Wolverine Black White & Blood #2, a Marvel Comics anthology, hits your local comic book shop on December 16. This time showing the loyalties of Wolverine instead of the berserker. Starting things off is “Unfinished Business” by writer Vita Ayala, penciler Greg Land, inker Jay Leisten, and colorist Frank D’Armata. Following this is “Seeing Red” by writer Saladin Ahmed and artist Kev Walker. Finally, there comes “Do We Die Today?” by famed X-Men scribe Chris Claremont and artist Salvador Larocca. Tying everything together is letterer Clayton Cowles of VC.
Wolverine Black White & Blood #2: Tales of Loyalty
Last issue, readers view Logan at his most grim and gritty. In the pages of Wolverine Black White & Blood #2, readers see Logan in his social life. Within Ayala’s story is his rivalry with Sabretooth and the causes they fight for. Sabretooth is looking for anything to fuel his bloodlust, unlike Wolverine, who goes out to help someone despite presenting a threat to him in the form of a “mutant cure.” That even leads into Ahmed’s story describing how some of Logan’s enemies, like Arcade try to bring out his bloodlust. It’s a trait Logan does want not to be defined by despite always being around him. To drive that point home, Ahmed presents Wolverine as putting himself risk first before anyone else in a resourceful manner.
Claremont arguably does the best story. Instead of the berserker, Claremont focuses on Logan’s bond with Kate Pryde. Their chemistry is equal parts concern and trust. They have each other’s backs and even when their backs are against the wall, they communicate to overcome challenges. Not to mention, it’s good to see Claremont make humorous usage of Logan’s “Patch” persona. The dialogue suggests everybody knows he’s Wolverine, but nobody really cares about it.
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Capturing The Moment
Greg Land has a reputation in comics, which continues in this issue. Most of his artwork looks similar to poses other artists, including himself use in character models. Usage and effectiveness vary with the best of it, displaying dynamic movement of both Wolverine and Sabretooth. The worst usage displays it being very messy, like a bunch of random images pasted together for some semblance of movement. Otherwise, Leisten’s inking brings a little more detail to the images like the trees and when characters take emotional precedent. Like when Sabretooth makes his debut in a splash page, and the background fades. The coloring by D’Armata is what stands out the most to me because it’s the only thing that feels constant.
The fact the rest of the stories’ art is all by one artist each is awe-inspiring. Walker brings quite a lot of scale and danger in “Seeing Red.” Much of the architecture by Arcade’s designs and machines genuinely feel fear-inducing enough to try and force a cornered animal to attack. Something that gets all the more intense with a meter that fills with a red color up every time Logan attacks. Now imagine that context in a different light thanks to Larroca in “Do We Die Today?”. Due to some story context, Logan’s healing factor is stopped, and his heavily bleeding arms show his vulnerability. Whatever fight Logan could’ve had in previous stories is quickly being taken away. It really brings up an intensity that comes out on each page.
Lettering By Trade
Clayton Cowles seems to be bringing his best in Wolverine Black White & Blood #2. In addition to word balloons and captions arranging in a way that guides readers without slowing down, his wordmarks look tailor-made. Every little sound or loud yell intensifies the situations and actions. Often they feel like they have more weight than the actions themselves. Unlike the more digital-looking ones, the use of hand-drawn wordmarks adds to feelings of desperation.
Get Wolverine Black White & Blood #2
Overall, Wolverine Black White & Blood #2 is a solid comic that brings several famous comic creators together to show how much they can get out of Logan. Claremont and Larroca’s story works so well. Not only did Claremont write a good story, but Larroca’s illustrations also go out of their way for some highly evocative imagery. How Ahmed brings out Logan’s resourcefulness and how the artist displays the scales of the situation was entertaining as well.
