Wolverine #304
Writer: Jason Aaron
Art: Steve Dillon, Ron Garney, Paul Pelletier with Dave Meikis, Mike Perkins, Jefte Palo, Daniel Acuña, Steven Sanders, and Renato Guedes
Color Art: Matthew Wilson, Matt Milla, Rain Beredo, Andy Troy, and Chris Sotomayor
Jason Aaron goes out with a bang on his final Wolverine solo issue, finding a way to feature just about every character from his run and then some.
As the newly appointed secret assassin lord of the entire eastern hemisphere, Sabretooth takes it upon himself to throw a party featuring a who’s who of Wolverine antagonists. Among the attendees are Mystique, Daken, Lord and Lady Deathstrike, Silver Samurai, Sauron, Tiger Shark, Blob, Soulstriker, Jade Claw, and the Hellfire Club’s new White Queen. Dr. Rot is also shown being turned away by security at one point.
Naturally, Wolverine has caught wind of the party. I guess super villains don’t have these sorts of gatherings without leaking word to whoever it is they want to kill, you know? Anyhow, Wolverine contacts Maverick, who is in a much lower place than we last saw him, for more information.
This is just the first of several scenes we get that tie up loose ends and plant new plot threads. While Dr. Rot’s appearance was a tease for an upcoming Wolverine story, several of these cameos could carry over into Wolverine and the X-Men, which Aaron is still writing. We see Kade Kilgore, the pint-sized Hellfire Club Black King, arriving on a deserted island and shooting Blackwater’s disgraced CEO before hiring two of the three remaining Blackwater “Adamantium Men” as his bodyguards. The remaining Buzzard Brother is shown eating a freshly-killed wolverine in the Canadian Wilderness, clippings about Wolverine and the Jean Grey School pinned to the walls around him. Wolverine’s murdered children are shown in Hell with his father, and ex-girlfriend Melita Garner is given a new status quo. There’s even a joke thrown in about furries for good measure during a scene with Logan’s on-again/off-again ninja girlfriend and his adopted daughter.
Then, there’s the inevitable brawl that happens when Wolverine shows up at Sabretooth’s party. I hate to feel like I’m spoiling anything (and I may already have done so), but there’s a catch here involving an old Sabretooth tradition.
Aaron ends his acclaimed run the way any long-term gig on a book like this should be wrapped up–tying up loose ends and leaving good openings for future stories, whether they be by incoming writer Cullen Bunn or carried over to Wolverine and the X-Men.
Just about every artist who worked with Aaron during the last few years worked on Wolverine #304, as well. The result is an issue where every other page has a different style. It isn’t as jarring as it sounds, but there are moments where the transition pulls you out of the story briefly.
Regardless, this is fun, fast-paced, gritty, and a great jumping-on point for new readers (it even has a checklist for anyone wanting to get caught up on Aaron’s run), as well as a nice cap to the last few years of Wolverine solo stories.
STORY: 9/10
ART: 7/10 (This is due to a couple of jarring transitions.)
