As one Wolverine miniseries ends, another two start.  Oh god, it's 1993 all over again.

Then again, Wolverine/Doop isn't really a miniseries at all.  It's really just the next two issues of X-Statix under a different title.  And, er, guest starring Wolverine.  He really is getting everywhere again, isn't he?

The change of title is somewhat fitting, since this is a bit of a change of pace from the regular X-Statix formula.  Rather than playing with the conventions of the superhero genre, this is more of a warped, hallucinogenic detective story.  Wolverine gets to play the noir elements, and Doop gets to... well, be weird.  The story involves the theft of the mysterious Pink Mink, which may or may not be connected to the enigmatic Pink Lady, a femme fatale.  Or alternatively, she might just be a hallucination.

Guest artist Darwyn Cooke is a good choice for this sort of story.  His work is reminiscent of those pseudo-animated comics they used to make a few years back.  It's a style that shifts easily between the relatively normal parts of the story and the warped insanity.  A lot of the issue is ridiculous, of course, but then it's all about deadpan absurdity.

That said, this isn't the strongest X-Statix story.  It's amusing as a change of pace, but there's a distinct feeling that it's a bit of a one joke exercise.  Then again, psychedelic noir isn't a gag that really appeals to me, since I'm not particularly interested in either genre on its own.

Perfectly okay, and it's worthwhile for the book to stretch the formula every so often.  But not really my sort of thing.

Rating: B-

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