WOLVERINE: KILLING

(writer John Ney Rieber, artist Kent Williams, colorist Sherilyn van Valkenberg) Marvel Comics 9.93

Local creative team on this one-shot featuring Marvel's ultra-violent clawed mutant. Wolverine (ne Logan) is an X-man whose mutant power is a tenacious personality, fast healing and tracking abilities. As a guinea pig for the Canadian government, Logan was given a metal skeleton and 20-inch claws which retract into his upper arms. Wolverine has become a key figure in the mutant mythos from Marvel, resonating with the rugged individualist mode of hero: he kicks ass first and takes names later, usually receding into the background after the job has been done.

Rieber finds the soul of sensitivity in Logan, especially in regards to the Zen aspects of loner-dom. This story finds our hero drawn to Tibet into an intrigue wherein he is set to play stud for a fragile beauty in a closed, cult-like society. Wolverine finds and falls for his intended, crushing the manipulative "Tribune" of the aforementioned society in the process. Deeper issues are raised, but most are outside the scope of a simple review.

Visually the work is simply of the highest caliber: Williams' highly stylized technique meshing beautifully with van Valkenberg's eerie and evocative palette. It is almost impossible to communicate the dynamic quality of Killing's balance of painted "moments" with the rich and full sense of the "movement" of storytelling. The only analog that seems apt is Peter Greenaway's films, where the one thing more enticing than the individual tableaus is the way they are strung together. The art is an acquired taste, but after you have it, you'll find it hard to go back to "straight" comic art ever again (like the step to bop jazz from swing). If you only buy one Marvel comic this year, pick up Killing. (Bob Boster)

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