Advance Review: Wolverine Patch #1 (of 5)

One of my favourite pieces of Wolverine’s lore was the time he spent in Madripoor thanks to the Marvel Comics Present serial before moving into his own series proper. Imagine my interest when this book slid into my review pile.

Comic veteran Larry Hama returns to Patch, setting the book prior to his own run. This is a trend that Marvel have taken of late, showing that there is still life in those stories from the past. Keeping something of a low profile, Patch picks up a job to help his friend, Archie Corrigan’s flight service. But you and I know both know that no good deed goes unpunished so its no surprise that amongst the trouble he find himself in, Patch gets to mix-it up with the original patch wearer, Nick Fury!

The book is based at a time where things were simpler. There was barely a multiverse, only one X-Men title whilst Spider-Man had three titles. But surely, simpler times shouldn’t mean simpler writing! Hama is a comic pro of the highest order, have worked on a plethora of books. The setup for this mini series seems ok; there is a mystery, some banter and of course some SNIKT! action down the line. Wolverine is one of the most popular characters that Marvel have created. Why then does Hamm feel the need to explain what adamantium bones mean? Why do I have to have the healing factor explained to me not once, but twice, and why do I need a to read a character speak out loud just to chew exposition to no-one at all?

Behind a Marc Silvestri-esque cover a from Geof Shaw and Edgar Delgado, the interior art is supplied by Andrea Di Vitto who looks to bring back the scratchy, rough and ready look that screams Madripoor. Patch is well defines as are most of the other characters; Tyger Tyger carrying off an extreme version of a Suzie Wong dress well. The action scenes also have pace and statue about them with Di Vitto going for large, bold characters filling panels which adds to the pace. Ironically, my favourite part of the art also leads to my least favourite. The mysterious “broken arm” that prompts the explanation of adamantium clearly looks broken! Maybe an comment about dislocated bones would have served the script and art better. The colors are a dark affair for the most part, from the Princess bar for example, with colorist Sebastian Cheng lightens things up when we get to the flora and fauna of the crime ridden island. VC’s Clayton Cowles brings back the late 80’s with a brilliant retro font. There are various covers to choose from; I quite like cover A to be quite honest.

Stories set in the past seem to be all the rage, especially if you can get top tier talent of their time to partake. Look at the success of the Symbiote Spider-Man book by Peter David, with Mark Waid’s Batman Superman book getting a lot of love and attention, and deservedly so, this past week. At this stage, this series doesn’t quite measure to those high standard, though there is still time. You never, know, Jessica Drew may make an appearance!

Writing – 2.5 Stars

Art – 3.5 Stars

Colors – 3.5 Stars

Overall – 3 Stars

Written by; Larry Hama
Art by; Andrea Di Vitto
Colors by; Sebastian Cheng
Letters by; VC’s Clayton Cowles
Published by; Marvel Worldwide Inc.

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow

Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network