Savage Wolverine #1

Savage Wolverine is savage because he's in the Savage Land. You could say that he was sent to save Shanna the She-Devil and some SHIELD agents, but there are a whole lot of incidents of falling from the sky so it is unclear whether or not there was any sending or intention involved. The book is also savage because Wolverine kills and maims without good reason, because that's what Americans apparently want after the savage killings in the Northeast.

Wolverine's monologues are annoying to read. Much of the disgust previously pointed toward the writing in Detective Comics can now be directed toward Savage Wolverine. There are cheesy lines where he explains that he disarmed his foes while cutting off their arms and then cut a little off the top while cutting off their heads. That kind of cheesy. While we're on the topic, Wolverine is the headmaster of a school that values all kinds of different forms of life - the Brood, the Shi'Ar, sentient landmasses, Bamfs - and yet when he enters the Savage Land apparently all life is only good enough to become shish kabobs on Wolverine's claws. Moreover, as far as I can see, this carnage is the main selling point for the book.

There is one other selling point. Savage Wolverine features Shanna the She-Devil, an X-Men and SHIELD ally who remains skimpily-clad at all times, whether she is in the tropical Savage Land, on a climate-controlled (one would assume) SHIELD vessel, or anywhere else in the world. This strong and vicious woman is reduced to little more than a damsel in distress housewife who only wants to return to her beloved Kazar and Zabu and who is dressed in a shredded bikini.

Despite having no desire to read any more issues in this series unless major creative team changes are made, I am left wondering whether Savage Wolverine will take place in the Savage Land for the entire run. If not, what sorts of things will happen to maintain Wolverine as "savage"? Perhaps the better question is: "Does Marvel expect Savage Wolverine to get cancelled immediately?"

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