Hunt For Wolverine : Claws of a Killer #2 Recap/Review

[Hush]

Flashback :

- The issue begins with a flashback in Maybelle in Arizona (seems to take place at the same time as the flashback from the last issue)
- We see an happy family celebrating the birthday of an old man wearing a birthday hat until one of the familly member catch a green explosion with her phone
- Everybody dies on day one but basic motor function and some cognitive defect are still present
- On day Five, all the bodies seems to be in putrefaction
- This whole experiment is labeled as test 127 and is supervised by the Team Kill Nine
- Test 127 is labeled as a failure because of the cognitive defect present in all subjects and despite the complete reanimation of all subjects

Now :

- We see Daken being attacked by the zombies and "saved" by the Soteira Kill Team Nine, he's then take into custody
- Elsewhere Deathstrike is sure that Wolverine is in the town but Sabretooth says she's wrong, there is nothing here just something that stinks so he wants to leave
- Suddently Deathstrike is attacked by a zombie that she easily cut into pieces
- Sabretooth is not so lucky, he is bitten by a zombie wearing a birthday hat (the one from the flashback) and fall on the ground
- Sabretooth is surprised by what's happening but Deathstrike manages to save him and they run away from the zombies
- Sabretooth is both pissed and in shocked of what just happened and him and Deathstrike are about to leave with their car while saying that Daken is now on his own
- Unfortunately the car is trapped with some explosives and explodes
- Elsewhere Daken is tied up against a chair and is watched by the two members of the Soteira Kill Team 9
- They know who he is and are preparing a clean sweep of the whole town
- Daken managed to break free an attacked them, he wants some answers about who they are and where is Logan
- After the explosion of his car, Sabretooth's had enough and sees that his wound isn't healing so he tells Deathstrike to run if she wants to live
- Knowing it's a losing battle and because he doesn't want to be the dinner for those zombies, Creed decides to find a place to hide in order to think about what to do next
- He finds a garage and tells Deathstrike to hurry up before he closes the door, Deathstrike manages to escape the zombies and hides with Creed
- She sees that Creed isn't healing, and Creed is asking her if Daken knew about all of this but Deathstrike said this was her idea to go in this town
- Creed then tells her that she is now trapped here with him and if she has anything to do with all of this he will rip her head off.
- Daken is still fighting the Soteira Kill Team 9 while asking why he's not healing and where is Logan.
- Surprisingly the members of the Soteira Team seems to know what they're doing, one of them is fighting Daken with a sword while the other is trying to shoot him with a rifle
- We learn that the clean sweep is confirmed in one hour and fourteen minutes and that their boss is interested in capturing Daken, Sabretooth and Deathstrike
- Knowing that they won't answer his question Daken managed to injure (or kill, not sure yet) one of the soldier while telling him to tell Logan he's coming for him
- To avoid being captured again, he jumped through a window while cursing this road trip


Review :

So it was a fast reading issue with a lot of action but the plot didn't really move forward. Basically it's the same problem as Adamantium Agenda where the first two issues could have been combined into one, I think reading these mini in tpb will be more enjoyable. We learn that the Soteira kill team Nine and their boss are interested in Daken, Sabretooth and Lady Deathstrike and that they plan to wipe out the Maybelle town.

Characterization is still good, and we see that Sabretooth is not a dumb idiot, he knows a losing battle when he sees one and prefers to retreat and thinks about what to do next. He doesn't seem to care much about what could happen to Deathstrike's life lol.
Deathstrike on the other hand knows she needs Creed if she wants to stay alive but she also knows she can't trust him (wouldn't be the first time he double-crossed her).
Daken is not seen much, he just wants some answers and manages to escape the Soteira Kill team nine.

The art is good, really like how the explosions and the characters faces are drawn but there is a lack of details and backgrounds through the issue unfortunately.

So all in all not a bad issue but not as a good as the first one because of the decompression and the fact that the plot isn't moving forward too much. I just hope things will really heat up in the next two issues.

[Thievery]

I pretty much agree with you Hush. The book could have probably been combined with the first issue.
Still, I liked the story, and thought it was worth reading just for the characterization, and the art was nice.
I enjoy horror type stories, but zombies aren't really my thing.

[Hush]

I pretty much agree with you Hush. The book could have probably been combined with the first issue.
Still, I liked the story, and thought it was worth reading just for the characterization, and the art was nice.
I enjoy horror type stories, but zombies aren't really my thing.

Yeah Tamaki really knows how to handle these characters especially the interactions between Sabretooth and Lady Deathstrike. I enjoy horror stories too and I'm surprised by how well she managed to mix horror elements, zombies, mutants (and cyborg) with healing factor and the mystery about Wolverine's return.

The pacing is really my only complain but as you said the story is worth reading for the characterization. I just hope we'll learn more about the Soteira project and this mysterious Wolverine in the next issue but for now I've got to admit that Tamaki is really doing a great job with this mini.