REVIEW: Wolverine

PLOT: The master of mutants joins the master of ninjas in Wolverine's first solo series - replete with romance, intrigue and mayhem. Our beleaguered berserker's in Japan on a mission of the heart, if he can survive the Hand first. Plus, the introduction of everyone's favorite riotous ronin, Yukio.

REVIEW: I wanted to read this book after seeing The Wolverine because I had heard that it was loosely based on this classic run on Wolverine by Frank Miller and Chris Claremont. At first it started out very much like the film did, but the further along it progressed, the more it became obviously different than The Wolverine. I wasn't as impressed with this graphic novel as I thought I would have been. It's a neat story and a much different but clearly suitable setting for Wolverine, but I just have never been much of a fan of older comics. It definitely has the older comic feel and look to it, and the inward writing of Wolverine's thought is scribbled on every page. I love seeing Wolverine in Japan and the concepts of honor, duty, and others within the code of samurai and warriors alike, apply to the character. The story was kind of confusing though, which isn't new for Frank Miller. Sometimes his stories can lose a reader with the depth of character writing that is presented. I did like however that Silver Samurai was who he was supposed to be, as opposed to who he was in The Wolverine. Also, Viper is presented in small doses and much more villainous than she was in the movie. Yukio didn't play as major of a role in the book either as she did in the movie, which I was disappointed by because she was one of the larger parts of why I liked the movie. A lot of the Yashida background was changed for the film, and I'm glad they made the changes they did. Had the film been a straight adaptation of this story, I don't think it would have been nearly as good. I like the liberties that were taken with The Wolverine, and I'm glad I have now read this classic Wolverine run. However, this is yet another classic X-Men tale that failed to impress me greatly, and further the opinion I have of DC being insurmountably better with adult storytelling than Marvel, though some stories such as this one exist in the Marvel Universe. In all honesty as well, who can beat the Wolverine as a badass character, as he is easily one of the most defined characters in the Marvel Universe, and comics in general.

WRITING : ( 7 / 10 )

ARTWORK : ( 6 / 10 )

STORY : ( 6 / 10 )

COVERS : ( 7 / 10 )

AWESOME : ( 6 / 10 )

FINAL RATING : ( 6 / 10 )