Wolverine: Deep Cut #1
Writer: Chris Claremont
Illustrator & Inker: Edgar Salazar
Colorist: Carlos Lopez
Publisher: Marvel (July 2024)
Spoilers Ahead
Chris Claremont exists in the sort of rarefied air that few comic book creators get to enjoy. Miller and Batman. Brubaker and Captain America. David and Hulk. These are all creators who are synonymous with a character or franchise, having produced work so influential, endearing, and enduring that they will be forever entwined. For Claremont, his name will always be associated with the X-Men, and rightly so—works like the Dark Phoenix Saga, God Loves, Man Kills, and countless other tales defined the franchise for generations of fans and continue to influence the series even today.
For all his pedigree, sadly, Claremont's recent work on the franchise has been more hit or miss. Occasionally, he's able to do something interesting with the characters that captures some of the spark of yesteryear, but more often than not, there's just something a little... off about Claremont's stuff these days. Even when he came back to the X-line in the 2000s some of the shine was gone. That said, given the absolute state of disarray the X-Men books are in as we approach the From the Ashes relaunch being helmed by editor Tom Brevoort, I'll take a Claremont not firing on all cylinders over the shambles that was Krakoa any day of the week.
This series is set during the team's Australia days, where the world is convinced the X-Men are dead. The story starts of in media res, with Wolverine and Sabretooth going toe-to-toe in their annual bout on the former's birthday. To be clear, I'm no X-Men expert. I've read the comics off and on over the years, but I would say my understanding of the lore is cursory at best, and in large part informed by the Jim Lee era of the '90s, especially the cartoon series. But even with a middling grasp of the series' history, I really appreciated seeing Logan and Creed duking it out in their classic costumes. Right from the offing the setup is refreshing in its familiarity. Have we seen this a thousand times before? Yes. But it's the right setup at the right time, a time when the X-Men books are a complete tangle of unfamiliarity.
I mean no disrespect, but Claremont is rather notorious for his purple prose. Read any of his older writing and expect voluminous captions describing the setting of a given scene, or word bubbles stuffed with flowery speeches. It can sometimes feel a bit overwrought and grandiose, but I'd argue it's a part of Claremont's charm and something that really doesn't much exist in mainstream comics these days. Deep Cut sees the writer skewing for a more modern approach with minimal captions narrating the action, instead relying on Logan's inner monologuing to do the trick. It's... fine. And I know that Claremont is doing his best to show that he's still got it by trying to modernize his approach. But let's face it, longtime fans are going to buy an X-Men book if his name is on the cover, and if we're going for the nostalgia angle, we might as well let the man be himself. I'm making some big assumptions about what Claremont may or may not have been told to do, admittedly, but no matter where the impetus came from, I say wordy Claremont needs a comeback.
Still, Claremont is a pro, and even with a more modern style he does a fine job of capturing everyone's voices. Deep Cut is set after Uncanny X-Men #246, which is during the aforementioned Outback days of the team. At that time, Logan had gone off on a personal mission that was never elaborated upon, forming the foundation of this series. It's another "untold tale" type of story that Marvel has been publishing a lot of lately, including Spider-Man: Shadow of the Green Goblin, Daredevil: Black Armor, Venom: Lethal Protector II, and others. To repeat, I'm no X-Men historian, and the Outback era of the team is from a period that I have yet to read, so I'm not sure how much the idea of finally seeing this "lost" adventure of Logan's will excite longtime fans. For me, it's simply nice to return to a time when the X-Men were the X-Men, without all of the extraneous character and lore-breaking nonsense of Krakoa.
That said, Deep Cut isn't perfect. The book flashes back to Logan leaving the Australia hideout following a conversation with Storm, the then-leader of the team. They get into a great little sparring match where she shows Logan she's more than capable of helping him on this secret mission he's intent on doing solo, but he insists that he has to go it alone. Okay, cool. But Deep Cut starts us off with Logan being ambushed by Creed. They fight, Logan wins, and then he has a revelation that he won too easily. He proclaims that based on blood and other factors, this Sabretooth is close but not the genuine article—rather, it's a clone made by Mr. Sinister. The issue ends with Logan declaring that he's going to finally give Sinister what he deserves and... that's how things wrap. Logan is gunning for Sinister.
Except, I'm assuming that Logan didn't know a clone of Creed was going to come for him on his birthday if the book is going out of its way to show him deducing that his attacker wasn't the real deal. Which leaves me wondering what his actual mission was in the first place? Was it just his annual throw down with Creed? In which case, why be cagey with Ororo about it when everyone knows the two of them fight on his birthday? She knows when Logan's birthday is, it would presumably be easy to piece together that's where he would be going. It's not the biggest problem, but it's irksome enough that I find it worth mentioning here.
Another oddity is the break in the story to show off Kitty and Yukio standing watch at Yashida Clan headquarters in case Sabretooth comes to kill Mariko, who is Logan's love. I get the logic behind their actions based on what the story establishes—Creed thinks Logan and the X-Men are dead, he's a sadist, so he might come for Mariko out of some twisted need for release—but... why are we being shown this scene? Logan and the Creed clone are fighting off in the woods somewhere, and when the battle concludes, Logan determines that the only way Creed would miss their fight is if he was taken off the table against his will. Meaning Sabretooth likely isn't on his way to Japan to kill Mariko. There isn't any other conclusion I can arrive at based on that chain of events. Perhaps this is payoff for a plot point in UXM from years ago? I'm not sure, but if nothing else it was nice to see the real Kitty Pryde again, if only briefly.
Edgar Salazar's pencils do a decent job of complimenting Claremont's writing. His style leans realistic, but thankfully it doesn't have that heavily referenced look some artists of today fall afoul of. On the other hand, Salazar's composition is a little stale. Some angles are too basic and the action, despite the copious gore, largely feels sterile. Colorist Carlos Lopez bears some of the blame here, as I felt that his palette was too bright and colorful for such a bloody, dark conflict. At the same time, there are some instances where Salazar does a really good job, including a couple panels from Logan's point of view, and the money shot (which likely earned the book its Parental Advisory warning on the cover) where Logan's eyes have been gouged right out of his head (Claremeont has some fun reminding readers that even without his eyes, Logan is still deadly thanks to all of his senses being rocketed up to eleven).
As a bit of an aside here, I'd like to point out that the spectacular Phillip Tan contributed the cover art for Deep Cut #1. I mean no disrespect whatsoever to Salazar, but why doesn't Marvel get a talent like Tan on this book for interiors and not just covers? I realize Tan's Marvel output is almost exclusively covers, but the man is certainly capable of doing interior art—look no further than his recent collaboration with Frank Miller on Ronin II for proof. The cynic in me thinks it's because Marvel simply doesn't want to pay his page rate, or the page rate of any other upper tier talent, unless it's a comic they consider "premium," like the upcoming Wolverine: Revenge by Jonathan Hickman and Greg Capullo. For Hickman, Marvel is apparently willing to shell out for a premier artist, but for Claremont, I guess not. Virtually all of Claremont's work for Marvel in recent years has been with lesser known artists and I think that's a real shame. Conversely, I'm glad to have gotten a chance to see Salazar's art and look forward to seeing how he tackles the rest of the story, so maybe it's a blessing in disguise.
In any event, those looking for a break from Krakoa and wanting a classic, albeit slightly formulaic, Wolverine story should give Deep Cut #1 a read. It's not mind blowing, but the comic is dependable fun from a legend and a solid artist.