by Daniel Way & Marjorie Liu (writers), Mierco Pierfederici (artist)
Story: Daken walks around Rome, Italy while moping about being defeated by his father, Wolverine, in last month’s Dead Reckoning crossover and not being able to take over for Romulus. He is lured into a trap by a mugger, but is Daken really the one who’s been lured into a trap?
What’s Good: The cover artwork by Stephanie Hans… It says everything that you need to know about the character, and it’s even pertinent to the story told within. There’s also a brief moment at the beginning of the story where Daken confronts a young female pickpocket who then asks him to take her with him. His reaction very clearly and nicely highlights the difference between him and his more heroic father. I thought the use of a young, damaged girl (Wolverine (Logan) has a penchant for taking those under his wing.) was particularly apt.
What’s Not Good: Everything else. This title has been treading water ever since Dark Reign ended. With no Dark Avengers to act as foils for our lead, the writers seem to be at a loss when it comes to giving him direction until the approaching relaunch. There was last month’s boring crossover with Wolverine Origins that seemed like an arbitrary extension of that title’s plot-lines, and there’s next month’s crossover with Franken-Castle, which, you guessed it, deals with that title’s plot-lines. And then there’s this issue. In this era of the six-issue arc, fill-in issues have become somewhat extinct, or at least an endangered species. While this title only half-meets the definition of a fill-in, it certainly feels like one 100%. Way’s and Liu’s script is not only tedious and predictable, but it’s the sort of story that doesn’t even reveal something new about the character to the reader. No “So THAT’S what Daken would do in that situation!” to at least distract us from the pointlessness of the purchase.
Pierfederici’s an artist I’ve never heard of and judging from this issue, am not in a rush to hear from again. He’s the type of artist that I’d possibly check out in five years to see how he’s improved, but as of right now, his work is weak. His characters’ faces look identical, his page composition is regular, and overall it failed to involve me even a little in the storytelling.
Conclusion: Dark Wolverine was the sleeper title of 2009 for me. It was ten times better than it had any right to be, and I looked forward to every new issue. Alas, the last three issues have been highly disappointing and the three before that? Middling, at best. Sometimes, you just have to pull the plug. Bye-bye, Daken. It was fun while it lasted.
Grade: D
-Joe Lopez
Filed under: Marvel Comics Tagged: | Comic Book Reviews, Daniel Way, Dark Wolverine, Dark Wolverine #87, Dark Wolverine #87 review, Marjorie Liu, Mierco Pierfederici, Weekly Comic Book Review, Wolverine
