Wolverine: Soultaker continues its leisurely stroll through a story that could quite happily have been done in half the time. 

The plot of the whole series, thus far, boils down to this: Wolverine accidentally revives the warrior priestess Mana, but in doing so he also revives her evil sister Hana, who's possessed by the demon Ryuki.  Ryuki is probably going to do the same thing he always does - raise some zombies to take over the world - so this issue, Wolverine fights some zombies while Mana comes up with a solution.

Let's be honest, it's not as if there's any great depth to this story which is crying out for five issues of exploration.  But if you want eight pages of Wolverine fighting zombies in virtual silence, or you feel that Mana's conversation with a spirit is enlivened by opening the scene with two silent pages of her walking into a temple, then this is the book for you.  To be fair, it's a genuine effort to set the mood rather than just padding.  But unless you really like the art, it's doubtful that you'll want to put up with the languid pace.

Personally, I do rather like the art, although not to the extent that I really want to see an entire dialogue-free page of thrilling, corridor-walking action.  It's perhaps a bit restrained for some tastes, but it's certainly got some style to it.  Even so, it's an inoffensive comic at best - perfectly readable, but rather slow, and it has the definite feel of a series where Wolverine has been plugged in to somebody else's story.

Rating: B-

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