Comic Review: Savage Wolverine #1

Savage Wolverine #1

Story by Frank Cho
Art by Frank Cho
Colors by Jason Keith
Cover by Frank Cho, Jason Keith, Joe Quesda, & Skottie Young

My expectations for this issue were not particularly high and on that level writer artist Frank Cho delivered. The issue was a slog to say the least, I have always seen the Savage Land as a place where good comics go to die and this bizarre addition to the Marvel NOW! schedule (would it not have been better as a mini-series?) proves no different.

 Maybe I've just been spoiled by the recent Jason Aaron Wolverine title or maybe it's just that Frank Cho isn't a particularly skilled writer because this issue felt at once extremely dense and also painfully fluffy and light. Cho writes mountains of narration where I would like to see a more laconic approach for Wolverine as he has always seemed like the kind of guy who acts more on instinct than talking things out inside his own head.

 Cho's failing on this issue isn't isolated to his writing, his art also suffers. In a comic like Savage Wolverine I was expecting to see jagged panels and dynamic layouts as Wolverine carved across the page, sadly Cho opted for entirely boxy panels and static page layouts, he actually seemed to be trying to suck the dynamism off the page. The only memorable layouts Cho acheived were those where he went for his standard cheesecake option and had a full figured, half dressed Shanna the she-devil telling us all her problems, in excruciatingly verbose style.

 If you're after cheesecake there are better places to find it, if you're after good Wolverine stories there is Wolverine and the X-Men, if you're after good comics for $3.99 I would look elsewhere.

2 out of 5 stars