Dark Wolverine #85 Review: Father Figures

Hey, everyone, jrpbsp here…this week and next I will be covering the continuing story from ‘Wolverine: Origins’. This week it’s ‘Dark Wolverine’.  Hope you enjoy it.

Dark Wolverine #85 (preview)
Writer: Daniel Way & Marjorie Liu
Penciler: Stephen Segovia
Inks: Cam Smith

SPOILERS BELOW…

RECAP: The issue opens with Daken and Wolverine meeting in San Francisco. Logan is asking his son for help and explains his plan. Logan says he will find Romulus and Daken agrees to go along with it, but that they will settle things between them once Romulus is out of the way.

Later in Ankara, Daken is surprised by his father again. Daken asks if Logan knows where Romulus is, and when Wolverine admits he does not, his son says that Romulus now knows where Logan is because Daken told him.

A week earlier, Daken was in Paris with a woman in a hotel room. He is less than charming and the woman storms out only to be killed by Romulus. The old villain then has a seat and asks for a glass of wine. Romulus wants to know where Wolverine was and what his plans are. Romulus says that he knows that Daken and Logan have made amends in an effort to kill him. Romulus knows that Logan wants revenge but Daken instead wants to be Romulus. Daken believes it to be his destiny but he will not kill Romulus even thought he is right there.

In the present, Wolverine says that he knows why Daken can not kill Romulus. Not because he hates Logan but because he loves Romulus as a father. Wolverine was counting on his son telling Romulus his plans. The villain needed to have Logan’s plans confirmed before he believed them. Wolverine then says he did not tell Daken everything and that the rest will be a surprise.

MY TAKE: It is very hard to do a decent review of this issue because basically nothing happens. Daken and Wolverine meet. Daken meets Romulus and betrays his father. Daken and Wolverine meet again and Logan says he was counting on Daken’s betrayal. That is all there is. This feels like an attempt to stretch out the story to cover both Dark Wolverine and Origins when in truth the story would not have even filled Origins completely.The last couple issues of that story have felt artificially extended already.

What plot that is here is not bad, although there were no real surprises. Anyone that has read anything about these two characters over the last couple of years would suspect that Logan is not going to trust Daken or give him the whole plan. It is pretty much the same plot he used when they teamed up with Cyber. The fact that Romulus trusts Daken is a bit of a surprise but their father and son relationship is well documented.

I know both series are ending soon and I can understand wanting to cross them over, but there needs to be a story behind it. This could have been a couple of panels in Origins and had the exact same effect. Instead we get a comic with huge panels and extraneous splash pages just to fill out the 22 pages. I read the whole issue in just a few minutes and felt cheated of my money afterward. I hope that Origins has some actual story because right now the plot feels stretched so thin it is about to break.

Thanks for reading my review for Wolverine Files. I will be keeping to this format for the most part but please keep the comments coming and I will see everyone again next time.

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Jesse
13 years ago

On the bright side of life, Wolverine Weapon X is getting relaunched for the Heroic Age with Logan resuming his proper role in his main series with Wolverine writer extradoinaire Jason Aaron remaining onboard! Reason to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Honestly, I read this title in the LCS and have been wiser since issue #12 of Wolverine Origins to not have felt cheated.

Just make sure you keep the Weapon X reviews prompt sir!

jrpbsp
13 years ago

I am planning to review Origins this week or next depending, figure I might as well finish out the series. I won’t be reviewing anything of the Daken series though. Once Origins is finished I will be (hopefully) done with Way.

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