What could have been a huge flop for Marvel Comics has become something completely special.
Edging out Spider-Man as the company’s most important character over the past few years, thanks to a rabid fan base and several huge Hollywood films that feature him, Wolverine is the reigning king of Marvel.
Giving him a son and his own series just makes too much sense financially for it not to come to fruition.
Luckily, Marvel didn’t make the same mistakes with this series that they made with Spider-Man and the “Brand New Day†storyline and have given writer Daniel Way enough liberty to shine, making the Dark Wolverine series a complete hit.
If you had any doubts after reading Vol. one of the series and getting to know the charismatic enigma that is Daken, Vol. Two, “My Hero,†which collects issues 78-81 of the series, takes things a step further, fleshing out the character even more and making him someone the company can build around for years to come.
Proving just how lovingly brooding, manipulative, selfish and evil he is, Daken is an anti-hero’s dream come true. A confused womanizer, murderer and wiseass, Daken is one of the only people in the Marvel Universe that can continually get under Norman Osborn’s skin and live to not only tell about it, but laugh with him about it as well.
Simply put, Frank Castle and Deadpool themselves aren’t this badass.
Between the writing of Way [who has grown tremendously after a less than mediocre run on the short-lived Venom mini-series a few years back] and lawyer turned novelist turned comic scribe Marjorie Liu, which manages to both humanize Daken and make him that much more mysterious and the splash page filled work of Stephen Segovia and Giuseppe Camuncoli, this graphic novel collection is a treasure to behold.
Eclipsing the already uber solid debut trade, “My Hero†is the kind of work that will have you yearning for more. The relationship between Dark Ms. Marvel [Moonstone] and Daken heats up a bit more and it’s here where we get an even better glimpse into Daken’s “cloudy†childhood. Still learning to get the most of his powers, Logan’s kid shows that he has a lot of growing up to do despite his age [65, but he has a slowed-aging ability, thanks to his papa] but nevertheless shows the type of brains his father has never had.
Resourceful, cunning, candid and charming all at once, Daken has an incredible potential to be a big time player in the Marvel Universe.
You can hear the comic books chicks screaming right now.
And where the comic book chicks scream, the fanboys and geeks soon follow.
And why wouldn’t they? Daken is that damn cool.
Simply put, if writers the likes of Way and Liu and artists like Segovia and Camuncoli stay on board, “Dark Wolverine†may end up being much more than a surprisingly enjoyable title- it could be a series that could launch the character into other fields of media and make him a phenomenon.
Like father like son?
It may be too soon to tell, but at the very least, “My Hero†is a graphic novel too tasty to not take a big bite out of.
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