• Written by: Jonathan Hickman
• Art by: Greg Capullo, Tim Townsend
• Colors by: FCO Plascencia
• Letters by: VC’s Cory Petit
• Cover art by: Greg Capullo
• Cover price: $4.99
• Release date: September 25,2024

Wolverine: Revenge #2, by Marvel Comics on 9/25/24, sends Wolverine on a quest to take revenge for his fallen allies with a little help from Forge. His first target? Mastermind.

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Is Wolverine: Revenge #2 Good?

I’ll say upfront that I don’t get what Jonathan Hickman is trying to do with this series. In external interviews, both Hickman and Tom Brevoort have proclaimed this story takes place a couple of years in the future, but the events don’t appear to align with who, where, and what the characters are doing that would bring them to such a state. Further, the basic premise – an EMP that takes out half the world – doesn’t make sense for what happens in this issue. Similar to last year’s G.O.D.S. miniseries, Hickman appears to be playing around with story ideas that have no cohesion.

When last we left Logan in Wolverine: Revenge #1, half the world was plunged into darkness after an EMP explosion, the crash of a large meteorite, and the death of Magneto two years from now (according to a Hickman interview. That timeline or version of Earth isn’t in the comic). When Nick Fury recruited a team of heroes, including Wolverine, to steal a one-of-a-kind device to restore power from the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, their mission ended with everyone dead… including Wolverine.

In Wolverine: Revenge #2, of course, Wolverine (and Nick Fury) aren’t really dead. Wolverine regenerated after Deadpool blew him up, and the Nick Fury who dies was an LMD. Everyone else, however, is truly dead. After the funeral for the fallen, Nick Fury emerges from the shadows to tell Wolverine he’s going off the grid since their mission is over. Half the world is done, so there’s no point in fighting. Wolverine accepts the state of the world, but his new mission is REVENGE!

Hickman’s script starts well enough by providing a reasonable explanation as to why Nick Fury is still alive. That said, Fury decides to hang up his holster, so there’s no point in bringing him back. Again, Hickman is throwing things at the wall to see what sticks.

Three months later, Wolverine tracks down Dani Moonstar and Forge in the Dakotas for a favor. He wants Forge to help locate Magneto’s body, presuming that Magneto’s helmet could be repaired and used. Forge agrees, so he flies Logan in his hover car to the crater where Asteroid M crashed. They dig up Magneto’s body from a few feet down, and retrieve the helmet.

*Record Scratch*

Wait! What? How does Forge have vehicles and flying cars and sensors and computers and all the power-requiring doodads when half the Earth is supposed to be blacked out? Forge eventually explains he was able to get power going with geothermal sources and radioactive isotopes, so how does this story make sense? Hickman’s foundation for this miniseries is a massive blackout that could only be addressed by a special device held by the Brotherhood. If Forge could build something, why couldn’t Tony Stark, Reed Richards, Shuri, or any of the umpteen number of super-geniuses on the planet? In effect, Hickman invalidated the setup by page four, and it makes this series look like a lazy excuse to get Wolverine to kill a bunch of villains. Fine. Whatever.

Wolverine tracks down Mastermind and kills him, using the Magneto helmet to keep from being mind-controlled. He takes Mastermind’s head back to Forge to extract memories from Mastermind’s brain (???) to locate the other Brotherhood members responsible for killing Captain America and the others. Next on the list? Sabretooth.

The issue ends with a specially retrofitted motorbike that does something that will make you roll your eyes and a brutal fight.

What’s great about Wolverine: Revenge #2? If you put aside the story, this issue is all about the art. Greg Capullo is more than welcome to draw any comic at Marvel or DC Comics any day of the week. The highlight of this issue is the fight between Wolverine and Sabretooth, so Capullo and Townsend deliver a slashing brawl between berserkers that looks amazing.

What’s not great about Wolverine: Revenge #2? The central premise is so poorly conceived that it’s almost insulting to think how little effort Hickman put into the setup. It’s rare to encounter an arc that loses cohesion and contradicts itself on multiple points after only the second issue. This is the type of writing I’d expect from an amateur, not from someone with Hickman’s reputation. Very disappointing.

About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.

Follow @ComicalOpinions on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter

Final Thoughts

Wolverine: Revenge #2 looks great for letting Wolverine loose on his hated enemies, but the head-scratching plot completely falls apart after page four. It looks like Marvel asked Jonathan Hickman to scribble out an idea on the back of a napkin for Wolverine to kill a bunch of people, and the result is a convoluted, conflicted mess.

4.5/10

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