REVIEW - Wolverine: Blood Debt

Review by Brian Grindrod

The Wolverine: Blood Debt edition collects issues #150 to #153 of the ongoing series that was published in 2000. A four part story arc that is written and pencilled by Steve Skroce. Silver screen connoisseurs will undoubtedly recognize the name. Skroce formed part of the storyboard designer staff of 1999's blockbuster hit, The Matrix. Skroce not only delivers awesome cinematic visual but offers a Wolverine story that incorporates the intensity of Hong Kong action films into comic book form.

What pleased me about the characterization in this book is that it went back to the roots of the Claremont/Miller miniseries (1982). None of that one dimensional berserker rage or angst that some of the previous writers constantly focused on. That aspect of the character has been flogged to death and I am glad that Skroce did not head in that direction. If Skroce's intention was to make Wolverine: Blood Debt a dynamic and easy to read book, he has succeeded on all accounts.

On a surface level, the plot appears simplistic but Skroce manages to grip you with in-depth personas. The story entices you through its mood and excellent story telling. Skroce has really done his homework about Wolverine and it reflects in this comic. The old supporting cast and the new characters that are introduced to the story arc are solid. Even the Silver Samurai is revitalized.

The art work and design is some of the most imaginative that I have ever come across in my years of comic book reading. Skroce's visual inventiveness makes Blood Debt a must have in anybody's collection. His panels and layouts are flawless. The pencilling work is beautifully rendered while the characters are realistically depicted. Their poses and body structure teem with life while the action scenes will take your breathe away. Without a doubt, Skroce is one the Top 5 story tellers. His cinematic angles are just too innovative and astounding to ignore. Colorist Steve Buccellato not only complements the artwork expertly but enhances the visual experience as well. It would have been criminal negligence to have put the final pencil and inked pages in the hands of somebody else.

Not only do I highly recommend this book to Wolverine fans but to anybody who can appreciate solid sequential art. Wolverine: Blood Debt will definitely please fans of Chris Claremont and Frank Miller's groundbreaking miniseries but it will also entertain the socks off any comic book reader.