Frank Cho’s Savage Wolverine feels as though it’s more mini-series than the ongoing series it’s supposed to be. Wolverine is trapped on an island and is teaming up with Shanna the She-Devil to escape. The first issue was fun, but there wasn’t anything special about it. This issue is pretty much the same.
What really makes this issue enjoyable is the way Wolverine and Shanna inter-act with each other. They have fairly similar personalities and skills, and to a lesser extent, their attitudes. It’s fun watching Wolverine get beaten up by dinosaurs, and then have Shanna show him up with her experience in the Savage Land. It’s a little over the top however, as Wolverine doesn’t land a single blow in this issue. He’s been to the Savage Land before – I’m pretty sure he’d know how to fight dinosaurs better than this.
There’s another character thrown into the Savage Land in this issue. While the comic doesn’t name him directly, and I can’t find anything online, he seems to have some sort of AI defense system called “Charlie”. His scenes aren’t bad, but they’re kind of distracting.
The art is very good for the most part. It’s a clean looking book with plenty of character detail. Liquid effects look very good, from the splattering blood to the rain and mud effects. Backgrounds are easily recognizable. It’s also refreshing to see that even though Shanna has a very revealing outfit, her depiction never feels unnecessarily exploitive, and her poses look natural for the most part. It helps that there are men with equally revealing outfits.
There’s nothing in this series that feels all that original, but it doesn’t have to feel original. It’s just a fun series about two like-minded individuals who can’t stand being near each other, yet have to work together to survive. While there’s no guarantee that Wolverine fans will enjoy this, it’s at least worth checking out. I probably won’t be sticking with this though – I’m suffering from the early stages of Wolverine fatigue.
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The new character thrown in is Amadeus Cho. An old ally of the Hulk, best friend of Hercules, 7th smartest man in the world, and an all-around great character. The last name, I’m sure, is purely a coincidence.
Anyway, yeah, this is a fun series. I like that Shanna actually ends up coming across as more competent, when it comes to handling the Savage Land, than Wolverine. She lives there, so she really should be better able to handle the place than he is. And while her chest is way too big, she’s otherwise drawn to look like solid muscle, with natural poses. Very refreshing. So, yeah, I’m liking this book.
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I’ve heard of Amadeus Cho, but haven’t read much with him in it. Thanks for the tip.
I agree that Shanna should be more competent in the Savage Land, but Wolverine not landing a single hit in the entire issue is taking it a bit too far in my opinion.
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Amadeus is one of the coolest characters Marvel had in a long time, although this didn’t seem his best imo.
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