Wolverine Infinity Watch #4
Wolverine and Hector, the keeper of the Time Stone, are in the clutches of the Fraternity of Raptors in Wolverine Infinity Watch #4, by writer Gerry Duggan, artist Andy MacDonald, colorist Jordie Bellaire, and letter Cory Petit. With the odds stacked against them, will Loki be able to come through? While this book has been pretty great so far, this issue feels different than the previous ones, and it’s a bit of a detriment.
In the far future, Phoenix Logan and Old King Thor arm wrestle and reminisce. Thor thanks Logan for his help with the Infinity Watch. In the present, Talonar tortures Hector, trying to get the Time Stone from out of him. Elsewhere on the ship, Logan’s being held in a furnace so Talonar can use his adamantium for new claws once his healing factor wears out. The ghost dog Bats shows up, and Logan tells him to fetch the stick. Loki returns with Talonar’s mother in tow, hoping to use her to negotiate with the Raptor’s leader. Bats returns to Logan with the Time Bat just as Logan breaks out of the furnace. The Bat regenerates Logan immediately, and he sets off to take vengeance against his captors. Loki and Talonar’s mother confront Talonar, who thinks it’s all a trick of Loki’s and attacks his mother, killing her. Loki frees Hector and convinces him to go back in time and stop Talonar from killing his mother. He’s able to convince Talonar that she’s no illusion, just as Logan, in a berserker rage, busts in. Loki and Hector can restrain him, but then officers of Time Variance Authority burst in to arrest them for damage to the timestream, the damage they haven’t committed yet. Warbringer, the Chitauri also looking for the Time Stone, tears his way into the ship. Talonar puts a force field around everyone but the Time Variance Authority Officers, and they prepare to face Warbringer.
This issue feels cluttered with events. It’s fast-paced, but nothing really seems to stick with the reader. The ending sequence, with the TVA and Warbringer showing up, is, to use a wrestling term, overbooked. Too much happening in a comic doesn’t have to be a bad thing, but here it is. Maybe it’s the way that book cuts between scenes or perhaps it is the fast pacing, but this comic is pretty forgettable.
Now, that said, it’s still kind of interesting. Loki getting Talonar’s mother to use as his secret weapon is pretty inspired. Talonar wanting Logan’s adamantium is something that one would think more villains would be interested, seeing as how it’s nearly indestructible and the way he goes about getting makes sense. Logan’s use of the Time Bat to bring himself back to a past iteration is an ingenious solution to the whole problem. There’s some cool stuff in this book, but it just feels off.
Andy MacDonald’s art is pretty good, but there’s a place where his faces look a little weird, with features like eyes, nose, and mouth being off kilter a bit. However, he captures Wolverine amid his berserker rage very well, and the furnace Wolverine has put looks very cool. The full page spread of the Time Bat restoring him into fighting shape is also very nice looking. Talonar’s torture machine is also well designed and pretty scary when readers see it in action.
Wolverine Infinity Watch #4 is a disappointment compared to preceding issues. It’s hard to put the finger on the why of it, though. It’s fast-paced, there are some great plot points, and MacDonald’s art mostly looks excellent. In the end, it feels like Duggan dropped the ball on this one a bit and that’s a shame. The ending is overbooked and sets up a fight that readers already saw two issues ago. It’s not a bad comic, not really, it just feels off, and that’s a shame because the rest of the book has been excellent. Hopefully, Duggan will be able to course correct in the next issue.
