Wolverine Goes To Hell – Graphic Novel Review
- March 21st, 2011
- Posted in Comics/Graphic Novels . Reviews
- By Rob
- Write comment
TITLE: Wolverine Goes To Hell
AUTHORS: Jason Aaron
PENCILLERS: Renato Guedes, Jason Latour. Cover by Jae Lee.
COLLECTS: Wolverine: The Road to Hell, Wolverine #1-5
FORMAT: Hardcover
PUBLISHER: Marvel
PRICE: $24.99
RELEASED: March 16, 2011
By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder
Wolverine goes to hell and fights off a legion of the damned, including Sabertooth, plus the devil himself… Yeah, that sounds about right.
The first volume of Wolverine’s new ongoing series sees our anti-hero’s soul brought down to the depths of hell, where he must battle the spirits of all the people he’s killed over the years, as the devil, and his servant Victor Creeed (a.k.a. Sabertooth, Wolverine’s old enemy) look on with delight. Meanwhile, an evil spirit has taken control of Logan’s body on Earth, and is attacking the ones he cares about. In the end, even the devil himself might not have what it takes to break Wolverine’s will. A familiar face from his past, however? That could be a different story…
Admittedly, I had a bit of a chuckle when I first heard that Marvel was doing this story, with images of the movie Jason Goes To Hell dancing through my head. It makes perfect sense for the Wolverine character, though. “I’monna go to hell, kick everyone’s ass, and make the devil bleed!” Incidentally, did you know the devil has green blood? I never knew that…
Image from mrdigressius.blogspot.com.
Having seen Renato Guedes’ work on books like Green Arrow/Black Canary, it was fun to see him tackle something bloodier. I’ve always really enjoyed the texture of his work. Whether Wolverine is sitting out in front of a church talking, or fighting Satan himself, there’s so much detail in every panel. It’s beautiful to look at.
I was also happy to see that this wasn’t JUST a story about Wolverine cutting monsters up, as it easily could have been. Yes, that aspect is obviously very prominent, but it’s not the only aspect. Late in the story, a revelation is made that horrifies even Wolverine. Someone from his past whom he never expected to see again, someone who can arguably wound him deeper than any other enemy, emerges. Thus, a book that sounds like the plot for a B-Movie (hear that Mark Leja?), ends up becoming a very personal story about Logan, and what his destiny and legacy will ultimately be. It’s a really cool, unexpected twist.
The possessed Wolverine’s encounters with the X-Men are decent, too. We get a fight between Wolverine and Colossus that could have been better. But it seems that it was ultimately used to whet our appetites for the next volume in the series.
We also get a cool backup story featuring The Silver Samurai. It’s drawn beautifully by Jason Latour, and is a nice supplement to the book. It’s surprisingly touching at times.
All in all, Wolverine Goes to Hell is a much better book than I expected. You certainly don’t have to be a hardcore Wolverine fan to enjoy it. It’s worth a look at the VERY least.
RATING: 8/10
Front page image from comicvine.com.
Check out Rob’s First Impression of Wolverine #1.
For more from Renato Guedes, check out Superman: Codename Patriot and Green Arrow/Black Canary: Five Stages.
I have to disagree. I found Wolverine Goes to Hell to be one of the worst arcs I’ve read in a while. I was actually kind of irritated at having spent time on it I could have dedicated to better items in my to-read pile.
I could be judging it a bit harshly as I read Old Man Logan and Origin around the same time. I’m not really a huge Wolverine fan to begin with but I thoroughly enjoyed each of those other two books.
And by the way, was Mystique flirting with Daken or hanging out with Wolverine’s girlfriend during all of this? I couldn’t make heads or tails of what was happening on the surface during Logan’s lackluster infernal fisticuffs.
I find “Wolverine Goes To Hell” an insult to every character than appears, even to Wolverine itself.
They destroy characters (And when I wrote that I was thinking especially in Sabretooth, other example is Mariko), kill the Silver Samurai just to tortured him and forget him just like they did with Wraith and a lot of bad things than I didn’t like of the story.
In fact I read it from my Pc, so now I’m sure than I will never buy it.
But well, each one with their likes.
@Chubistian.
6 months after I buy them and like them XD.