All New Wolverine #17 - A Review

The good news is that Laura's friends in the X-Men have rescued her from the clutches of Kimura - an old enemy determined to turn the new Wolverine into her personal assassin. The bad news is that Laura is still trained to respond to "The Trigger Scent" created by Kimura and that Kimura's forces and SHIELD are still hunting for her. Jean Grey thinks she can undo the damage that was done to Laura's mind, but can she do it before they're all over-run by government agents and gangster thugs?


This is a merely passable issue of what is normally an excellent title. As much as I'd like to blame the presence of the X-Men for this, the fault lies with the creative team. Tom Taylor is playing against his strengths as a comedic writer and a dialogist, with most of the issue devoted to scenes of heroes fighting heroes when SHIELD shows up. Thankfully, the revelation of Laura's "happy place"makes up for a lot. It does not, however make up for the inconsistent artwork. Djibril Moristte-Phan's inks obscure far too much of the fine detail and Michael Garland's colors are oddly muted and weak.

All-New Wolverine #15 - A Review

The people who created X-23 want her back, but the young woman cloned from Wolverine will not give up her life as Laura Kinney without a fight. With SHIELD now on the hunt following Laura's killing the inhabitants of a small town (an accident caused by the release of the trigger scent that makes Laura go berserk), Laura and her adopted sister Gabby have taken refuge on a pirate ship bound for Madripoor. They hope to find Laura's former masters there but can they truly trust the people giving them transport?

Artist Djibril Morissette-Phan takes over the art duties on this series with this issue. For the most part, the artwork is competently crafted though hardly outstanding. There is not a lot of variety in Morissette-Phan's expressions and the design for Gabby here is probably the least subtle ever in depicting her light facial scars. They seem anything but light here.

For the most part, this issue is one extended action sequence. It serves its purpose well enough but it still seems sort of flat compared to previous issues which had a bit more nuance. There is some of the humor that sets your average Tom Taylor story apart from the common clay of comic books, yet this issue is perhaps the most straight-forward Wolverine-style story since the series began. It isn't bad but it's far and away from what the readers have come to expect.