WOLVERINE – PATCH # 3: Motivations

Hama uses number three through a series of flashbacks and character dialogues to carefully account for everyone’s motivations and to explain and elaborate on the story of the Russian mutants fleeing the KGB and the allied forces of Prince and General Coy. Hama also takes the time to explain SHIELD.S involvement in the whole drama. Hama mixes this with some more heavy violence from old canucklehead and a really trippy dream sequence involving a certain red head he has always wanted and the early dark days with weapons x. Hama stays true to the canon of the era. Jean may be attached to him, but she has not reciprocated Logan’s feelings, and there is also some of the exaggerated cartoon nonsense that explains Jean’s presence in this situation.

The amount of interpretation Hama puts in is admirable as he elaborates on almost every single main character and position in the edition, especially the Russian mutants as he makes them likeable and interesting, even going so far as to make the toddler Alef gender inconsistent with a simple correction to Logan from the child’s father, as Logan uses the wrong language to describe young Alef. It’s a moment that is deftly handled in an actual way, so it simply fits in as part of the character’s story without making any big deal out of it. At the end of the drama of the case, it becomes clear that an even bigger confrontation is coming as Logan and his allies run off with the help of the indigenous locals with the tongues on the hunt as Fury prepares to seize ind.

Once again rock solid art from everyone on the art team. Andrea Di Vito and Lebeau Underwood are once again doing a fantastic job, especially when it comes to Logan himself, complimented by the excellent coloring by Sebastian Cheng. Specifically in the dream sequence, they change Logan’s appearance to pay homage to how Barry Windsor Smith drew him in his iconic Weapon X story, which is a stunning touch. Every single panel is laid out crystal clear and theirs is not a single image that does not feel like it got the whole art team full attention. Each character is wonderfully individualized, though ghostly Jean may be the exception here. She’s a bit generic, but in the big context of how she’s feeling, it’s a tiny little complaint about a number and a series that continues to deliver amazing art and action from Hamas’ detailed heavy manuscript on all fronts!