Wolverine #11
Wolverine goes on the hunt for the Vampire Nation in Wolverine #11, by writer Benjamin Percy, artist Scot Eaton, inker JP Mayer, colorist Matthew Wilson, and letterer Cory Petit. Percy looks to be paying off the vampire plots he laid out in earlier issues of the book, and this issue is the beginning of all that, revealing just how far Dracula came in the interim to reaching his goals.
Wolverine has been making a habit of exterminating vampire nests, trying to track down the Vampire Nation. On Krakoa, Omega Red leaves through a gate that opens into a cargo plane. However, Sage, Wolverine, and Beast are tracking him through his Carbonadium Synthesizer unbeknownst to him. He makes his way to Chernobyl, where Dracula is holding court. The two make a new plan to get their hands on Wolverine, and Omega Red leaves. In Paris, Wolverine meets up with Louise of the Nightguard to ask for her help. She tells him of a vampire massacre, orchestrated by the Nightwatch's resident priest, Father Cole, who betrayed them to the vampires, and he realizes that she was bitten but hasn't completely turned. At Oxford University, a scientist works to synthesize Wolverine's blood for Dracula. Dracula gets mad at him for using subpar test subjects and turns his assistant, as Omega Red, Wolverine, Louise, and Father Cole all get into their positions.
Percy has done a great job in Wolverine of building interesting plots, and the whole thing with the Vampire Nation has been one of the most interesting subplots in all of the X-Men books. Basically, mutants taking power on Krakoa have inspired Dracula and the vampires. Dracula wants what mutants have- power in the world. They need Wolverine for that- his blood is the key to making them all daywalkers. It's an interesting bit of blowback- the success of mutants has inspired others, and they'll do anything to get the same power. Dracula is playing a multi-faceted game- he has Omega Red on Krakoa, a kingdom in Chernobyl, and even a traitor in the Nightwatch. He seemingly has all the pieces set up.
This book sets everything up, ending with all the pieces ready for the next move. Percy has been doing a great job in this book of paying things off, so it'll be interesting to see what he has in store. He's been building this vampire plotline since the first issue, and there's a lot of moving parts to this story. Percy's track record is pretty good so far for this sort of thing.
Eaton's art is okay. The problem with following artists as good as Adam Kubert and Viktor Bogdanovic is that just about anyone else isn't going to look nearly as good. However, even with that in mind, Eaton's art isn't great. It's serviceable and not bad, but it's nothing to write home about. There are some good pages, of course, but some panels miss the mark.
Wolverine #11 looks to be the culmination of the Vampire Nation arc, and so far, so good. Percy has built it up into one of the most unsung yet exciting subplots in the X-Men books, and this issue sets up all the pieces expertly. Eaton's art is hit-or-miss- some of it looks good, and some of it doesn't. It doesn't bog the issue down too much, though. Percy remains the MVP of the X-Men line, and Wolverine is still one of its strongest books every month.
