What gets you in the end...
The Wolverine and Jubilee mini-series concluded with issue #4, which had a few interesting twists.
SPOILER WARNING
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Jubilee is looking for a way out of the interdimensional prison she's being held in, and is able to talk to Wolverine across dimensional boundaries thanks to the mystical amulet she is wearing. She encounters an old man not unlike the zombie Logan killed in the last issue, and she starts to demand answers from him when the "boss" (a 200-foot dragon) suddenly appears and tries to kill her. Based on clues the zombie left him in the last issue, Logan manages to locate a talisman that will take him to Jubilee.
Meanwhile in San Francisco, Rockslide briefly battles the smaller dragon, before it transports him to the same interdimensional prison. Rockslide manages to get there before Logan, and lands on Jubes. He is initially afraid that she is angry with him, but she's very glad to see him. The two are chased by the dragon as Wolverine arrives on the scene.
Logan and Jubilee have a brief but touching reunion, and then she hits the dragon with a train car. She attempts to lure the dragon away from her friends, but trips as she turns to run from the dragon's firey breath. It first appears as though Jubilee has been vaporized by the dragon's fire, and Logan and Rockslide attack the dragon in a fit of rage. In reality, Jubilee has just demonstrated her newest power for the first time: the ability to "decorporealize" (ie: turn into a mist or smoke, then transform back into her physical body).
Jubes then kills the dragon by driving a large metal pole through its head, and the trio are transported back to their own dimension.
Emma Frost arrives in Siberia to speak to Logan about Jubilee's progress. She still suspects that Jubes is not 100% back to herself, but Logan disagrees. He explains to her how impressed he was by Jubilee's performance, and her mindset. Emma asks Logan to get Jubilee packed to return to Utopia, but he tells her that Jubilee has already left Siberia. Emma is shocked, and insists that Jubes needs to return to the X-Men so they can determine how and why she is suddenly able to decorporealize. Is it a latent vampire power, is it due to Logan's healing blood, or does Jubilee's former mutant status have something to do with it? She also reiterates that they are now responsible for Jubilee's actions, as she is in their care and management. Logan assures her that she is fine, and they have nothing to worry about.
Back in San Francisco, Jubilee and Rockslide are sitting by the Golden Gate Bridge, watching the sunrise. They have a brief but revealing conversation regarding the nature of Wolverine's relationship with her before deciding to head back to Utopia.
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The Good: As of the end of this mini-series, Jubilee is in a much better place. Not only is she much more comfortable with her vampire powers, and the concept of being a vampire, but she has now discovered a new power she didn't know she had. She seems far more lighthearted than she did at the beginning of the mini. Her relationship with Wolverine is more or less back to where it should be, and she seems to have rediscovered a home among the X-Men. This issue was mostly action from start to finish, with meaningful character interaction throughout. Best of all, it is told from the perspective of a Jubilee who is finally getting comfortable in her own skin again. Kathryn Immonen displays a very good grasp of these characters and their voices in her writing, and Phil Noto's art has been stellar throughout this mini, with this issue being no different. Even Nimit Malavia's cover art, which has left me cold throughout this series, is greatly improved for issue #4.
The Bad: This issue did seem a bit rushed, as though Immonen was hurrying to tie it all together. There's really no closure with the evil redheaded vampire lady (who gets away to fight another day), and the real significance of the amulets in the package is not fully explained. Also, I found the fact that Jubilee was being used as bait to lure Wolverine into doing a job for the vampire lady a bit annoying, as it basically made Jubes the pawn in the situation. But since she is the one who saves the day in the end, it was a minor thing. I'm also still a bit iffy on the inclusion of Rockslide in this mini when there were several other characters, who have actual history with Jubes, who might have been a better fit.
Overall: Kathryn Immonen and Phil Noto have turned out an excellent mini-series in Wolverine and Jubilee. I highly recommend this issue, and the entire series, to any X-Men fan. (The TPB will be available in June, and will include a reprint of UXM #244 from May 1989 - Jubilee's first appearance. This will make a nice tie-in to that poignant bar scene in W&J #1).
A solid 4 out of 5.
