Surprising Fill-In Issue
I think the last memorable story arc in the pages of Wolverine was when Mark Millar and John Romita Jr. took over the title for a year. With those two names attached how could it not be memorable right? The last arc was suppose to be something special. A huge event in the Wolverine mythos written by superstar scribe Jeph Loeb and illustrated by a great artist in Simone Bianchi. To say that it was disappointing would be putting it mildly. It was suppose to clear up the relationship between Wolverine and Sabretooth, while giving us their final battle. Well the final battle did happen, to say that their relationship was cleared up is another matter. Loeb managed to take a character with a convoluted continuity and make it even more convoluted then before. After that disappointment I get to read a fill in issue written by someone that I've never heard of, and illustrated by one of my least favorite artists.
When I found out this issue was penciled by Howard Chaykin and that is was a one shot story, my expectations plummeted. I'm not a fan of his style, and add to the fact that I've never read anything by Jason Aaron didn't help matters. After reading the issue I think I'd prefer if Jason Aaron stayed on Wolverine. The story centers on Wendell Rayfield, a former cop that's been hired to do some "work" concerning Logan. The character comes across as extremely realistic as we are shown what he's thinking during his mundane life, and less then ordinary job. I love how Aaron uses Wolverine in this issue as well. His actions are more reminiscent of the cold hearted s.o.b. Logan can be sometimes. I'm still not a fan of Chaykin's style, but it works very well for the story.
The story itself ends up being linked to what's going on in Wolverine's life in some way, but it can still be described as a stand alone story. It was really a nice surprise to be entertained by this issue, and I hope we get to see Jason Aaron write a Wolverine story again soon.
