All New Wolverine #6 Writer: Tom Taylor Pencils: David Lopez and David Navarrot Colors: Nathan Fairbairn Letters: Cory Petit Publisher: Marvel
The first story arc of Laura, the All New Wolverine has come to an end. The clock is ticking as she and her two remaining clones, Bellona and Gabby, assault and seek revenge on Alchemax Genetics.
The highlight in this issue is the tension over whether or not our heroes will be able to overcome their animal instincts and be the heroes that we all want them to be. We want to see them not give into temptation and bring those who have wronged them to justice rather then seek personal vengeance.
That tension complements the brilliant idea behind the clones, they’re are great building block of character development for Laura. We see that she has really come into her own and takes on the legacy as the new Wolverine very seriously. She holds herself to a moral code that she is unwilling to break and doesn’t want to see her clones go down the wrong path.
There are multiple genuine moments where we see that Laura has grown compassion for Bellona and Gabby. Particularly Gabby who she seems to become as a sort of mentor figure. The idea of creating a protégé for Laura is fascinating and there are numerous routes for Taylor to take this. There is also a one on one scene between Bellona and Gabby that is filled with emotion. These one on one genuine scenes are actually one of the series biggest strengths.
Writer Tom Taylor really knows how to end a story here as the closing pages of this issue are by far the best. We get a satisfying conclusion where we see characters who we have become invested in make difficult decisions due to conflicting instincts. A twist of character alliances where you’ll be questioning when, where, how, and why this happened. As well as the introduction of a new player to the mix in the final page that’ll surely have a major impact in the stories to come. The groundwork for the following story arc has already been set.
As solid as the writing is in this series thus far, the artwork unfortunately is a big downgrade in comparison. Lopez and Navarrot’s pencils here just come off as very generic and mediocre at best. It’s not that it’s bad, the body proportions are accurate and the action scenes are paced well but a major problem is the faces. An artist should be able to create a characters identity beyond their costume and hair style. Here, every characters face looks the same as if they’re all related. The colors by Fairbairn have similar problems as well. His work isn’t incompetent, it just comes off as very average, there are no risks being taken here.
Final Verdict
All New Wolverine is a solid and satisfying conclusion to an enjoyable story arc. It is filled with tension, emotion, and genuine moments and the writing is a perfect blend of both a light and dark tone comic. It’ll be really interesting how Laura reacts to being a mentor figure as well as the payoff from the set up of the closing page. The artwork unfortunately brings this issue down in the quality but the writing is both intriguing and engaging that I’ll be sure to pick up the next issue.
Score: 3.5 out of 5
Review by Eric Bradach
The Comixalaxy 