Wolverine: Evolution (Paperback)

by Jeph Loeb (Author), Simone Bianchi (Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Superstar Jeph Loeb (Batman: Hush) is joined by future superstar Simone Bianchi for the biggest, best and, quite possibly, last battle between Wolverine and Sabretooth! These sworn foes have been locked in an endless grudge match that goes back longer than either can remember - or even imagine. The key to victory is eons old, and it's certain to rock their world. Think you've seen Marvel's fiercest go toe-to-toe before? Those were just warm-ups. Collects Wolverine #50-55.

Product Details

• Paperback: 152 pages
• Publisher: Marvel Comics; illustrated edition edition (March 19, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0785122567
• ISBN-13: 978-0785122562
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 6.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #214,909 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, November 27, 2007

By	N. Durham "Big Evil" (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Wolverine: Evolution (Hardcover)

Jeph Loeb's hyped return to Marvel has been pretty disappointing. Case in point, his arc on Wolverine. Wolverine: Evolution finds Marvel's most popular mutant going toe to toe with who else? His old foe Sabretooth that's who. While any other time the combination of Loeb, Wolverine, and a bloody battle with Sabretooth sounds like a win-win situation for all, Evolution ends up being, well, pretty boring. Once we get to the main event, Evolution becomes a predictable and pretty underwhelming Wolvie VS Sabretooth story that goes nowhere. Not to mention that the dialogue is lame, and the plot itself is so far beneath nearly anything that Loeb has crafted for Marvel before that you'll be wondering just what went wrong here. The bright spot of Wovlerine: Evolution is the excellent artwork from newcomer Simone Bianchi, who is destined to be one of the next, big name artists in comics today. I'd go so far as to recommend Wolverine: Evolution just to check out Bianchi's art, which you definitely should. Other than that though, Wolverine: Evolution is worth a look for Wolvie and/or Loeb fans, but all others are better off leaving this on the shelf.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars well, I rather liked it, January 29, 2008

By	[e-mail] "[e-mail]" (Beaumont, tx USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Wolverine: Evolution (Hardcover)

Personally, I thought this was a great story (Loeb is a great writer) and I found the art to be very good as well. Perhaps the dialogue could have used a little more work and there are a few weak points here and there, but overall it is a great addition to the story of Logan. I'd say I'd miss Sabertooth (after all, he's a great character and the greatest of Wolverine's nemesis [nemesi?]), but we all know that death means nothing in the world of comic books.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars What the heck was that!?, April 26, 2009

By	Dylan Cassard "Film Nut" (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Loeb has done some great ret-cons in the past. All of his work on Batman lately gave him carte blanche in my book to write whatever he wants on whatever book he wants. So what do we get when he steps up to ret-con the man of a million pasts? He ret-cons it to coincide with Len Wein's High-Evolutionary origin for Wolverine. These Wolverine/Sabertooth mutants have been battling for centuries and in the end Wolverine always kills the Sabertooth. Now the prophecy must be fulfilled. But can it be fulfilled?

Wolverine goes to Wakanda, visits Storm and meets up with a bunch of feral mutants who want to help him deal with this third shadowy figure that Sabertooth seems to be working for.
And that's when all the trouble starts. There are ret-cons and then flat out WTFs? Sasquatch is not a mutant. But apparently according to Loeb, for this story, he is (in a J. M. Stracynski totemistic way). Feral lost her powers on M Day but has been given her feral look back. Um... isn't that her mutation?
And instead of all of this being a steady buildup to an incredible final battle, it's just bloated and over-padded. Flashbacks of Wolverines killing Sabertoothes re-occur endlessly in different eras but all end the same way over and over. Inter-cut with scenes of present day Wolverine trying to hunt down Sabertooth making languidly slow advances each issue. Top it all of with murky coloring and sometimes overdrawn work of Simone Bianchi that borders on unreadable or uninteresting. It feels like a dream sequence where everything that happens with in will be forgotten about in a few months.
I would have enjoyed Chris Bachalo written by Mike Carey for a primal visceral feeling or Ed Brubaker illustrated by Phil Jimenez for a well planned ret-con with a classical/epic look. If this story was going to have the weight it deserved, it needed to have a better crew and a far better structure.

This was some of Loeb's worst work, and the beginning of my irritation with Bianchi. I'd like to see him inked by Scott Williams and colored by Udon just to see if someone can makes his images feel less "dark and brooding and atmospheric." I just can't help but yawn and fall asleep when I look at his work.

In short five stars for its audacity to buck continuity and try and move characters forward in a truly stagnant medium. But minus three stars for falling flat on its face in every other aspect.