The first issue of the new Wolverine series was a bit on the slow side, but this is more like it.

Logan duly takes on the job of investigating who killed Lucy Braddock, which means we get an issue of Logan playing detective by tracing the bullets.  It sends Logan off into the world of underground arms dealers - on the periphery of the legitimate dealers, though Rucka doesn't exactly seem wildly enthusiastic about them either.

It's a crime story rather than a superhero story.  Use of Logan's powers is kept to a bare minimum, though there's a nice opening sequence of Logan cutting the bullets out of his body after the previous issue.  I have a feeling that the standard explanation is that his healing factor expels the bullets, but honestly, I prefer it this way.  It keeps the concept simpler if his body just heals around the things, and faintly grotesque imagery is what healing powers are all about, isn't it?

Anyhow, crime stories work just fine for Wolverine.  It's a direction that plays to Greg Rucka's well-established strengths as a writer, as he produces a story much more clearly grounded in reality - or at least believable fiction - than the false starts we had in the dying days of the previous series.  Darick Robertson's art is typically impressive.  He's not a flashy artist, but his work is always full of detail - not in the sense of pointless little lines, but making every element of the picture count.  You can tell he's always put thought into the backgrounds, when a lot of artists would just knock out a generic hotel room.

This is what I'd been hoping for from Rucka and Robertson.  We're on track now.

Rating: A

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