Death of Wolverine 3 review

The last issue ended with Lady Deathstrike planning to kill Wolverine, only for Kitty Pryde to intervene with her hand phased through Deathstrike’s heart. Death of Wolverine 3 kicks off exactly where issue 2 ended.

Charles Soule’s Death of Wolverine has mostly been taking it slow so far. The first issue had a bit of a building mystery, but for the most part it was an action issue. DOW 2 moved the series to Madripoor and started building a larger story. This issue is where the plot development really kicks in, with several major reveals and a solid plot twist. Even so, there’s still room for both action and a great dramatic moment between Wolverine and Kitty Pryde. The dramatic moment really explores Wolverine’s mindset, now that he’s mortal. He almost appreciates the loss of his healing abilities, seeing it as a way to force him to think more carefully about his actions.

The art by Steve McNiven is fantastic. Even with the opening pages indoors, there’s plenty of environmental detail in the background. A large window overlooks the cityscape, along with the green carpet and Viper flags inside. After Wolverine and Kitty travel to Japan, they converse in a beautiful field complete with trees, a river and falling leaves. Character expressions are great as well; Wolverine’s reflective look (complete with a fresh scar around his eye), Kitty’s anger and the crazed grin of a mad scientist on the last page reveal. The action flows smooth and is always easy to follow, not to mention the good use of blood, gore and damaged clothing. If the delay was for the art, than it’s worth the delay.

Along with the first two issues, there’s a bit of behind the scenes material that displays the creative process. There are bits of the script and the art shown both complete and incomplete side-by-side.

For some, Wolverine’s death will be tragic. For others, it will be worthy of celebration. I’m somewhere in-between. I’m not a fan of the character, but I can enjoy some of his better stories. More than anything else I could use a break from him. But whether you like Wolverine or not, this is a good comic and is worth reading if you’re the least bit interested in his death.

I’m planning something special for my review of Death of Wolverine 4, both for his fans and those who are excited to see him go.