Wolverine #63 Review

WOLVERINE #63
Written by Jason Aaron
Art by Ron Garney

As I said last month, I'm giving this series another shot with new writer Aaron and this post-Messiah Complex follow-up. First issue was good, but nothing special. I didn't regret buying it or anything, but was hoping for more. This issue? This issue was incredible and made me glad I started picking this book up again.

The previous issue's main problem was the jarring shifts in story from past to present. This issue does a much better job of this and we got to see a lot of interesting scenes.

I particularly liked the gangster era team up between Mystique and Wolverine in the flashbacks of this issue. I don't know if it was meant to, but there's a scene that has Mystique talking to Logan about the members of her little racket, ranging from gambling to pickpocketing, and she tells Logan they're the best they are at what they do and I couldn't but think this was supposed to be where Wolverine first got his signature catch phrase.

There's several fun or memorable scenes like that throughout the issue. From last issue, we see Logan getting shot to hell by some townsfolk after Mystique set him up for a murder. They go to finish him off and call him an American and he tries to respond he's actually Canadian before getting cut off as they pump a few hundred rounds into him and dump his body.

Then there's when Wolverine catches up with Mystique and she's shapeshifted into a nun with a bunch of orphans in her care in a random tavern. They have a nice chat and Mystique brings up the point about how she's betrayed the X-Men a number of times before and there was never any major resprisal, so why now? Wolverine doesn't seem to have an answer, which disappointed me a bit. Is it just because Logan is Cyclops whipped dog that does whatever he's told now? Hopefully we get an answer to this by the end of this arc.

Continuing with the scene, Wolverine, who came her after being turned into Swiss cheese, spits up one of the bullets before he starts drinking. I don't know why, but this little touch during their conversation really stuck with me and I thought it was a cool touch. I guess it's all in the little things and stuff like this sticks out to me usually.

Finally, the scene ended with Mystique accusing Logan of sexually assaulting her and slaps him, which leads to some locals sticking up for the nun, letting her escape.

The last bit of the issue showed more flashbacks of Wolverine and Mystique becoming lovers and ended with a present day scene with Mystique impersonating a senator under the guard of a US military platoon.

Verdict - Must Read. I just liked everything about this issue. The cat and mouse game between Wolverine and Mystique worked perfectly here and the flashbacks were spliced in a less jarring way than previously and helped frame the story. With this and Logan on the stands, it's almost like it's the 80's again when Wolverine had nothing but awesome stories coming out.

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