Greg Capullo is probably better known in the modern era for his collaboration with Scott Snyder on Batman. But the artist got his start on Marvel‘s X-Men books, followed by prolific work for Image Comics on Spawn and others. His return to Marvel for Wolverine: Revenge #1, therefore, comes with several decades of honing his work behind him. And thanks to a wild story from writer Jonathan Hickman, this book is brutal.
Spoilers past this point, but it’s pretty clear from the first page that this isn’t the Marvel Comics universe you know and love. Instead, Magneto has died, Asteroid M has crashed into Canada, and the resulting EMP blast has taken out the world’s power. It’s up to Wolverine, Captain America, and Winter Soldier, along with what remains of S.H.I.E.L.D., to infiltrate the new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and get the lights back on.
That’s the gist of it, but what the premise does is allow Hickman to throw in whatever elements he thinks would be fun to have Capullo draw. Wolverine riding a triceratops in the Savage Land? Why not. Exploding hellicarriers while heroes dive thousands of feet through the air to a snowy wasteland? Sounds good! Characters you know and love exploding into clouds of blood? Let’s f**king go.
That “anything goes” ethos infuses every page of the book, which pumps with the same metal blood that flowed through the appropriately titled Dark Nights: Metal from DC. It’s also the sort of story that starts with a smiling Wolverine and ends with him seething with berserker rage. It’s a chance for the team to pit Logan against both enemies and former friends, and readers to watch them all get chopped into tiny bits. Like Wolverine himself, it’s the kind of book that activates the animalistic part of your brain and gets your heart pumping.
Is there a greater point? A mythology Hickman is setting up here, per his more complex runs on G.O.D.S., Fantastic Four, and more? Maybe? It’s hard to tell from what is a setup issue. Perhaps there’s a bigger takeaway than “Capullo make things go boom.” But if not, it’s still a blast to read and proves once again that Greg Capullo is the best there is at what he does… But what he does isn’t very nice to your faves.
Wolverine: Revenge #1 Rating:
Wolverine: Revenge #1 Official Synopsis:
HICKMAN AND CAPULLO JOIN FORCES FOR A WOLVERINE EPIC LIKE NO OTHER! Greg Capullo makes his grand return to Marvel Comics storytelling as he and Jonathan Hickman pit WOLVERINE against a cadre of foes who will turn his world upside down! He’s been beaten! He’s been bloodied! And LOGAN only has one thought on his mind: REVENGE! Don’t miss this prestige miniseries, set to become one of the defining tales in Wolverine’s storied legend!
