Wolverine: Enemy of the State

Wolverine travels to Japan to negotiate the release of a boy kidnapped by terrorist group, The Hand.  Things are going according to plan as Wolverine tears his way through everything that moves when he is suddenly ambushed by the groups leader, The Gorgon.  Working with Hydra, The Hand brainwash Wolverine, turning him into their own personal killing machine.  Can the combined forces of S.H.I.E.L.D and the X-Men bring Logan to his senses and stop this unholy alliance?

Last year, I read a Wolverine trade written by Mark Millar titled, “Old Man Logan”.  Old Man Logan was easily the most violent Marvel branded book I’d read up to that point.  It contained graphic imagery of Wolverine ripping and shredding everything in sight.  While I enjoyed it, it was because of the story behind it – not the over-the-top bloodshed.  It was a tale about a man who could no longer accept his violent nature and murderous tendencies, therefore choosing to live a more passive existence.  While Enemy of the State contains yet another inner struggle of sorts, this book couldn’t be more different.

Enemy of the State isn’t a bad story, I just found it too large in scope.  Millar is writing for the Wolverine line of comics but it seemed like he was trying to fit as many heroes and villains in here as possible.  When I’m being pulled in so many directions by a writer, I find it hard to focus and gain an attachment of sorts on any one character.  This seemed more like a Marvel Universe book than it did a Wolverine story and that, for lack of a better word, sucks.

Wolverine is easily in my top 5 Marvel characters – it’s that loner personality that draws me to him.  Probably why I dig The Dark Knight so much.  While most superheroes in the Marvel cannon love to team up and take down adversaries, Wolverine always has that mindset that alone is better and I’d be lying if I said I never felt that way myself.  I guess that’s what connects me to Logan in a way.

Oh, and he’s Canadian.