Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

Wolverine MAX #1Wolverine Max #1
MAX (Marvel Comics)
Starr, Boschi, Willumsen, Brown & Petit

Another Wolverine title and this is apparently the first one set in Marvel's explicit content imprint known as MAX. I'm not sure why they needed the name of "Wolverine Max", but don't let the dreadful name fool you, the book is a decent read. For the most part, the book doesn't take advantage of the explicit content tag as it seems tamer than some of the other Wolverine issues that have dropped in the regular Marvel Universe. This book is more of the slow-burn approach, but does it provide enough to hook a reader in for more? That probably depends on how you like your Wolverine. In terms of this individual issue, the comic is an entertaining read.

The book is actually mostly silent throughout the first half. Wolverine survives what appears to be a commercial plane crash. However, he isn't the only survivor and he isn't intact. As he floats in the ocean, legless, he fends off his absent memory, a shark attack and is eventually rescued.

The rest of the book is Wolverine trying to figure out what has happened and seems to become the lead suspect in the plane crash that somehow gets labeled a terrorist attack. Wolverine's instincts return to him ahead of his memory.

The book is a good story that builds up to a conspiracy level by the end while re-introducing the character to the reader in a nice slow fashion. However, there lies part of the problem. This book doesn't really establish if any Wolverine continuity or previous story matters for this comic book. With other MAX books, like Fury or Punisher, the reader always had the impression that the other stories could have occurred whereas this one seems to be completely detached from every other Wolverine story minus his physical appearance.

The other aspect of the book that is difficult to get a handle on is how his adamantium legs grow back. Or are we to assume he is only made of flesh and blood and that there is no metal in his body. Tidbits like this take away from just sitting back and enjoying the story.

Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle ReviewsThe artwork is good. There is an interesting tactic here where the artists split up the pages based on whether or not the story is in a flashback or not. The book's general style is to have a dirtier and more hairy version of Wolverine and that seems to be in line with what I would expect from a MAX series. The book does a tremendous job in the opening with the burning plane wreck and debris floating in the rough ocean while at night. It's a very stunning opening to the book. This is a good visual story.

This book has possibilities. I wasn't thrilled with the slower nature of the book but I do like the general direction of the story. It stays away from ninjas, assassins and the X-Men and just presents the man, which is a good approach for this comic. Overall, this is worth a look if you a fan of Wolverine and are looking for something different.

3 out of 5 Geek Goggles