The tragedy in Stamford has created a tumultuous time for Super-humans. The government is threatening the super-hero community with a Superhuman Registration Act (SHRA) that could potentially create a polarizing environment between former allies and partners. Wolverine, formerly an agent from S.H.I.E.L.D. and now full time “Avenger”, as well as “X-Man”, has embarked on a quest to find the villain responsible for the massacre of many kids: Robert Hunter, a.k.a. Nitro. With the low-key support of S.H.I.E.L.D., and Iron Man, Logan is about to find Nitro, although, things will complicate once he finds his prey, since it appears Hunter worked under someone else’s support, so now, what it appeared to be a simple revenge-quest, turns into a mission to unmask and unravel an entire corporative conspiracy that, apparently, relates directly to the tragedy of Stamford, and the rise of the “Super-Hero Civil War”.
Writer Marc Guggenheim, alongside artist Humberto Ramos, team up to deliver one of Wolverine’s wildest rides which crossovers with the highly successful Marvel Comics mega-event, “Civil War”, involving him in the very roots of the catastrophe that created the conflict between super-heroes. Nitro, at first sight, might appear to be the main villain in this arc, however, and without giving anything away, he’s left out of the picture quite early in the story. The actual enemy is the CEO of an important company in the Marvel Universe, that provided the tools to enhance the villain’s abilities. Out of nowhere this goes from being a standard “revenge tale” to go full anti-capitalist and anti-corporative storyline. Nothing against it but, honestly, and given my interest in Wolverine’s point of view inside the Civil War conflict, it turned quite the surprise to see how the wheels spined in the end, not sure if that’s a good thing. There were interesting elements in the plot, and the action was consistently present through and through, but ultimately, the resolution for Logan’s tale- having in mind how it started- didn’t pay off, mostly regarding who the actual villain was, and what happened in the end to Nitro.
Now, I do understand people tend to mock and criticize Ramos’ art. To be fair, I get why, but I’d lie if I say I don’t have a soft spot for it. There’s a cartoonish element to his style that, in all honesty, is hard to take seriously, and at times his anatomy depictions, also, the way he draws certain faces- particularly the female ones- feels deformed and funny, not in a positive way. It truly is an acquired taste, but personally, is a lot of fun to admire his artwork; for the most part it is so entertaining and fun to appreciate his designs, his action-sequences, and the way he toys with certain panels, I cannot help but to admire how it feels to see these “childish-like” characters portrayed with an excess of violence, gore, and suggestive circumstances. Also, there’s something about the way he draws Logan it is kind of appealing, given the feral and aggressive nature of the character’s original features, most artists tend to portray him as a more handsome and smooth way, mostly due to Hugh Jackman’s likeness. Ramos does the small-hairy-overly muscle guy all the way, with his own signature that at times makes him look like a cartoon character from a kid’s-friendly show, at times, quite intimidating in the use of shadows. Although, my appreciation for Ramos’ draws increased thanks to the epilogue issue in #48, “Casualties of War”, in which Guggenheim does the typical “re-cap” episode at the end of an arc, but Ramos’ art goes to the next level every time his pencils are colored by Edgar Delgado, which felt more blurred and sketchy, perfect to portray the flashback sequences that helps us understand what Wolverine goes through every time he’s at the brink of death. It was a nice addition to the character’s backstory, his lore, all complemented greatly using the artwork.
I understand that this storyline was particularly disappointing to fans, even if its relevance is important to follow the events of the mega-event. Personally, I did enjoy it, but I get why it left a bittersweet taste for most, me included. It delivers in the basics expected out of a Wolverine comic series, and it does bring interesting insight into the “Civil War”, but as a stand-alone series it does have its moments but is not strong enough to stand amongst some of Logan’s better modern tales, either because of the direction at the end, the constant presence of other important “Marvel” characters that couldn’t help but to feel as mere spectacle-cameos, or because of how little impact it leaves in the grand scheme of things speaking about Wolverine in general.