Hunt For Wolverine: Mystery of Madripoor #1-Review

Hunt For Wolverine: Mystery of Madripoor #1

Written by Jim Zub
Art by Thony Silas
Colors by Felipe Sobreiro
Lettered by VC’s Joe Sabino
Cover by Greg Land

When a team like this is put together for a major comic book event, it just works.  The different personalities of each play off so well for a book that is dark in tone with light moments sprinkled throughout.  The Hunt For Wolverine needed a book like Mystery of Madripoor  to give the event more a broader scope that covers more ground than previous books.  Writer, Jim Zub, and artists, Thony Silas and Felipe Sobriero, have given readers a dark storyline with amazing character both popular and of the deep cuts variety.

The issue begins with a very interesting dream/flashback sequence in the mind of Psylocke.  The creative team is sowing the stakes of this mission right from the beginning, giving the book the heart that is needs.  Readers are then introduced to the all female team that will hunt down clues, in Madripoor, on the whereabouts of Logan.  The team will being there fact-finding mission by making contact with a familiar character, Magneto, at a restaurant.  Once they arrive in Madripoor they are met by Magneto on the tarmac but they are also being watched an intriguing character that does not look all to friendly.  The team end up at The Princess Bar where the creators give Storm, Rogue, and Psylocke more flashbacks sequences, showing reasons for each of them to be on this mission.  Once at the restaurant, the team is caught off guard as there plans are not everything that they seem.

This miniseries will be all about the characters and how they interact.  The teams on both sides of the coin are made up of characters that are interesting enough on their own but when grouped together could make for a very special and fun read.  Madripoor has always been a huge part in the history of Wolverine and writer, Jim Zub, shows this off in many ways throughout the issue.  In some cases this could be seen as a crutch to tell a story but this is not the case here.  Zub plays the story off of the history instead of letting the history tell the story.  The art contained in the panels and pages of this book fit the story wonderfully.  The opening fight sequence showcasing Wolverine is a work of perfection and hopefully down the line Thony Silas and Felipe Sobriero get to showcase the character more.  The best part about the pencils in this issue is the emotion that is shown on the faces of characters.  Sometimes it can be hard to read the face of a character in a still format.  Silas takes this and throws it out the window showcasing his ability to bring the most out of a character.  The colors give light to an otherwise dark storyline.  This is not a happy book but Sobreiro has a way with color that makes the book fell accessible even though the script may not feel that way.

Overall, another good start to a miniseries in the middle of this comic event.  Of all the issues so far in the series this is the most X-Men centric.  Where other have characters from al over the Marvel Universe this book is all about the history of each character and how they interacted with Logan.  This gives the book a heart that the others just cannot accomplish.  Wolverine has the most history with these characters so their quest to find him just feel like it has more weight than that of the other teams.  The script is a wonderful trip down both memory lane and fresh story.  It does have some deep cut characters that may have readers searching on Google but nothing to confusing to where the book is confusing or unreadable.  The art, while showcasing a different tone than that of the script, still fits.  It may seem odd that such a dark storyline wold have colors that pop but something in the issue has to give readers a bit of hope.  Another issue in the saga, another wonderful piece to the ever-growing puzzle that is the Hunt For Wolverine.

Cover: B+
Script: A-
Pencils and Colors: A-

Overall: A-