Savage Wolverine #1 Review
Frank Cho just dropped Wolverine into dino country and threw in a cavegirl for good measure. Snikt!
Comic: Savage Wolverine #1
Written By: Frank Cho
Pencils By: Frank Cho
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Release Date: OUT NOW IN STORES & DIGITAL DOWNLOAD (VIA COMIXOLOGY)
rating: 3
Frank Cho, one of the greatest artists in comic books is taking on a new ongoing series for the Marvel NOW! Savage Wolverine! The title, at first glance hints at a Wolverine unleashed type affair. A wild, animal Wolverine set loose on those that stand in his way but sadly thats not the case so far. Savage Wolverine is set in the Savage Land, yknow the island full of dinosaurs that Marvel can always go to if they ever want to mix it up a little bit with their characters. Anyway, this story begins with a S.H.I.E.L.D. jet/vessel/carrier thing scouting out the Savage Land with the aid of Shanna The She-Devil. The vessel uncontralably goes down and we quickly cut to an unconscious Wolverine. Now our clawed hero wasnt with S.H.I.E.L.D. or anything (at least not that we know of yet) but hes there, in the Savage Land trying to work out how he wound up fighting dinos and the savage locals and so far in this issue thats all hes done. Well that and team up with Shanna.
Having Shanna back under the watchful eye of Frank Cho is pretty my much sole reason for picking this comic up. Chos Shanna miniseries from 2005 is still a favourite of mine. Cho is the absolute master at drawing women (and has many an art collection dedicated to his skills to prove it) and Shanna is one of his highest achievements in my mind. Of course the backstory he re-created for her in the miniseries was also a fine way to re-introduce her into the Marvel universe but sadly since the disappointing second miniseries (not by Cho) Shanna hasnt really had the return she deserved in our comic book pages. Hopefully Cho will change all that in future issues of Savage Wolverine. Anyway, here in this new ongoing series, Shanna so far hasnt been the spectacle I was hoping for. Confined to fairly mundane scenarios (like sitting in chairs) she only really comes to life when our star meets up with her and then Wolverine takes centre stage. Chos approach to Wolverine is quite a well put together one. Wolvy looks almost smartly dressed in his slick looking leather costume and sleek mask design. There's nothing all that savage about the look so far but of course Cho's prefct antaomy approach to his work makes Wolverine look alive and pretty much how'd you'd expect him too look in a feature film (if they ever had the balls to put him in the costume that is). Im not sure Im the biggest fan of Chos approach yet, mainly due to the dialogue making Wolverine a little boy scout in a wilderness adventure as opposed to the clawed guy with all the attitude youd need to survive in the Savage Land but this is the first issue, so who knows where Cho will be taking him. 
So far Savage Wolverine feels much more like a miniseries set up. Theres a sense this could wrap up in about four issues and a new mini arc could begin that would be totally unrelated to what were seeing here, much like what goes on over in Avenging Spider-man. I cant say that I feel hooked in enough to count the minutes until the next issue rolls around yet but beyond a few iffy Shanna images, Frank Chos artwork is still closer to perfection most other artists in Marvel (or indeed the entire comic book industry) and for that Im in for the foreseeable future, if only to see if Cho takes Wolverine into truly savage territory because lets face it, a raw, unleashed Wolverine fighting dinosaurs with Frank Chos artwork is enough to make a comic book art fan weep. 