Wolverine #1: Benjamin Percy, Adam Kubert, and Viktor Bogdanovic Deliver a Great Double Feature

Wave One of Dawn of X was definitely a success, so it’s no surprise that we’re getting a lot more titles in Wave Two. To kick off the second wave, we have Wolverine #1 from writer Benjamin Percy with artists Adam Kubert and Viktor Bogdanovic. This debut issue is massive: 68 pages featuring two full-length stories. And though Kubert is undoubtedly the star artist here, Wolverine #1 would be just as impressive if the Bogdovic story was the debut. Despite a hefty $7.99 price tag, Percy, Kubert, and Bodgovic make every page worth the cost.

Adam Kubert and Benjamin Percy Set Wolverine on an International Sci-Fi Noir Adventure

(Image: Wolverine #1 by Benjamin Percy, Art by Adam Kubert, Marvel Comics)

It’s a good thing that mutants can’t die anymore, because, on page two, most of X-Force is dead. If this seems shocking, you haven’t been reading Percy’s X-Force run. Percy is brutal to his characters, and Kubert seems more than happy to put Wolverine through the grinder. It certainly looks like he did. But as unsettling as violent as this is, the next pages are even crazier—Wolverine, on Krakoa playing hide-and-seek with children:

The horror. (Image: Wolverine #1 by Benjamin Percy, Art by Adam Kubert, Marvel Comics)

But the mission itself is the set-up of a great crime story. Someone is stealing Krakoan seeds to create a drug named “Pollen.” Beast reminds him that they are the “CIA” of Krakoa, which fits greatly, since we’re introduced to a weathered CIA agent who could care less about dignity. As the CIA and X-Force investigate the source of Pollen, they come across drug lords and religious zealots…and someone or something called the Pale Girl. We don’t learn a lot about her, other than that she forced one mobster to burn out his own eyeball with a lighter.

Percy and Kubert are on their way to creating one of the best Wolverine stories we’ve seen in over a decade (although he did spend most of the last decade dead). And that’s just the first 32 pages of the issue.

Viktor Bogdanovic and Benjamin Percy Set Wolverine on an International Fantasy Horror Adventure

(Image: Wolverine #1 by Benjamin Percy, Art by Viktor Bogdanovic, Marvel Comics)

I love the art Adam Kubert delivers in Wolverine #1, and it goes perfectly with the story Benjamin Percy writes. But for me, the art from Viktor Bodgovic not only complimented Percy’s other brutal and crazy story, but felt even more intense. And this story is bloody. It has to be, considering we’re dealing with vampires and Dracula and the return of one the greatest villains in Wolverine’s rogues’ gallery:

Omega Red is Back! (Image: Wolverine #1 by Benjamin Percy, Art by Viktor Bogdanovic, Marvel Comics)

Yep, Big Red finally comes to Krakoa, and he’s seen better days. Seems that vampires are pretty good at fighting a mutant who has to leech the life force out of other living things. Wolverine wants him to get off the island, but Magneto reminds him of the new laws of Krakoa, and forces Wolverine to investigate whatever happened to Omega Red. A few hours later, Wolverine is hanging upside-down with a spile in his neck:

(Image: Wolverine #1 by Benjamin Percy, Art by Viktor Bogdanovic, Marvel Comics)

Both Stories in Wolverine #1 are about Blood—Literally and Metaphorically

First, a little biology homework!

(Image: Wolverine #1 by Benjamin Percy, Marvel Comics)

In one of the data pages in Wolverine #1, Percy provides us with an explanation of how Wolverine’s blood works, as you can see above. In Percy and Kubert’s story, Wolverine is out for blood. He wants revenge on whoever made him attack his teammates In Percy and Bodgovic’s story, the vampire nation wants Wolverine’s blood for reasons that become obvious when you realize what’s happening on the last page:

Dracula, chilling with Omega Red on a sunny day. Wait…Dracula out on a sunny day? That’s not good. (Image: Wolverine #1 by Benjamin Percy, Art by Viktor Bogdanovic, Marvel Comics)

Note: the editors might have placed this page incorrectly. After “Catacombs,” the vampire story, there’s a data page that should go with the first story. This page, comparing Logan’s blood to a vampire’s, would make more sense coming after the vampires obtain Logan’s blood.

But that does little to detract from a great first issue.

Grade: Six Snikts!

(Featured Image: Wolverine #1 by Benjamin Percy, Cover Art by Adam Kubert, Marvel Comics)

Roman Colombo finished his MFA in 2010 and now teaches writing and graphic novel literature at various Philadelphia colleges. His first novel, Trading Saints for Sinners, was published in 2014. He's currently working on his next novel and hoping to find an agent soon.