• • Comic Book Reviews
• January 26, 2022

X Deaths of Wolverine #1 Review

Written by: Benjamin Percy

Art by: Federico Vicentini

Coloring by: Dijjo Lima, Frank Martin

Lettering by: VC’s Cory Petit

So, I don’t think a second issue has made me eat my words as fast as X Deaths of Wolverine has. Where X Lives of Wolverine felt like just another Wolverine-focused event, X Deaths of Wolverine gives me what I wanted. A story about Moira McTaggert. Is it where and when I would have wanted her? No, not particularly, but it’s immensely satisfying and gripping to follow her instead of Wolverine.

Following her as she runs from the nation she built, from Mystique, from the CIA, and now cancer, has a way of adding stakes almost immediately. It also helps that it’s in this amazing, drop-dead gorgeous art style that adds punch to every scene. Every expression and every bit of action clues us into Moira’s mindset. I’ll admit, I’ll miss Moira’s old design, but Vicentini’s style does not disappoint in crafting her disguise.

What has to be the most heart-wrenching part of this story is how alone Moira feels. With so many hunting her, it would be easy to make her inner monologue sound boring. One of the few things I’ve managed to learn in my amateur writing is that you rarely want a character to be alone. It’s difficult to naturally teach the audience about a character without giving them another character to bounce off of. Inner monologue where a character is constantly talking only to themselves can feel grating and venture into telling over showing.

Benjamin Percy shows that he definitely knows what he’s doing as he manages to avoid such pitfalls. He makes following Moira McTaggert as a solo protagonist something I can’t look away from.

Honestly, how much this improves over X Lives of Wolverine is astounding, but at the same time, I kind of question why. It shows that Wolverine isn’t exactly the most interesting protagonist for this kind of event. While I’m sure the Wolverine who shows up in this issue will tie into the story in X Lives of Wolverine, X Deaths of Wolverine is so very different and grossly mistitled. The book is at its best when Wolverine is Chekov’s gun. Because of this, I don’t see the two series being equal in quality in the way House of X and Powers of X were.

Of course, my expectations were shattered this week, so I could be wrong… but I want to be proven wrong one more time before I bow my head in absolute shame. Only a little shame this week. So tell me in the comments, what did you think?