He’s the best there is at what he does... And now he’s got a creative team worthy of his reputation.

(Panini Books)

ANOTHER relaunch for the original Wolvie solo book, now in its fifth volume and headed up by the creative team of Doctor Who writer Paul Cornell and legendary artist Alan Davis (with fill-ins as required!).

Opening with a hideously injured Logan caught up in a desperate terrorist situation, the narrative soon spirals off into a surprising new direction as the clawed Canadian realises an alien virus is infecting innocent humans as part of a plot to dominate the entire planet, a global-level threat which even attracts the attention of the voyeuristic Watcher…

When an entire SHIELD helicarrier crew is possessed by the virus, including Nick Fury Jr, Wolverine is forced to shoulder the burden which comes with killing dozens of innocent agents, and also determine how he is going to defeat an adversary which exists on a microscopic level…

Of course, with a mutant healing factor that keeps Wolvie going long after normal people would have succumbed to their injuries, the odds remain stacked in Logan’s favour. But what if something were to irreversibly remove these abilities, and in effect, leave the mutant hero killable?

Cornell has an immediate handle on what makes Logan work as a character without reverting to the usual hackneyed dialogue, and adds a mostly-new supporting cast as back-up instead of turning to his colleagues in the Avengers or the X-Men. Davis never disappoints on the art front, and his work is so exemplary that the reader feels cheated when he takes a break for two issues after the initial four. Mirco Pierfederici does an OK job in the latter part of this book, but he lacks the cinematic flair which Davis does so well, and is far from a worthy replacement.

A first-rate start to this latest series. Now if only Davis can deliver the goods on a monthly basis…