Wolverines, Vol. 2: Claw, Blade and Fang

Wolverines

by Ray Fawkes (Writer), Charles Soule (Writer)

The assault on Mr. Sinister's fortress continues! Logan's remains are located -but which team winds up keeping the goods? For what purpose? And when Mr. Sinister pleads his cause, it hits home to more than one team member. Does this mean a change in allegiance? Meanwhile, Mystique's power play kicks into full gear as more is revealed about her plans to control her destiny. She obtains one of the very last control words, and with it the power to get everything she ever wanted! And Lady Deathstrike is finally coming to the conclusion that she doesn' have to be alone...ut will this moment of vulnerability come back to stab her in the back? It's romance, betrayal and lies! And what happens when an old buddy of Wolverine's shows up? Enter: Fang!

Collecting: Wolverines 6-10

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

112 pages, Paperback

First published June 9, 2015

About the author

Ray Fawkes is the critically-acclaimed author of the comics and graphic novels Underwinter, Intersect, One Soul, The People Inside, The Spectral Engine, Possessions, and Junction True, as well as Batman: Eternal, Constantine, Justice League Dark, and Gotham by Midnight (DC), Wolverines (Marvel), Black Hammer '45 (Dark Horse), Jackpot! (AfterShock) and more. He is an Eisner, Harvey, and Shuster award nominee and a YALSA award winner.

Ray has been making comics for over 20 years, starting with and continuing the tradition of DIY fiction as well as working for many major comics publishers in the U.S. and Canada.

Reviews

[Thomas Edmund · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm starting to get the feeling that I've been sucked into a lengthy comic book series more angled to sell than to impress with writing talent. Don't get me wrong there is some strong action and a few twists to the story, but at this point I'm just impatient to see what Mystique's master plan is, and the inclusion and drawing out of the story of the 'Wolverines' is getting a little tiresome - to illustrate I can literal cut and paste this review into the next volume without having to really change anything. (sorry team for anyone who clicks on the next review expecting anything different other than changing next to previous)

[Chad · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is really disjointed. Each new issue switches back and forth between two authors, Charles Soule and Ray Fawkes. Each issue also has a different artist. Most of the art looks like try out issues for new artists and are awful. The book is losing what little focus it had. It was originally about helping heal the Paradise team before they died. Then they just up and disappeared and the book is really meandering. It just seems like filler until they bring back Wolverine.

[Robert · Rating 1 out of 5]

OK, I had my issues with the first volume, but this one was just straight-up BAD.

Some gratuitous cameos from X-Men heavy hitters like Storm, Colossus and Nightcrawler couldn't save the first issues, then the moronic inter dimensional/intergalactic adventures with Fang (seriously, who is Fang? always hated X-Men stories set in space, this is a good reminder as to why) just filled space.

Not even Lady Deathstrike sexy-times could liven up the later issues (OK, I still have a crush on Kelly Hu. "Hu" wouldn't?)



Lots of talented people worked on this comic. But, then again, check out the cast of Dreamcatcher and you'll see right away that there is no guarantee of success as sometimes the whole is less than the sum of its parts.

I have volume 3 signed out from the lending library, I'll probably thumb through it out of morbid curiosity but my expectations couldn't be any lower.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was not that good. At least the last volume was following a plot with Shogun and his crew working with X-23 and company to get cured. This volume continues on that path an issue then just veers on to other things that aren’t interesting. I mean there’s a small plot working with Mystique following Destiny’s instructions but it’s not enough. Then Fang shows up because he comes to hang with Wolverine every year but he’s dead. So he decides to be on some ol ghost of Christmas past shit and one by one take everybody on an adventure to teach them a lesson on something. I just know it wasn’t very interesting.

[Miloš · Rating 3 out of 5]

well, let's say it is a bit strange at least...

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 2 out of 5]

So after the abrupt conclusion of the quest for wolverine's corpse, could things get worse? Yep.

Fang shows up, and he's now an all-powerful, immortal, invulnerable energy projector. What's up with that? He was just the Timber Wolf clone before! And then he takes the Wolverines on amazing adventures in individual issues. No, seriously, that's the plot. The Daken adventure was kind of dull, then when I got to the Sabertooth adventure, it was so boring that I skimmed it. Meanwhile, most of the cast continues to be badly mischaracterized, especially now that we know they're not actually vulnerable to the magic words. The Wolverines apparently hung around with the Paradise losers just for yucks.

And the art was again atrocious in at least half the volume.

Three good things:
1) Two-thirds of the Paradise crew disappears, making the comic 60% better.
2) Raven got a few pages of interesting Destiny plotting
3) The relationship between the horrifically named Shogun and Lady Deathstrike is interesting

But for the most part, this volume was a waste of a my time. I probably won't waste any more of it on the rest of this "story".

I'll also complain about the half-assed lack-of-attention to collection mapping. The first volume should have ended after issue #6 (which completed the quest for Wolveirne's corpse) or after issue #7 (to break before Fang shows up), but instead Marvel just mechanically broke these into 5-issue volumes.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume was strange. It starts off wrapping up the Mr. Sinister storyline (although I'm sure the series will get back to him eventually), but then it leads into a weird story where Fang from the Imperial Guard shows up and starts taking each member of the Wolverines on an adventure in order to determine if any of them killed Wolverine. So far he's taken Daken and Sabretooth, and I think the next volume starts with X-23. It just seems really strange and random to me since the Fang character has barely been mentioned in the 40 years he's been around, although Wolverine did wear a Fang costume for a very short period of time.

Its really not a bad story as I enjoyed it, but it just seems almost pointless, as I don't see where the story is going. The art isn't great, which isn't helping things. Overall I'm just curious to see where the next volume goes.

[Jonathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Following in volume one's footsteps, another severe disappointment. When has it ever been a good idea for a series to feature a different artist for every issue within an arc? And where in the sweet hell do they find these people who draw so horrible? Marvel should presumably have a list of the greatest artists in the world ready and willing to work for them; these artists on this story don't belong anywhere near that list.

[sixthreezy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Serves as an example as to why this series and many others in Marvel NOW! should be clawed, bladed, and fanged. Sorry Charles Soule, I still like you.

[Krzysztof Grabowski · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Death of Wolverine, który poprzedza całą omawianą serię, jest naprawdę dobrą pozycją, a finał, który potrafi utkwić w pamięci, musiał zrodzić jakieś konsekwencje. Za schedę Wolverine'a wziął się autor, który go 'uśmiercił' i aż dziw bierze, że to co się działało tam, przy okazji Wolverines nie ma takiej siły rażenia. To poprawnie napisana opowieść, ale bez własnej tożsamości. Tak jakby padł pomysł: "Hej, jakby się zachowali bliscy i wrogowie Logana po jego śmierci?". Odpowiedź może Was nie zadowolić.

Początek to kontynuacja urwanego wątku z poprzedniego tomu. Mr. Sinister 'przywłaszczył' sobie to co zostało z Wolverine'a, a co nie mogło pozostać bez odpowiedzi chociażby X-men, na czele których teraz stoi Storm. Po drugiej stronie zebrała się zupełnie inna grupa złożona z Mistique, Sabretootha, Lady Deathstrike, X-23, Shoguna (ten ma mentalnego pasażera na gapę, który chce przejąć jego ciało - wątek będzie rozwijany dalej w trzecim tomie) czy Dakena, syna Logana. Reszta grupy zwanej Paradise, poza Fantomelle, nie ma praktycznie nic do roboty.

Te trzy strony się ze sobą tłuką, a efekt całego zajścia jest przewidywalny, choć miejscami nawet pomysłowy. Potem mamy Mistique i jej tajemniczy plan, na który składa się skojarzenie dwójki bohaterów w parę, oczywiście w pewnym sobie znanym celu, czy zdobycie pewnego miecza. Niestety plany biorą w łeb, bo pojawia się jegomość o ksywce Fang, a który okazuje się być niezwykle potężną pozaziemską jednostką, powiązaną przeszłością z Wolverine'm. Pragnie on odkryć kto stoi z śmiercią jego przyjaciela i jednocześnie gra na nosie zebranym tu postaciom. Pierwsi odczują to na swojej skórze Daken i Sabretooth, których tajemniczy obcy zabierze na wycieczkę Pierwszego do Jotunhaimu, a drugiego na statek agresywnej rasy obcych z głowami podobnymi do głowonogów, gdzie podda ich 'próbie'.

Dzieje się sporo, aczkolwiek nie wszystko do mnie przemawiało. Zwłaszcza napuszczenie lodowego giganta na syna Wolverine'a, poprzez wmówienie gigantowi, iż ten jednoręki knypek jest ojcem, który opuścił potwora, gdy ten był jeszcze mały. Miało być zabawnie. Nie było. Absurdalny pomysł, średnio wykonany. A historia z Sabretooth'em jest jeszcze gorsza. Fang chce im coś udowodnić, a jednocześnie zagrać im na nosie za to jacy byli wobec Wolverine'a za jego życia.

Najbardziej interesującym wątkiem był jednak inny, któremu poświęcono mało miejsca. Chodzi mi mianowicie o dziewczynę z widmowym liskiem. Fantomelle dostała zlecenie w Madripoorze i wygląda fantastycznie. Soule na zmianę z Fawkes prezentują nam wizję, którą kupuję, ale nie jest ona w pełni wykorzystana. Jest na pewno lepiej niż poprzednio, ale nic ponad to. Taki sam stan panuje w warstwie wizualnej, w której raziła mnie nieco dysproporcja Fanga, a który to z każdym zeszytem zmieniał proporcje ciała. Raz był napakowanym, raz widocznie odchudzony bez żadnego wytłumaczenia. Dziwnie to wyglądało. Niemniej całość prezentuje solidny, aczkolwiek średni poziom.

Dokąd powiedzie nas trzeci tom serii? Nie ma tu fajnego cliffhangera, ani tym bardziej jakichś większych zwrotów w samej opowieści, co trochę martwi, zwłaszcza przy głupotkach scenariuszowych (vide Daken niby-ojcem potwora z 15 razy większego niż on sam...). Nie ma tu zadumy nad śmiercią Wolverine'a, nad tym kim był dla tych postaci. Jak wpływał na ich życie, a co byłoby o niebo fajniejsze, niż jakieś odgrywanie się obcego przybysza za bycie złym wobec dawnego kompana. Sprawnie się to czyta, ale brak tej historii charakteru.

[Alex E · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you're a fan of the old school, Claremont X-Men, you may remember Fang, who was part of the Shi'ar Imperial Guard way back when Phoenix was going nuts. He was a werewolf like guy who was - for all intents and purposes - immortal. Wolverine got one of his iconic suits from Fang even.

Well in this volume, Ray Fawkes and Charles Soule reintroduce us to him, and makes him a part of Logan's life - a life that he really didn't talk about. Basically, they were drinking buddies, and now that his friend is dead, Fang has come looking for the people that Logan hated and would often talk about.

This volume is a series of one offs where Fang takes each member of this "Wolverine" team, to test in some way. The problem is that, not only is that basically fragmenting the story, as you are pausing the group story to tell each individual adventure, but also with a rotating art team, the story feels very disconnected. It almost feels like an anthology book, rather than a team book.

Overall, this team felt like it might have had some potential at the beginning of it, but now it feels like the creative team are spinning their wheels a bit.

[Theresa · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Wolverine is dead and two teams want to retrieve his body. The first are five test subjects from the facility that created the Wolverine hoping to use his DNA to save them. And the other five are talented, kidnaped associates of the Wolverine that the first group can use and control. Then the X-Men show up to stop them.

Too many characters, all fighting each other, then switching sides, to keep organized in my mind. Story not clear enough to care. Was going to read the next two, but not now.

[Thomas · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh. This story does not need to happen and added nothing for me in the wake of Logan's death. Skip and read something better. The chapter with Daken and Logan's buddy was the start of something worth reading, but 1 issue in a story arc doesn't make the whole thing worth reading.

[Nicholas Ahlhelm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good continuation of a unique series

The book shifts focus in volume 2 but continues the fascinating tale in the wake of Logan's death. Overall solid work from the creators.

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 Stars

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fine. It's funny. I've read that Mr. Sinister was not meant to be a real character because it was too silly:
E.g., http://goodcomics.comicbookresources....

And yet it's always interesting when he shows up. Even though he's always "I'm going to take your genes and you'll fight yourself!" And did he just give up on his obsession with Cable? Whatever happened with that?

Anyway, that was kind of neat. The whole thing with Fang was confusing. Last time I saw him, he was kind of the workaday Joe of the Shi'ar Imperial Guard.
Realm of Kings

Here, he's like Wolverine crossed with the Silver Surfer.

Also, missing from this whole crew is Raze Darkholme, who seems like the most obvious addition.
All-New X-Men, Vol. 5: One Down
(I guess, in addition to all of those other Wolverines over the years . . . . (Albert, anyone?) But there's usually a recency bias and a first bias in all these lists.

Oh, and I meant to mention this in a previous review, but why did Daken stop being blue?

[Adam Stone · Rating 2 out of 5]

Updated Review During 2025 X-Reread:

I thought this was mostly fine, but unmemorable. I enjoyed the consistently shifting art this time. I don't think it does a good service to the story continuity but I thought each of the artists' styles meshed well with the X-Men adjacent characters.

This is a classic, shifting allegiance, heist-focused book. There were a couple going on in the Marvel Universe at around this time. While it doesn't bring anything exciting to the table, plot-wise, it does have some interesting character moments. While I don't see myself reading this again, I'm not sad that I read it this second time.

***

Original 2019 Review:

There's nothing really to like in this collection. The plot is foolish. The villain is out of nowhere. The art changes every issue but never improves. The 2013/4 era hasn't been my favorite group of X-books, but this is the first volume in a while that I have to put into consideration for The Worst X-Book.

Don't pick this one up without a pair of tongs and a hazmat suit.

[Silas · Rating 3 out of 5]

This certainly was an odd volume. The first part wraps up the story from the previous volume, and is rather interesting. The second half has Fang, the Shi'ar guardsman show up and show Daken and Sabretooth how their attitudes are terrible through allegory. It's an interesting idea, but it also involves Fang having many abilities he has never shown before, and it created a close relationship between Fang and Wolverine that hadn't been there before. The abilities are the part that bother me the most, though I am still holding out hope that there will be some explanation of those in future issues (perhaps it is someone else disguised as Fang, or he simply has some technology he is using). Neither half is terrible, but they are only somewhat related, and we again left the story half finished at the end of this volume. If the trades were arranged by storyline instead of simply a number of issues, these might have made a bit more sense.

[Marco · Rating 2 out of 5]

You know a title is in trouble, when it is not an anthology book, yet changes artists every issue. This has not only that problem (and some very bad art), but also has two writers taking turns. That may be on purpose as the book does turn into an anthology series of sorts, when some contrived external reason forces the book's individual characters into solo adventures to learn something from.
Basically I only liked when Daken was referred to as a “selfish, murderous, insecure, seventy-five-year-old CHILD” because of his daddy issues by Fang.
(Fang meets with Logan once a year. How many annual obligations does Wolverine even have?! Drinking with Fang, Sabretooth comes around every birthday to slice him up, a number of gravesites he visits every year... - busy, busy...)
Well, a quick read. Just not a good one.

[Dean · Rating 2 out of 5]

As seems to be a common theme at Marvel these days, ( and bad editorial must be to blame, as some of these writers seem to just hand in anything) this was generally a mess, with a few glimpses of enough to show that with some tight editing there could have been a good story here. A lot of lazy storytelling, making the characters fit the plot rather than the other way around, such as the use of Fang. He was completely out of character, making it all nonsensical.
Art was muddy or scratchy, take your pick, seemingly done by artists on very tight deadlines.
Best not to bother.

[Villain E · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is so bad, Logan is rolling over in his grave.

So the creative team finally figured out the Paradise, Weapon X folks are awful, so they're pretty much abandoned. Instead, Fang from the Shi'ar imperial guard comes looking for the killer of his friend Wolverine. (Friend? Is this canon? I do not remember this.) So he takes Wolverine's killer friends on team up adventures. Because that makes sense.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of the same from Volume 2. This time Fang, an old friend of Wolverine's, shows up and demands to know who killed him. He puts the Wolverines through tests to determine if they did it.
Again, the story is not horrible, but the art switching is highly annoying.
Might continue this one, but not sure.

[Jenna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, not quite sure what happened in this volume other than fights and fights and romance and dimension hopping from a pixie-looking Sabertooth imitator? Won't be continuing this series anymore. Storm seems to have received a power-up, though.

[Paola Sánchez · Rating 2 out of 5]

The hatefuck relationship between Shogun and Lady Deathstrike is quite entertaining, but the plot doesn't move in any direction whatsoever. The inclusion of different writers and artists (the only good one was Kris Anka's issue) in a single volume of five issues is bothersome, if I'm honest.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't understand what Fantomelle is doing; why are we even following her actions? It feels like filler.

The rest of this is broken up between the alien Fang taking each 'wolverine' out on a mission. The reader can tell that he is trying to teach them each something about Logan.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not lawyerly enough. Am amused to learn Logan killed a member of the Shi'ar imperial guard, looted his corpse, and used it to hero -- and yet the two of them get together every year for adventure. And beer.

[Cagne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't very enthralled with the first volume but I like where this is going.

[Kelly Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 new characters introduced that remind me of Cloak and Dagger. I kinda like them, and they could have a future.... Everything else is just average, and just goes nowhere.... Like they're quest.

[Daniel Butcher · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lots of fighty fighty...I don't dig Fang, probably should...I see what we are doing breaking down each "hero" with different artists but just don't feel the weight of it.

[Bruce M · Rating 2 out of 5]

Full 4 Volumes reviewed on my blog.