THE HUNT IS OVER.
The hunt for Wolverine is over… Now the time has come to put the pieces together and see what was learned. Kitty Pryde, Daredevil, Tony Stark and Sabretooth may have found what they were looking for…but it wasn’t what they expected. Where has Wolverine been? What has he been doing?

Wolverine is coming back. We’ve known that for quite some time and Marvel has been teasing up the how and why through four miniseries leading up to… the Return of Wolverine. Writer Charles Soule has been weaving a story that’s both been interesting and frustrating.

A lot has happened in the four miniseries and in that way things have been impressive in what initially seemed to be cash-ins. The death of a character, a classic character again looking like her classic self, there’s events and changes that will have reverberations for years to come in the X comics. But, when it comes to finding Wolverine… things are a little short. But, is that really a shock with a title that’s “Dead Ends”?

What Hunt for Wolverine: Dead Ends does is not answer the real question as to what has happened but instead brings the various plot threads together into one clear picture. What it also does is give us a comic you can read and catch up before moving on to the next chapter. In a way the comic acts as an epilogue and a prequel. It’s kind of impressive.

Where the issue will be key is the introduction of the new bad in the X-Men’s lives, and maybe Tony Stark and Daredevil’s too. I don’t want to spoil things but this is solid aspects of so many different existing villains coming together into something that does feel a bit terrifying. What’s presented has massive implications in so many ways, we’ll see where the impact in the Marvel Universe ends.

The art by Ramon Rosansas with color by Guru-eFX and lettering by Joe Sabino is good. There are some aspects that fall a little short in the detail or some of the character design, the comic itself has some fantastic action moments. There’s one particular scene featuring Iron Man, Storm, and Firestar where the art really delivers the tense nature of it all.

And that’s where the comic really succeeds. What on paper feels like a cash-in has moments that really stand out. There’s some awe inspiring moments that remind you how amazing the X-Men can be. There’s also plenty of humor between the trio of Tony, Kitty, and Matt Murdock that wants to see these worlds come together more often. The introduction of a new villain too feels ominous and something that’s actually important. By comics’ end, my jaded self going into it felt like a kid again reading the X-Men for the first time.

Story: Charles Soule Art: Ramon Rosanas
Color: Guru-eFX Letterer: VC’s Joe Sabino
Story: 8.25 Art: 7.5 Overall: 8.0 Recommendation: Buy

Marvel provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review