Death of Wolverine #3 Review

Does this issue prove worth the extra wait? Read on to find out.

The official description from Marvel:

IT’S THE BEGINNING OF THE END – 3 MONTHS TO DIE ENDS HERE!
• The beginning of the end is now here … THE DEATH OF WOLVERINE!
• THREE MONTHS TO DIE, the loss of Wolverine’s healing factor–all led to this, the single most important X-Men event of the decade.
• Logan has spent over a century being the best there is at what he does…but even the best fade away eventually.
• Over the years, Logan has been a warrior, a hero, a renegade, a samurai, a teacher—and so much more. But now, the greatest X-Men hero will play a role he’s never played before in this special weekly event brought to you by industry superstars Charles Soule and Steve McNiven.

Death of Wolverine #3 created news before even being released, with it’s delay causing discussion between fans. Usually delays cause harm to the momentum of a series, but as Death of Wolverine was originally scheduled as a weekly series, only being delayed by a fortnight, this isn’t really the case here. Moving on swiftly from last issue, Logan gets into an enthralling battle with Ogun, with the revelation of who’s behind recent events being utterly tantalising.

Charles Soule continues to do a fabulous job of telling Logan’s final tale, as though I didn’t find this issue as enticing as the prior, the revelations and developments were certainly intriguing. The way that Soule uses Kitty Pryde in this issue also really appealed to me, as though there was a questionable moment, the following events quickly rectified this, with the initial quibble only intensifying the revelation. The action was also handled in a very symbolic way, with the samurai Logan being a cool look.

When Steve McNiven was first announced as the artist on this series I had high expectations, but the work that he’s produced has blown them expectations out of the water. The high level of detail, and dramatic layouts that McNiven produces continues to be the highlight of this series for me, taking Soule’s scripts and making them visually stunning. The action also proves as engaging as ever, with the unique choice in layouts in this section only heightening the symbolic nature behind it. Giving the finishing touches to McNiven’s art are inker Jay Leisten and colourist Justin Ponsor, with the sharp inks and vibrant palette making this amazing art all the more awesome.

Death of Wolverine continues to be a fitting final outing for our clawed friend, as though the final issue can spoil all this good work (which I hope it doesn’t), the ride so far has been very entertaining. The revelations and action in this issue just go to enhance that, having me hooked for the conclusion. Highly recommended.