Wolverine #5 concludes the "Brotherhood" storyline.  Or "The Brothers" - once again, the recap page and the cover can't make up their mind what the story's actually called.  It's the little things, guys.

Anyhow, this would be the end of Greg Rucka and Darick Robertson's first arc.

Uh... right.  That was it, then?

I've got to admit that this is disappointing.  What we have here is a comic that is less than the sum of its parts.  You could take any individual page, and it would be great.  The details are fantastic.  The art's wonderful.  Rucka and Robertson have nailed the character perfectly.

The problem lies with the plot.  Cry and his brotherhood have just never come across as a convincing threat to Wolverine, as opposed to the bit part characters.  Consequently, there's a distinct lack of tension.  Nor, for that matter, was Cry a particularly rounded character.  Judging from the closing panel, it seems we've just spent five issues on a storyline which had two main aims: re-establish Wolverine's character for the first trade paperback of the new series, and introduce Cassie Lathrop as a supporting character. 

Cassie will apparently be going after Wolverine, after he demolished the Brotherhood in this issue.  I have a little doubt as to exactly how that plot can work.  After all, Wolverine is pretty much a public figure, and the X-Men aren't hard to find.  You'd think it wouldn't take Cassie all that long to look him up in the phone book after recognising the claws.  But we'll see how it goes.

Anyway, the story's been so busy setting up Wolverine and Cassie that the villains ended up as little more than a source of warm bodies to beat up.  I can see what the story was trying to set up for future issues, but five issues to reach this point is a bit much.  For that matter, spending an entire trade paperback on it isn't going to work either.

Still, there are plenty of positives here.  They've got the character perfectly, and the fight scene is beautifully done, playing up Wolverine's bestial side very effectively.  Cassie's a perfectly sound character and I'm happy enough to see her stick around for another arc.  There's a lot to like about this issue.  The direction which Rucka and Robertson are taking is fine; it's just the specific story that hasn't quite worked.

But that's still a fairly major problem, unfortunately.

Rating: B-

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