WOLVERINE #303

[ SLASH THIS COMIC ] 

The Yakuza / Hand war is in full swing. And in a funny way it reminds me of string. Wolverine gets my gist. Amiko is p*ssed. Whilst Yukio looks just like Mr Bean. HULO! As told to me by Writer: Jason Aaron; Artists: Billy Tan, Steve Sanders, and Paco Diaz; with Publisher: Marvel Comics in April 2012. Let's dance!!!

So what’s the STORY morning glory?

This final part of 'Back in Japan', is like a hummingbirds wings caught in a propeller of a spitfire whilst diving into hyperspace. Now if you know what the hell I am talking about, please spam me below. I thank you.

Anyway, so what is happening in Japan, huh? Well, Wolverine is slashing his way through the Hand's ninja's. Silver Samurai is being trained by Mystique to be the new Yakuza boss. And 'the Hand' kingpin, Azuma Goda, is just happy as Larry (or the oriental equivalent) because of this.

And why is that you may ask? Practically, he likes the idea of a more stealth like and shrouded organisation, so with Wolverine killing his men, and Silver Samurai prepped to kill all of the Yakuzas', everything is going according to plan, right?

No. Wrong.

Azuma's second in command, Sabertooth, has other ideas you see. And he has set-up numerous battles to seize control of Azuma's scheme. Silver Samurai Verses Amiko. Mystique Verses Lord Deathstrike. And Wolverine verses Azuma himself.

OK, so how does all of this play out at the end of the day? Strained to say the least. But lets say that Wolverine and Amiko both live to fight another day, Azuma turns into a Kebab, plus Sabertooth and his motley crew have a secret empire to run.

Not the end by a long shot, bub.

What is the most memorable SENTENCE OR CONVERSATION spoken in this issue?

There were two quotes in the same battle which I thought were really-really funny.

The first one was when Amiko says to Shin "I've already unfriended you on facebook. Now I am going to stab you in the face. In case you can't tell, that's me breaking up with you".

Whereas the second one is when Shin says' back to Amiko a couple of pages later "I am the Silver Samurai! I killed a dozen Yakuza today! You don't get to talk to me like that because we once used to make out".

Ha! Funny fights are the best.

What was the BEST thing about this issue?

The tone to this deciding chapter was much more relaxed in prose, allowing the 'Azuma commentary' to break up the scenes, commenting on what he thought about his own 'vision of the future'. Now being a bit of an oriental buff myself, I understood his principle of distilling rather than expanding a concept. That way you are better at one thing, rather than mediocre at a lot of things. Comprende?

What was the WORST thing about this issue?

Ultimately, this issue just spelt out a lot of bad news for Logan. Melita knows that he shagged his ex. Sabertooth is a gang-boss now. And all in all there was a 'ooops' flavor to this story that felt a bit hollow as a 'final result'.

What was the most CREATIVE thing about this issue?

STORY: Conceptually, apart from the positives and the negatives I have mentioned previously, I did like the way that there was some finality to this tale. Granted, not the best ending I have ever read. But still a pay-off that 'paid off' for some of the cast.

Also, the boyfriend / girlfriend fight scene was one of the most original battles I have seen in quite a while.

ART: For the last couple off issues or so, I have been complaining that the two artists on this title, Billy Tan and Steve Sanders, had too contradictory styles, which made the story a bit bumpy at times visually. This issue, however, there is a third artist as well, Paco Diaz. And do you know what? It worked better somehow! The 'jolts' between artists were less jarring, and it did not distract as much as before.

WOW! That's a strange turn of event if ever I was one!

If you had to CAST TWO CHARACTERS in this comic book, who would they be and why?

AZUMA: As soon as I saw this wannabe Kingpin, I thought of a young version of Shaolin Soccer's, Kai Man Tin, straight away. He could pull off this part no sweat. 

YUKIO: Now any woman who is willing to get into the sack with Wolverine, needs to have a lot of balls (excuse the visual imagery). So why not Michelle Yeoh?

If this issue had a MOVIE TAG LINE, what would it be?

Wax On Wax Off? F*ck Off! This Is Wolverine Not Play-School. 

If this issue were a MOVIE, an OBJECT, or a piece of MUSIC, what would that be and why? 

I found this story to be jovial in tone, signify a tough time ahead, and basically have a power-ballad feel to it too. What about Starship's 'Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now'? Sound's fair.

FINAL thoughts...

A marked improvement compared to some of this series previous offerings. However, I would still like to see some of the 'real' Wolverine in this series you know. Someone who has a good head on his shoulders, and sharp claws to match. Also, I'm missing some his supporting cast too. Next issue please.  

MARKS out of 10? 8