Wolverine #15
Wolverine learns more about Solem’s time on Earth in Wolverine #15, by writer Benjamin Percy, artist Adam Kubert, colorist Frank Martin, and letterer Cory Petit. This issue both fleshes out Solem’s origin and what he’s been doing on Earth but also is just chock full of the kind of Wolverine goodness that Percy has become known for.
Wolverine listens to Sevyr Blackmore as he tells the story of how he met Solem in Arrako and the type of person he was when they worked together. He then tells Wolverine how he found Solem in the present. He offers to help Wolverine hunt down Solem, but Wolverine doesn’t trust him, and the two come to blows. Sevier threatens the Murasama blade, which he was able to take from Solem, and Wolverine stops the fight, agreeing to go after Solem for the sword. Later, at the Summers’ House, he realizes why Solem let the Murasama go so easily- he stole Wolverine’s.
Percy mostly uses this issue to give fans more background on Solem. It’s nothing unexpected- he’s a hedonist who likes to fight, but it’s still interesting. The mutants of Arrako have rarely gotten this kind of spotlight, and it’s nice to get more of a feel for someone like Solem. He seems very different from any other Arrako mutant. Most of them have been presented as pretty much the same mutant- a tough as nails survivor type that would make Apocalypse proud. Solem, though, seems like someone who is indeed tough and yet seems to enjoy things that are actually fun- gambling, the comfort of strangers, drinking. It’s nice for Percy to make an Arakko mutant different from the other ones.
Beyond that, it’s just a good Wolverine issue. Percy has gotten Wolverine down to a science. He understands the character very well and knows how a story with him in it should go. Wolverine not trusting Blackmore at all makes sense- this is a pirate, after all-but that doesn’t mean he’s not open to using him for his own purposes. Percy puts up Solem’s Murasama but takes away Wolverine’s, which begs the question of how Wolverine is going to fight his foe, especially since Solem has a weapon that can hurt him.
Kubert’s art is great as always. The page where the fight starts is the best. It’s a double-page spread that one has to turn the comic 90 degrees for, which is something Kubert did a lot in the ‘90s. It looks amazing and is begging to to be made into a poster. Kubert and Martin combine throughout the issue to supply some killer artwork.
Wolverine #15 gives readers some more background on Solem and sets him and Wolverine on a collision course. Percy has become an expert at building plots for Wolverine, and this issue is no exception. Kubert and Martin are amazing together, and this issue gives multiple examples as to why. Wolverine #15 is a great comic.
