Wolverine: Der Beste, Bd. 5: Im Zeichen des Biests

Wolverine (2020)

by Benjamin Percy

Wolverine ist Krakoas größte Waffe. Aber das heißt nicht, dass er jede Mission blindlings ausführt, auf die ihn Beast ansetzt. Hank McCoys neueste Aufgabe konfrontiert Logan mit schockierenden Enthüllungen und einem Verrat, der ihn für immer verändern wird.

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

Kindle Edition

Published August 15, 2023

About the author

Benjamin Percy is the author of seven novels -- most recently The Sky Vault (William Morrow) -- three short fiction collections, and a book of essays, Thrill Me, that is widely taught in creative writing classrooms. He writes Wolverine, X-Force, and Ghost Rider for Marvel Comics. His fiction and nonfiction have been published in Esquire (where he is a contributing editor), GQ, Time, Men's Journal, Outside, the Wall Street Journal, Tin House, and the Paris Review. His honors include an NEA fellowship, the Whiting Writer's Award, the Plimpton Prize, two Pushcart Prizes, the iHeart Radio Award for Best Scripted Podcast, and inclusion in Best American Short Stories and Best American Comics.

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 3 out of 5]

The best volume of this Benjamin Percy runs sees Beast all-out 'protection' of Krakoa see him role out his 'agenda', one that dangerously, very dangerously includes seeking to use Wolverine! They decade plus long fall of Beast continues in this actually quite entertaining Beast vs Wolverine drama. Brains vs brawn? Long time readers of Wolverine books, know there is a lot more to the man, but I'm not sure if this run really portrays that enough. A firm Three Star, 7 out of 12, sees Percy bring a little back of premium Wolvie.

2025 read

[Gianfranco Mancini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably it's the sick psycho inside my head speaking, but for me, this was a deliciously disturbing tale, and I'm digging Hank Beast's descent into darkness far more than I expected, especially considering all the spoilers popping up on Facebook that convinced me to buy Percy's Wolverine solo series on Kindle when I saw it was on discount for a few €, after dropping Krakoa's era in the past because of turning X-Men into a morbid death cult sect was not my cup of tea at all....



This is the best volume so far for me. Deadpool's one missed five stars by an inch because of the garbage Eternals event tie-in final issues. Juan José Ryp is an amazing illustrator of body horror.



Keeping my vomit bag near and onward to volume six.

[Oscar · Rating 4 out of 5]

what the hell is up with Beast!

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This fifth Wolverine volume is pretty purely Wolverine vs. Beast, and it's all the better for it. I'm still not sure why Beast has turned heel, but the build-up has been long enough that I'm simply glad he's finally gone full villain mode.

Through a series of unlikely events, Beast has trapped Wolverine in a docile form and been using him as a secret assassin for any who would smirch the good name of mutants. Naturally, Wolverine's against being used in this way, but he first has to escape his mental prison (and Krakoa's Pit of Doom or whatever). The book is bloody and fast-paced - a fairly simple plot keeps everything on track and engaging. I'd better go read X-Force now, as I'm sure it ties right into this.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was great! Though I may never see Mr. "Oh-My-Stars-and-Garters" quite the same way again.


Truer words, Dr. McCoy...

[johnny ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

poor logan!

[Khurram · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the darkest Wolverine stories I have read in a while. If you have been keeping up with this series as well as X-Force, like me, you will know a betrayal is coming, but nature and the execution are still shocking.

Wolverine has not been comfortable with the direction X-Force has been taking or the lifestyle on the island of Krakoa. Things are about to take a very dark turn.

This has been brewing for a while, but now things are going to get nasty. I can't wait for the next volume for what must be the final showdown. The book finishes with a cover gallery and a thumbnails of the varient covers.

[Tyler Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like these writers are working overtime to make us hate beloved characters. I always liked Beast and now I can’t wait to see him dead.

[Frédéric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dark and bloody. Gore, even- thanks to Juan Jose Ryp.
Surprisingly not bad considering Ben Percy’s on the plot but I keep wondering how far Marvel will go in desacrating Beast as a character. We’re reaching a new low again in meanness and ignominy, unseen on such an iconic character as far as I know.

[Anna Quilter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Logan has trust issues.
I've never trusted Beast ever since Lee/Kirby days.
And now this......
I hate to say I told you so...

[Alex Sarll]

Beast's increasing dodginess, and Wolverine's growing qualms about that, finally come to a head, with Beast taking the obvious step - or at least, obvious if you're a megalomaniac with authorisation to fine-tune the resurrection protocols. Ryp's art is the perfect fit, all the gore and weirdness and Dillon-esque acting he honed at Avatar evolved to a whole other level thanks to Marvel colouring. And set against the horror, those glimpses of the normal life everyone loses sight of while they fight for the fate of the world: "Sitting in the backyard, listening to music, drinking beer and occasionally dousing yourself with the cold water of a garden hose. That was the peak of living. Not work, not glory, not riches. Just...this."

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad. This book felt somewhat aimless with its vampires and Mavericks, but it finally has some momentum.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

I'm reading Wolverine, but I haven't read the other Krakoa Era X-Men titles, so I always feel a little lost. Since when did Beast become such a !@#$%? Seems like I missed something when Beast did his "heel turn." In any case, once I got past that confusion, this was pretty good. I'm really liked the Ryp art. Very interested to see what comes next.

[Andres Pasten · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beast o Dark Beast?

[Adam Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh Beast... what are you doing? Have you fully and finally gone completely dark?
Highlights:
- Wolverine teams up with friend and CIA agent Jeff Bannister to investigate a sale going down at the Smithsonian. Turns out the sale is parts of Wolverine, harvested live in front of the audience.
- Beast is at the sale, and purchases the right to kill Wolverine.
- Under the guise of testing, Beast gets the Five to resurrect Logan with a more feral and primal mind, also TOP SECRET and off the books.
- Using the feral Logan, Beast gets him to kill many anti-mutant people and groups, all under like a master controlling a toy, but he gets too eager one time and gets caught on camera
- While Beast leaves him in punishment, Logan self-exiles to The Pit, where in a weird kind of way, Krakoa punishes and guides him through nightmares as a way to heal his mind. He is then released and found by Sage.
- Logan tracks down Jeff, but almost loses him when Beast tries to assassinate him. Logan catches up and kills Beast.
- Instead of him being resurrected (which I assume he still will be, and placed on trial) Beast wakes up in a kind of cloning tank, perfectly fine.
What is going on?

This was so good! I need to know what happens next!
Strong recommend.

[Matthew Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five hundred fifty-five stars out of five. Holy wow, Batman…err Wolverine, I guess! WOW! Woooow. Wolverine has become my favorite X character since reading a lot of the newer X books. And I’ve been hearing how bad Beast is in the Krakoan era for a while and I thought it was kinda blown out of proportion with what people were saying. But this volume changes everything. Blown out of proportion? Nope. I’m sorry Dakota, but EFF THIS GUY. Gone, gone the form of man! Rise the demon, Beast. Hank McCoy is no more and Beast is all that remains, trying his best to live up to his mutant name. The crimes he has committed against Wolverine and my guy Jeff Bannister is unforgivable. What happened in the last issue here better not have actually happened. I’m actually kinda furious but ridiculously intrigued and excited to see more of this play out. I was on one side of the fence for the entire Krakoan arc before this volume, claiming that what Hank was doing wasn’t horrible and that prioritizing mutants for once wasn’t a bad thing. Because of these five issues, I’ve flipped. Team Wolverine absolutely! And Beast absolutely must be stopped (but not really, because man, I could read an infinite number of issues like these). Thrilling and fascinating read!

[Bertazzo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes I think Marvel left Benjamin Percy write 100 issues just to keep him from touching Destiny of X with his dirty hands.

[Matt Sautman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Without having read X-Force, much of Beast’s descent into villain seems more plot-contrived to me, though that may be mostly because I understand Beast more so through X-Men the animated series. Most of the comics I have read with Beast in them tend to not explore the inner darkness within him outside of Age of Apocalypse. Being able to accept Beast’s extreme utilitarianism in this arc elevates the quality overall.

[Jerome Livsey-Herd · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was probably the best volume of this Wolverine run so far. I would give it 4.5 stars cause I was not a fan of the art and it's more of a setup for the next story. But it was a page turner and I'm ready for the next volume!

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5
Intense and unpredictable!

[AviChaim Snyder · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun read and ran through it quickly. This volume spent its time setting up the beast/Wolverine arch for the next volume, so no real stakes as of yet

[Aisling · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Michael Church · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now THIS is why I picked up some Wolverine comics. I wanted to fill in the blanks about Beast’s fall during Krakoa, and it became apparent a lot of it happened outside of X-Force. This sees some of the tensions with Beast coming to a head with Wolverine. Now unfortunately, it’s not perfect, but I still enjoyed the story for the most part. Beast has consistently become horrible for me since the decimation era, and I really enjoy this continuation of his character. Of course I’m sad to see a once-happy and good character going down a dark path, but that’s what makes it compelling in my opinion.

The downside is that Beast is supposed to be a genius. He’s not really living up to that classification in these issues. His entire excuse for where Wolverine is amounts to “not here.” He’s irritable and rude and making decisions that go against obvious basic moral standards. Sure, he’s got contingency plans and is doing some things behind the scenes, but Sinister was doing way more “genius” level scheming than Beast has been so far.

This volume also revisits the criticisms of the Pit as Krakoa’s prison. I’m not sure how we end up there, but it highlights that there is not nearly enough oversight for it and the methods it uses really verge on torture more than imprisonment or rehabilitation (though efforts are made to attribute that to Sabertooth’s toxic presence).

I didn’t love the art at first, but mostly the background details. By the end, it really grew on me, and I liked it a lot. Some of the unmasked faces are still a little rough (particularly the kids), but that applies to even some of the greatest artists in the industry at times.

I’m here for the ride now, but glad this was a library read instead of a purchase.

[Joey Nardinelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

This feels maybe more hyper-focused than a lot of the other Marvel X comics I’ve been reading lately. The idea of centering Beasts conflict specifically with Logan and then featuring Jeff Benedict and his daughter at the center of that feels compelling. A whole chapter wasted on Logan being trapped in the pit definitely slows the pacing a bit, and not really understanding anything about Beasts plan also feels like information willingly refused to readers. I’m also a little confused that NONE of the mutants seem to either a) detect any of this despite the sheer volume of psychics in Krakoa or b) care that Wolverine is off running constant missions for Beast and no one else. Like this stuff with Beast COULD be more interesting if it felt a bit more believable.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely terrific arc of the series that is the highlight of the Krakoan era

Percy knocking it out the park continually with some pretty dark storylines balancing drama with sheer metal attitude and this is another. This time centring round some pretty insidious behaviour from Beast that’s all going to come crashing down when Logan realises what he’s done.

Ryp on art again helps elevate this book above the other titles from the xline of this era, with only Percy’s other book of the era, XForce, coming close.

[Rumi Bossche · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wolverine by Benjamin Percy and the fantastic Adam Kubert.

This run might not blow your mind on story telling, buts its so action filled fast, and incredibly fun ! The fantastic artwork helps tons, and Wolverine as a sort of enforcer for Krakoa is 👌🏼 the latest story line with a villanous Beast (a character which i really loved as a kid) is really fucking cool. Benjamin Percy just gets the character Wolverine and knows how to keep you on your toes.

3.5 stars

[Nate Deprey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beast has been ripe for a heal turn for a while now and it happens spectacularly here. I run hot and cold on Percy as a writer but the central premise of this story, basically what if a Krakoan mutant (say, Beast) ran their own version of the the Weapon X program and used their own citizens as unwilling fodder/soldiers. Unsettling as this story is I found it a compelling read.

[Jason Tanner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beast is absolutely terrible at his job but he thinks he's doing awesome, and he straight up murders everybody he thinks might be a problem for "national security" with basically no oversight. Beast is the CIA. He's the CIA, and it's not subtle. But the stuff he is good at, the mad scientist stuff, is keeping him afloat, and that's going to be Wolverine's problem.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. Beast goes full...Beast. The actions he takes are are both surprising and track with his character development. Benjamin Percy has hit on something that others have hinted at before and I think it works well. The "hows" are a little suspect but its comics books. Shrug. The art was extremely solid. Overall, a fun and violent Wolverine book.

[Renata · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK again this feels tied into something I haven't read yet bc the Beast I know simply would not do this

I always love Wolverine with lil kids and I'm glad Jeff Bannister has a kid for Wolverine to play mermaids with and give one of Wade Wilson's severed fingers as a gift, very wholesome