as he sets a trap for the Avengers so he can come face to face with Wolverine to say goodbye. Some brilliant banter between Spiderman/Wolverine - these two are comedy gold together.

Daken does not reform however. He discovers this new drug heat at a Hollywood party that nullifies his mutant healing. He seduces the host of the party - a Hollywood A-Lister so that he can gain access to the drug. It has a Jekyll/Hyde effect however and lots of people are dying with animal claw marks and it looks like Daken is the culprit - even though he has no memory of it. Ice Queen of Narnia - FBI Agent Donna Kiel is on the case and has Daken firmly in her sights....

I really enjoyed this one. I like the different art style to show when Daken is high - its rather trippy. There are some great characters here and some very sharp dialogue. Its also always good to see strong LGBT themes in Marvel. Do have the next volume on hand though as this leaves it on one hell of a cliff hanger.

[Silas · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is refreshing to see Daken taking a direction that isn't just reacting to the fact that he is Wolverine's son and is mad at him. Having taken over Madripoor in previous volumes, he now sets his sights on Los Angeles. I appreciated the reference to the Pride having been removed from power, leaving a power vacuum that Daken seeks to exploit. Along the way, he discovers a new drug that works on him despite his healing factor, and I can understand why that appeals to him, given what he has been through. He is still thoroughly unlikeable, which is kind of the point, but I like that he is branching out on his own.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Daken decides to not follow his father, and take over the crime scene of L. A. He discovers a drug that can actually effect him. This is standard Daken, manipulating and taking over. There is the added twist of him becoming a drug addict, and that the FBI know who he is. A good read.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this one, an interesting tale to be told.

my favorite quote:
' Focus… you’re an actor. Don’t forget you’re an actor. So put on the %$#&$%# mask. Play you’re part. Inhabit the role… and pray you don’t get crappy reviews. ' – Daken Akihiro

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Strange.

[Lin K · Rating 2 out of 5]

Absolutely dreadful writing.

[Alia Makki · Rating 2 out of 5]

Extra stars for gay romance. Ha.