Posted in: Comics, Marvel Comics, Review | Tagged: all-new wolverine, daken, gabby, honey badger, juann cabal, lady deathstrike, laura kinney, muramasa, nolan woodard, old man logan, orphans of x, sabretooth, Tom Taylor, wolverine, x-men

All-New Wolverine #30 Review: Orphans of X Sticks the Landing

Wolverine and Gabby wake up Daken, Old Man Logan, Sabretooth, and Lady Deathstrike. They ready themselves to bring the Orphans of X down, but they discover what the group really is. They're not the monsters that Laura feared, and she tries a different approach.

The waylaying and sidetracking of the "Orphans of X" arc had me fearing that this story was just going to collapse in on itself. The digression into the Muramasa lore and making the blade less of a threat to people with a healing factor wasn't necessary or particularly interesting.

However, All-New Wolverine #30 has managed to end the story in a nuanced and fairly emotional manner. This isn't a story about ass-kicking; it's a story about reaching out to people and trying to heal.

There is still some ass-kicking, and, satisfyingly, Wolverine gets to take someone down Captain America-style with the Muramasa Shield.

This issue does get to the heart of what made the Orphans of X an interesting adversary for Wolverine. They have genuine grievances; they're just taking it out on other victims of the true perpetrators. The true villains are the likes of Weapon X, the Facility, and other organizations that have exploited Logan, Laura, Daken, Gabby, and others.

It is worth mentioning that Lady Deathstrike, Daken, and Sabretooth have killed people for their own gain in the past, so it's not like they're entirely innocent. However, the story maneuvers around that by pretty much just sending Deathstrike and Sabretooth away.

In any case, it's a story about pointing anger at the real perpetrators of injustice. I won't digress into a Green Lanterns #39 style explanation about how politically relevant that is to this moment in history, but I will say it does show the tendency of the ignorant to blame minorities and immigrants instead of the people doing the exploitation of others. It does give the kind of people the Orphans are meant to represent a little too much benefit of the doubt though.

Juann Cabal's artwork continues work very well for All-New Wolverine. His work is detailed and generally visually appealing. He also draws Laura very buff, which is pretty cool and not done often enough for heroines. Nolan Woodard's color art is also quite good. This issue leans on the darker side to amp up the ominous feeling.

All-New Wolverine #30 sticks the landing for the "Orphans of X" arc. It returns to the things that made this arc initially interesting, and it takes a fairly nuanced look at the Orphans as characters. The art of Cabal and Woodard continues to be solid, and the comic gets a recommendation. Check it out.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!