Monday, May 28, 2018

Hunt For Wolverine: Mystery In Madripoor #1 Review - Marvel Monday



Writer: Jim Zub
Artist: Thony Silas
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Release Date: May 23, 2018
Cover Price: $3.99
Review by: David Assall

Back in the past, Wolverine spent time on the island of Madripoor under the alter ego Patch, co-owner of the islands princess bar. Since then Madripoor has been a source for many a Wolverine adventure. Nowadays Magneto is based there in his role as a mentor for the X-Men blue. Suspecting that he may be slipping back to his old evil ways Kitty Pryde leads a team out to Madripoor to investigate if Magneto is involved in Wolverines disappearance. After all, there’s a lot to be gained for whoever gets their hands on Wolverines corpse...


Heading out to Madripoor alongside Kitty Pryde is Psylocke (our narrator), Storm, Jubilee, Rogue, and Domino. Each of the heroes has a strong connection to Wolverine and the gravity of the situation is looming large over the women. The tension is so high they nearly come to blows with Domino on the plane over. Distrust is a running theme in the issue.

As the team arrives in Madripoor they are surprised to find Magneto waiting for them. He arranges a meeting for later on in the issue to sort out the situation. Unfortunately for the team, this is all a ruse by the psychic Mindblast.



In the meantime, the team heads to the Princess bar. They give the bartender a code word that leads them to a secret room that Logan requested be put in when the bar was rebuilt. Here they are surprised to find that Wolverine has kept many mementos from the past, giving the team a chance to reminisce about personal moments shared with the missing former X-man.

The team heads for the meeting with Magneto but they quickly realize something is off. They are ambushed by an updated version of the Femme Fatales lead for now by Viper. The Fatales use the element of surprise to easily overpower the heroes. Kitty barely manages to escape with Jubilee and Domino. The issue finishes with a full-page panel of the villains carrying an unconscious Psylocke, Rogue, and Storm.



The art is the weakest part of this issue. I’m not sure Thony Silas is the best choice for a comic featuring mainly female characters. A lot of the faces come off too similar. For the most part until the fight scenes, our heroes are stuck with the same stoic moody expression. Sadly it makes it seem as if a lot more effort has been put into the male characters faces with the extra lines and shading on their faces.  The colors back up the art well, however, Felipe Sobreiro manages to nail the Madripoor color palette well with its saturated orange, pinks, and reds. We are never in doubt as to where we are.

This comic is the least likely of the four in the hunt for Wolverine to have Logan actually appear and that will put a lot of people off. However, given the characters connections to Logan’s past, there is potential for revelations that will alter the history of Wolverine. Even the villains have a strong connection to Wolverines past with the addition of Viper and Logan’s former seductress Sapphire Styx to the Femme Fatales.

Bits and Pieces: 

The nostalgia and the fact that we have an all-female cast are the main selling points for this series going forward. That may not be enough though for customers already jaded by this series or those expecting more Wolverine.

6.0/10

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