Wolverine 312 review

Wow this one was bad. It’s the third issue in the 4-part return of Sabertooth. Not only does this story arc feel late (Sabertooth has been back since February at least) but this story is barely about Sabertooth’s return. Instead it’s more about Romulus, an unpopular character who is little more than a retcon of Wolverine’s history. Worse yet, the second issue revealed his twin sister, Remus. So how could it get any worse than that? There will be spoilers in hopes that I’ll save you $4.

First of all, Wolverine hates Romulus, so why would he attack someone who wants to kill Romulus? Remus has done nothing to anger Wolverine and she’s already helped him in two fights. Then there’s the Wolverine/Sabertooth fight near the end. It lasts a total of three pages. Gone are the days when Sabertooth was a legitimate challenge for the Canadian X-Man. Gone are the days where a fight between the two could last an entire issue. Even in Jason Aaron’s Japan storyline their fight lasted much longer than this, and that storyline was a mess. Here, Sabertooth is disposed as easily as a disposable diaper.

The worst part is the last two pages however. Wolverine’s past has been retconed far too much. Romulus tells Wolverine that Weapon X was his idea all along. That’s … just … do you have any idea how stupid that is? Does Jeph Loeb even realize that Weapon X really means Weapon 10? (Captain America was Weapon 1.)

Originally, Wolverine was a mysterious man who didn’t remember his own past. He was a veteran of both world wars and was originally born in Alberta, Canada. After he was kidnapped by Weapon X, they covered his bones in an unbreakable metal and tried to brainwash him as their greatest weapon. He escaped, joined Alpha Flight, and later joined the X-Men. What more do you need. In the years since, his history has been tampered with so many times that it’s hard to follow, or care. And why would Wolverine set up a weapons program to let himself be captured, experimented on and enslaved?

The only reason I’m picking up this storyline is that I’m subscribed to Wolverine’s series at my local comic store. If I wasn’t, I would have dropped this storyline after the first issue. I recommend that you ignore this issue as much as possible. The more this mini-series is ignored in the future by writers and readers, the better. It’s just a series of disappointing fights, pointless new characters and what might actually be the worst Wolverine retcon ever. The only good thing to say about this issue is the art – it looks pretty good.