This is how the world ends…. the quote usually says “not with a bang, but with a whimper,” but when it comes to Wolverine, would you expect it to be a whimper? Left without his mutant healing factor, his enemies now close in for the kill – and the Wolverine faces his greatest battle alone. A battle he will not return from. After a century of being the best there is at what he does, the day has arrived where his best will not be good enough.

Death of Wolverine by writer Charles Soule and artist Steve McNiven begins what is the final (or next great) chapter of Logan’s, aka Wolverine’s, life. Taking place over the month of September, the limited series promises exactly what its title says, the death of Wolverine.

You can be cynical about how long that death will last, but the first issue really throws that cynicism out the window painting a morose, gloomy, swan-song for a man who has abused his body over his life, only to be protected by his mutant healing factor. With that gone, the abuse remains, which is hammered home in the first issue. Soule intelligently lays out, through a simple conversation, the exact sorts of issues that would have built up over time. It’s not old age that’ll get Logan, it’s the remnants of the abuse.

But on top of the abuse Logan has also built up a long list of enemies over the years, enemies who would jump at the chance to kill the man who used to be unkillable. It’s open season, Logan’s wounded, and as we saw at the end of Wolverine’s regular series, his enemies are more than happy to take advantage, and looks like there’s a massive body count already when we come into the story.

Soule’s fantastic script is brought to life by McNiven’s art which tells the story even when there’s no dialogue. The small details add to the overall narrative. A picture is worth a thousand words, and that’s shown here. All of McNiven’s skill (and Soule’s thought out script) are shown off in commentary at the end of the issue. I usually just skim that material, but here I’m glad it didn’t, as it made me appreciate what I had just read even more.

Logan has lived a hard life, and you feel the weight of it all coming down on him. I myself went in with a bit of cynicism about death in comics, but really who cares. The story is fantastic, the art is amazing. The combination of the two, perfect (add in beautiful coloring too). Wolverine deserves a solid send-off, and in this first issue it looks like he’ll get one that befits him.

Story: Charles Soule Art: Steve McNiven
Story: 8.75 Art: 9 Overall: 8.75 Recommendation: Buy

Marvel provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review