Wolverine #13
Wolverine and X-Force have to deal with the consequences of Beast’s actions in Terra Verde in Wolverine #13, by writer Benjamin Percy, artist Scott Eaton, inker Oren Junior, colorist Matthew Wilson, and letterer Cory Petit. This issue continues the plot thread from the last issue of X-Force, and it feels more like an issue of that book than a Wolverine comic.
As the modified Terra Verdans attack, Wolverine and company spring into action. Beast orders them to keep casualties to zero and strike from the shadows. Beast and Wolverine are able to take down their targets, but out at sea, someone takes down Christian Frost and steals the Marauder. Deadpool ends up helping Domino while Beast brings the Terra Verdan ambassador to Sage, who he starts questioning, blaming her for what’s happened. She smacks him, tells him to leave, and fixes the problem. After the party, X-Force, the Thing, Deadpool, Invisible Woman, Thor, and a member of the Teraa Verdan delegation have a drink while Beast and Emma discuss what happened. Sage tells them about the Marauder, which is on fire near Madripoor.
This is probably one of Percy’s weakest issues. It’s not that it’s bad per se, but it’s also just not a Wolverine comic, and for someone who is reading the book for Wolverine, that’s a strike against it. In fact, Beast is seemingly the main character of this issue, which is weird because the title on the cover doesn’t say his name. Wolverine hardly appears in his own book, and for anyone expecting more of him and Deadpool interacting, that’s not really a thing. Now, all of that said, this is a perfectly fine X-Force story. However, Percy using this book as a continuation for X-Force plot lines that aren’t Wolverine-centric is just a bit strange.
Judging it just on the merits of the last issue of X-Force, it does a great job of continuing all of the points. Beast gets very paranoid about the whole situation- he doesn’t know how the telefloronics got compromised, but he can’t let it affect the Gala. He goes so far as to blame Sage, and it’s quite interesting that the issue never answers what happened to the telefloronics. It adds some tension between Beast and Sage that will hopefully play out in X-Force. Beast and Emma have an interesting conversation about the situation, with Beast talking about how willing he is to do the dirty stuff. It’ll be interesting to see how this whole situation shakes out for him, especially when the Council finds out what he’s been doing.
Eaton is still on art, and it’s the same as the last issue he drew- technically competent but nothing really special. The transformed Terra Verdeans are nothing to write home about, and the action scenes are okay.
Wolverine #13 is an okay issue of X-Force. If someone bought it hoping to see Wolverine or what’s on the cover, that’s not what’s in there. It sets up some cool stuff for the future, and Percy is always entertaining, but it’s nothing special. Eaton’s artwork is aggressively mediocre, which is a pretty good way to describe this issue in general.
