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Daken: Dark Wolverine #8
Daken: Dark Wolverine, Vol. 3: The Pride Comes Before the Fall
When Daken came to Los Angeles he believed that the position of West Coast Kingpin was there for the taking. But the City of Angels has a new crime lord, the 'Claws' serial killer continues to cause carnage in the dark areas of the Hollywood Hills and the Heat drug's grip on Daken is growing daily, scarring his mind and body. The perfect time, then, for Daken to fi nd himself battling the Avenger with multiple personalities, Moon Knight! Plus: with Daken's healing factor destroyed, can his body overcome a bullet in his brain? And, if so, how will the recovery affect his mind? Then, when the shadow king of the Hollywood Hills is revealed, Daken is suddenly the most wanted man in America, and has the entire LAPD and the FBI on his tail! Can Daken save Donna Kiel when he's at his weakest? Maybe the better question is, does he even want to?
Collecting: Daken: Dark Wolverine 13-19
Collecting: Daken: Dark Wolverine 13-19
168 pages, Hardcover
First published August 8, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
September 15, 2018
There's a line in this book that pokes fun at Michael Bay, which is ironic, really, as this book reads like one of his movies. There's plenty of action, ultra-violence and 'splosions and some plot holes and inconsistencies too. I think I mainly enjoyed it because it guest-stars Moon Knight and the Runaways.
(In hindsight, 'Moon Knight and the Runaways' sounds like a psychedelic folk rock group.)
(In hindsight, 'Moon Knight and the Runaways' sounds like a psychedelic folk rock group.)
November 30, 2012
Rob Williams continues his story of Daken in Hollywood that started in the previous volume “Big Break” where Daken was establishing himself as the crime kingpin of LA before getting hooked on a highly addictive party drug called Heat which disables his healing factor and causes him to black out. He awakens to news of a madman on the streets of LA slicing up his victims... In “Pride Comes Before the Fall”, Daken is trying to kick Heat while figuring out whether he has lost it and begun killing indiscriminately or not.
I liked this book much more than “Big Break” and a lot of that had to do with another LA superhero, Moon Knight, specifically Bendis’ version of MK who has three additional personalities - Captain America, Spider-man and Wolverine - he occasionally slips into. He even has home-made props like claws, web shooters and a shield! Daken and MK cross paths as they’re both on the trail of the “claws killer” while MK is in his Wolverine persona. This scene is really funny especially as MK is quoting Wolverine the whole time, calling Daken “bub” and giving his “I’m the best at what I do” speech while wielding his DIY claws. Daken’s reaction is hilarious and he’s also on Heat at the same time so you’ve got a drugged up Daken hallucinating his dad while MK believing he is Wolverine fights him. That was brilliant, one of the best superhero fights I’ve read this year.
The bad guy revealed in this book isn’t someone famous but does seem to be entirely too powerful, being able to shape-shift, have Superman-esque powers of flight and shooting lasers from his eyes, have telepathy, and turn invisible. It made his eventual take down at the end a bit hard to swallow, especially with the help of the second superhero cameo in the book, the teen superhero team the Runaways.
Daken on the other hand is an interesting cat. I like that he went through a phase of being vulnerable with his healing factor stunted by his drug addiction, but I feel that his relationship with the female FBI agent is a bit of a stretch to believe - it’s so out of character. He goes from being a black hearted SOB only out for himself to caring about another person It’s such strange reasoning.
The art is pretty average but the parts when Daken’s on Heat and the dream sequence featuring Johnny Storm were excellent, very Dave McKean crossed with Ben Templesmith (weird, hallucinatory and sinister).
I think “Daken, Dark Wolverine” is a lot of fun but wish Marvel would just bite the bullet and make it a MAX series. There are so many swears bleeped out in this book that it’s annoying and the book, while gory and sexy by turn, could use some more explicitness to fully explore the core of the character. Daken is definitely adult, it’s time to write his series the same way. Despite some minor niggles, I liked this book, it was entertaining, fun, and interesting throughout. It would appeal to fans of Bendis’ Moon Knight series as well.
I liked this book much more than “Big Break” and a lot of that had to do with another LA superhero, Moon Knight, specifically Bendis’ version of MK who has three additional personalities - Captain America, Spider-man and Wolverine - he occasionally slips into. He even has home-made props like claws, web shooters and a shield! Daken and MK cross paths as they’re both on the trail of the “claws killer” while MK is in his Wolverine persona. This scene is really funny especially as MK is quoting Wolverine the whole time, calling Daken “bub” and giving his “I’m the best at what I do” speech while wielding his DIY claws. Daken’s reaction is hilarious and he’s also on Heat at the same time so you’ve got a drugged up Daken hallucinating his dad while MK believing he is Wolverine fights him. That was brilliant, one of the best superhero fights I’ve read this year.
The bad guy revealed in this book isn’t someone famous but does seem to be entirely too powerful, being able to shape-shift, have Superman-esque powers of flight and shooting lasers from his eyes, have telepathy, and turn invisible. It made his eventual take down at the end a bit hard to swallow, especially with the help of the second superhero cameo in the book, the teen superhero team the Runaways.
Daken on the other hand is an interesting cat. I like that he went through a phase of being vulnerable with his healing factor stunted by his drug addiction, but I feel that his relationship with the female FBI agent is a bit of a stretch to believe - it’s so out of character. He goes from being a black hearted SOB only out for himself to caring about another person It’s such strange reasoning.
The art is pretty average but the parts when Daken’s on Heat and the dream sequence featuring Johnny Storm were excellent, very Dave McKean crossed with Ben Templesmith (weird, hallucinatory and sinister).
I think “Daken, Dark Wolverine” is a lot of fun but wish Marvel would just bite the bullet and make it a MAX series. There are so many swears bleeped out in this book that it’s annoying and the book, while gory and sexy by turn, could use some more explicitness to fully explore the core of the character. Daken is definitely adult, it’s time to write his series the same way. Despite some minor niggles, I liked this book, it was entertaining, fun, and interesting throughout. It would appeal to fans of Bendis’ Moon Knight series as well.
Read
September 19, 2016Wolverine's amoral son was so confident in his own superiority that he developed a taste for one of those weird designer drugs so rife on Marvel Earth, largely to make his takeover of the LA crime scene more of a challenge. As you might guess, that wasn't the best plan; here he's ended up with his healing factor fried at exactly the same time as he realises he was never the master of this game anyway, just one of the pieces. I always found Daken much more entertaining than most self-consciously badass characters; something about the way that the cool, manipulative seducer and killer plays off against the more sitcom side of a character who's pretty good at what he does, but not nearly so good as he thinks he is. And it's a brilliant idea to cross him over with Moon Knight, the multiple personality hero who at this point was intermittently convinced that he was Wolverine. I'm less sold on the chemistry of the Runaways' guest spot, but it provides a neat enough way to wrap up a few plotlines, and makes sense given the LA setting, so fair enough.
February 21, 2021
3.5, rounded down.
Daken's drug addiction has brought him square into the crosshairs of a serial killer and an overzealous FBI agent, and now he can add Moon Knight to that list. When the dust clears, Daken's true enemy is revealed, but he'll need help from the unlikeliest of places, including the Runaways!
This volume is a vast improvement over the last, mostly because it seems to contain an entire story. We pick up where the last one left off, as Daken's downward spiral continues until he hits rock bottom and has to claw his way back up. The ultimate reveal of the villain is a nice surprise since it's not an established character, and a clever way to tie the Runaways into the book as well.
Daken's character still feels a little off thanks to the drug addiction storyline, but his manipulations are out in full force here as he plays all the assembled chess pieces off each other so that he comes out on top. I had a problem with the voices Williams gave to the Runaways, especially since they had been away from comics for a long time at this point, as he makes them all seem extremely immature. I know they're kids, but they've been through a lot, and having them yell SHUT UP at each other all the time feels redundant. I did like that Williams picked up on the cliffhanger to the previous Runaways volume even if it was just a throwaway line.
The artwork's a bit more consistent here too, which is surprising since there's still a lot of people involved. Michele Bertilorenzi, Matteo Buffagni, and Andrea Mutti all contribute to these issues, while Riley Rossmo's Heat sequences continue early on. It's hard to pick up who of the first three is drawing what, since they're all oddly compatible as artists. The book still doesn't look as great as it did when Cammo as on it, but it's much more consistent now than it was.
The Pride Comes Before The Fall is a good progression from what came before. It's still a strange story to tell, especially with Daken at the wheel, but it feels far more in line with previous incarnations of the character than the last volume did, and the artwork's much better too. Not the best characterisation for the guest stars, but solid and inoffensive overall.
Daken's drug addiction has brought him square into the crosshairs of a serial killer and an overzealous FBI agent, and now he can add Moon Knight to that list. When the dust clears, Daken's true enemy is revealed, but he'll need help from the unlikeliest of places, including the Runaways!
This volume is a vast improvement over the last, mostly because it seems to contain an entire story. We pick up where the last one left off, as Daken's downward spiral continues until he hits rock bottom and has to claw his way back up. The ultimate reveal of the villain is a nice surprise since it's not an established character, and a clever way to tie the Runaways into the book as well.
Daken's character still feels a little off thanks to the drug addiction storyline, but his manipulations are out in full force here as he plays all the assembled chess pieces off each other so that he comes out on top. I had a problem with the voices Williams gave to the Runaways, especially since they had been away from comics for a long time at this point, as he makes them all seem extremely immature. I know they're kids, but they've been through a lot, and having them yell SHUT UP at each other all the time feels redundant. I did like that Williams picked up on the cliffhanger to the previous Runaways volume even if it was just a throwaway line.
The artwork's a bit more consistent here too, which is surprising since there's still a lot of people involved. Michele Bertilorenzi, Matteo Buffagni, and Andrea Mutti all contribute to these issues, while Riley Rossmo's Heat sequences continue early on. It's hard to pick up who of the first three is drawing what, since they're all oddly compatible as artists. The book still doesn't look as great as it did when Cammo as on it, but it's much more consistent now than it was.
The Pride Comes Before The Fall is a good progression from what came before. It's still a strange story to tell, especially with Daken at the wheel, but it feels far more in line with previous incarnations of the character than the last volume did, and the artwork's much better too. Not the best characterisation for the guest stars, but solid and inoffensive overall.
May 16, 2024
yeah the runaways were here for like 5 minutes but this one was preeeetty dang cool
April 17, 2018
La acción ya baja aquí en parte por el cambio de escritor, aunque la historia que maneja es relativamente interesante. La agente del FBI Donna Kiel trata de unirse más bien ahora a Daken para descubrir al real asesino que al parecer no es sólo Daken, pero cae en una trampa terrible. Mientras Daken se encontrará con Moon Knight quien paradójicamente tratará de ayudarlo pues cada vez más Daken está débil y pierde las facultades para poder defenderse por el efecto de la terrible droga Heat.
Sin embargo, debo decir que el final fue más de lo que esperaba.
Sin embargo, debo decir que el final fue más de lo que esperaba.
May 2, 2016
My god, the scenes where Daken is under the influence of Heat are so incredible. How do you even art?
November 24, 2021
So many things to like here but sadly, so many things not to like. Rob Williams does a good job to give this character more depth, however, he's still a remorseless psychopath. Moon Knight being involved here was really good but then he disappeared for no reason. There is also a good guest appearance that was a slight surprise that I enjoyed. I thought the antagonist was ridiculous. His power set was extremely to strong and his connection to the previously mentioned surprise guests was pretty awful. The art was decent throughout but there were a lot of different pencilers. Luckily, there styles meshed well together. I still loved the art in the Heat-induced scenes. Overall, this isn't a good character so its extremely hard to actually make a good book. Williams did the best he could with what he had.
July 2, 2026
Overall I did enjoy this, I think in part because I’ve become willing to just go “okay” whenever a writer pulls out some bullshit about Daken. It has a fast-paced plot and the characterization of Daken is good enough, relatively, and I liked Donna, even if I think their relationship could have been built up more. But I do have to say that this is the worst version of the Runaways I have ever read, god bless.
February 21, 2021
I came to this for the Runaways appearance and walked away actually enjoying everything surrounding it, too. Daken's inner monologue was ace - such an edge-lord. And Moon Knight as Wolverine was delightful. The villain's tie to the Runaways felt a bit weak eh, comics. Soap operas with different drama.
July 31, 2022
Okay, so I really just skimmed the first two issues until The Runaways showed up. But wow, I hate Daken, I hate his bad guy, I hate the art. This was really bad. The only good part was seeing The Runaways and they are not in it much. AND they just oh so casually gloss over the cliffhanger ending from the last time we saw them. The line is literally “I got better.” That’s it. Ugh, this was bad.
November 27, 2017
I read this specifically because of the Moon Knight and Runaways appearances. Those in themselves were a little disappointing, but Daken definitely peaked my interest. I will probably read this whole series from the beginning at some point.
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August 17, 2025Okay, I just read from 16 onwards but I don’t want to log the single issues especially since I was practically half asleep. Read this as part of my quest to read all Runaways appearances. They were…okay. Did a bit, I suppose. Not a proper review, because I did not read it for the story.
August 23, 2025
Really boring. I mostly hate it when Marvel tries to be edgy. The Runaways are in character, except Molly keeps saying Wolverine is her favourite X-man when we all know Doop is.
April 8, 2013
Not a comic geek, so it's a little hard to review this 'cause I don't know what aspects I'm suppose to review and shiz but hell, I'll give it a shot.
I have this attraction to psychopaths, most especially to male psychopaths, so it isn't a surprise why I'd like Daken, even if he creeps me the hell out or even if he's a bad guy and tried to kill Wolverine once. But, his psychopathic tendencies, the way he doesn't care about anyone and just loves to manipulate people really nailed a bullet into me.
I mean, how can someone even be like that? How can someone stab others while thinking of it as nothing? It's never boring to read about something you don't understand. I want to know how the mind works, how their mind works. It's human nature to want to understand something you don't know about. Someone you're curious about.
I'd also give Daken's inner monologues a thumbs up. I mean, I can just sympathize with him. It's not really pity, you just get the feel of "Wow, that dude's life sucks. That's so sad, man." Kind of thing, you know? I could even imagine it as a novel, and how great it would be if someone created a book with a story line somewhat akin to Marvel comics, because you gotta admit, Marvel comics are really amazing, how everything connects and one breath-taking plot. It just gets confusing once in a while, (lies, Shad, you know it gets more than confusing in practically every page of the comic. F-cking Noob.)
As for the rest of the characters, I like the cameo appearance of Spidey, Captain America and Wolverine. Very awesome characters. Moon Knight was also cool, as in, I want to read more of him kind of cool and Marcus, though insane, was an interesting bad guy (wish he'd die though. Dude deserves it). I'm not sure what to think of Donna. I told you, I'm attracted to psychopaths and that's probably one of the few reasons I'm not hating on her or anything (she wanted to kill Daken at one point...I like Daken. Killing on my fav characters makes me want to shoot something)
Art was also great. This is actually my first officially read comic (mostly I'd just ask my friends to tell me what's happening in a tad interest) and I think I wouldn't mind reading more. You could really see the difference from the first published comics to the ones they publish now. I might get into the world of comics a bit more in the future, so, yeah, prepare for the reviews!
I have this attraction to psychopaths, most especially to male psychopaths, so it isn't a surprise why I'd like Daken, even if he creeps me the hell out or even if he's a bad guy and tried to kill Wolverine once. But, his psychopathic tendencies, the way he doesn't care about anyone and just loves to manipulate people really nailed a bullet into me.
I mean, how can someone even be like that? How can someone stab others while thinking of it as nothing? It's never boring to read about something you don't understand. I want to know how the mind works, how their mind works. It's human nature to want to understand something you don't know about. Someone you're curious about.
I'd also give Daken's inner monologues a thumbs up. I mean, I can just sympathize with him. It's not really pity, you just get the feel of "Wow, that dude's life sucks. That's so sad, man." Kind of thing, you know? I could even imagine it as a novel, and how great it would be if someone created a book with a story line somewhat akin to Marvel comics, because you gotta admit, Marvel comics are really amazing, how everything connects and one breath-taking plot. It just gets confusing once in a while, (lies, Shad, you know it gets more than confusing in practically every page of the comic. F-cking Noob.)
As for the rest of the characters, I like the cameo appearance of Spidey, Captain America and Wolverine. Very awesome characters. Moon Knight was also cool, as in, I want to read more of him kind of cool and Marcus, though insane, was an interesting bad guy (wish he'd die though. Dude deserves it). I'm not sure what to think of Donna. I told you, I'm attracted to psychopaths and that's probably one of the few reasons I'm not hating on her or anything (she wanted to kill Daken at one point...I like Daken. Killing on my fav characters makes me want to shoot something)
Art was also great. This is actually my first officially read comic (mostly I'd just ask my friends to tell me what's happening in a tad interest) and I think I wouldn't mind reading more. You could really see the difference from the first published comics to the ones they publish now. I might get into the world of comics a bit more in the future, so, yeah, prepare for the reviews!
August 12, 2014
I read this because it is the next chronological appearance of the Runaways. I wasn't terribly thrilled by Daken's story when I read All-New Wolverine Saga as I was when I read about X-23. I liked the first part more than I expected to, and I really appreciate Riley Rossmo's art during the Heat sequences; however the Runaways don't look or sound right. Chase's accident waas referred to as "a few months ago," while Molly and Klara seem to have aged several years. Klara is unrecognizable, and Nico nearly is, although I liked the development that she now casts very specific spells since the Staff of One can't do the same spell more than once. The villain has a direct tie to the Runaways. I didn't find this story anything to write home about, although it was reasonably compelling throughout.
November 13, 2015
Daken is framed as a serial killer, well, for killing people he hasn't. The big bad is finally revealed, and the Runaways help out. This is the best book in the series so far. The storyline is involving and the villain is a very good foil for Daken. The Runaways, as always, are great and have a real reason for being there. I also liked MoonKnight trying to take down Daken. A good read.
April 30, 2013
I feel like Daken has worn out his welcome with the author. He used Moon Knight and the Runaways as crutches to supplement the story (which were great additions). Or maybe I'm just not into Daken's character anymore. Glad there is only one volume left.
December 26, 2016
Extra star for that good-enough study in psychopathology. Thank you!
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