The first of three comic reviews coming this weekend is
now up. I’ll limit my other comic reviews to one per day.
(The other reviews will be Ultimate
Spider-Man‘s three issue “Unfair” arc and the seven
issues of Exiles that make up January’s trade
paperback.)

General Information

Title: Wolverine: The End #1

Author: Paul Jenkins

Illustrator(s): Claudio Castellini

Original Publication Date: November 5, 2003

Cover Price: $2.99 US, $4.75 Can

Premise

This is the first issue in a six part story about the plausible
end of
Wolverine. He’s older and slower, but he’s still Logan.

High Point

It seems there are some problems a hyperactive healing
factor can’t
deal with.

Low Point

“That’s the same crest as on…” was just too blatant and
obvious.
Not particularly subtle.

The Scores

Once again, originality credit goes to the
entire line of
The End comics for finding a format where
nothing is sacred.
Anyone and everyone can die. People start getting offed
right from
the get-go. The treatment of Wolverine also takes him
places we
haven’t seen him before, while still staying consistent with
the
character’s past appearances. I give it 5 out of 6.

The artwork is exceptional. I’m glad Jenkins
wasn’t
re-teamed with Kubert on this one; Castellini is doing some
excellent
stuff. I give it 5 out of 6.

The story is off to a great start. This isn’t the
slow-paced
stuff that’s the current first-issue norm, but a tale that
moves at a
pretty rapid pace. Jenkins has assumed that readers will
already be
familiar with the title character, and spends precious little
time
establishing him, preferring instead to develop him through
the
story. I give it 5 out of 6.

The characterization is excellent. We can
recognize the lead
as a person who was once the Wolverine we’re familiar
with, but he’s
definitely in new territory. He’s not the only familiar face
that’s
been through changes, either. I give it 5 out of 6.

The emotional response this produced was
excellent. It does
tie back to Origin, but not to the degree I
expected. I’m
very glad I took the chance on this after being so
disappointed by
Marvel Universe: The End this summer. I give
it 5 out of 6.

The flow is excellent, particularly in the hunting
scenes.
This consistently good all-around issue gets 5 out of 6 in
yet another
category.

Overall, not surprisingly, this issue scores 5
out of 6.
Well worth picking up for anyone who passingly familiar
with the
character.

In total, Wolverine: The End #1 receives 35
out of 42. Stay
tuned for the next half a year to see how the six issue
miniseries
comes out as a whole.

Additional Notes and Comments

Reviews of Ultimate Spider-Man #47-49 and
Exiles
#31-37 will come later this weekend.