The New Dark Prince of Marvel

The story of Daken Akihiro, better known as Dark Wolverine, is an intriguing one, filled with half-truths, misconceptions and allusions that leaves us with only more questions. Is Daken really as evil as his father, Logan, believes? Is he a bad guy? What are his motives? While these questions aren’t exactly answered in “Dark Wolverine: The Prince,” which is a collection of issues 75-77 in the series and issues 73 and 74 in “Wolverine,” the series is an absolute blast to read through and prove that Akihiro, just like his father, is the type of character worth digging your claws into.

Co-written by Marvel vet-Daniel Way and novelist Marjorie Liu, the trade has a sneaky feel to it, as you never quite know what to expect. With sprinkles of Machiavellian quotations in between the dialogue, which mainly consists of the inner thoughts of Daken, as he hatches his master plan, this trade has the feel of a novella, rather than a comic book.

That’s anything but a problem though, as this character is as deep as a tortured soul in a work by Poe and as brash as a Hemingway hero. Simply put, after reading these issues that comprise this trade, you’ll be running to find the next one. As cool as James Bond and as tough as his father, Daken is a walking oxymoron- a philosopher and student of life that refuses to use his intelligence when in combat, a manipulator with a heart and a lover without a soul.

If anyone ever wondered if “House of M” was worth it in long run, the birth of this character has to be a huge selling point.

With a fresh spin and tons of potential, “Dark Wolverine” is a series worth keeping your eyes on and “The Prince” is living proof of that.

Away from the writing however, the art, done marvelously by Guiseppe Camuncoli and Tommy Lee Edwards is both a tribute to the old Wolverine comics of yesteryear [one panel in particular shows Daken, in his father’s costume with an olive from a martini in his mouth- the resemblance here to papa claws is uncanny] while being chic and savvy enough [using tons of color and huge panels for action scenes] to attract new readers. This, coupled with covers by Adam Kubert and you have a great looking book that compliments the solid writing beautifully.

Because of the level of the writing and polish in the visuals, regardless of one’s affinity for Marvel’s most popular character or not, any fan of the medium owes it to themselves to check out this trade. Full of original thought, sexiness and pizazz, it’s a rare treat for anyone sick of the same old characters in the industry today.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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