Marvel Legends: Wolverine Meltdown

Rating:
Summary: Good Story... Great Artwork
Review: I read a portion of the meltdown series when it was first published back in 89 but never got a chance to pick it up. That was in high school, for some fifteen years I avoided superhero comics altogether, that is until spring 2003 when I decided to check some stuff out and risk a full on collectors relapse. Well this was the first trade I snagged, and was subsequently blown away. Meltdown is a cold war adventure teaming a vacationing Wolverine and Havok against a bunch of scheming Commies looking to exploit the secondary properties of Havok's powers. There is subterfuge, romance, and an amazing Wolverine spaz out. The artwork is fully painted and although sometimes rushed, is almost as good as Dave McKean's work in Arkham Asylum (which came out around the same time). I especially like
the artists rendition of wolverine, which strays from the zero body fat archetype, depicting the feral hero with a powerful working class hero look, popeye forearms, and a much more realistic hairstyle. One of the finest images in the book depicts him standing over a gravestone in his white wife beater and radar shades, he looks gritty and awe inspiring. Havok, on the other hand looks like a hybrid between james dean and lance hendrickson, his romance a red haired double agent produces some beautiful images of it's own. Oh yeah, there's a good dose of action as well and it's a damned good yarn to boot. This book got me back into comics after a long break from them. After a year of collecting it remains one of the best works I have come across.

Rating:
Summary: How times change!
Review: When this story was originally released in four issues, way back in the `80s, it was called HAVOK/WOLVERINE: MELTDOWN. The fact that Wolverine shared billing with a third-tier character like Havok (even to the point of being named second in the title) shows that Wolvie, while a popular character at the time, had not reached his current "heavy hitter" status. Over the years, unfortunately, Wolverine has grown from a likeable underdog to perhaps the most overexposed character in comics. This is reflected in the fact that this story is now collected under the title WOLVERINE LEGENDS: MELTDOWN.

To be honest, this IS a story that equally showcases Havok and Wolverine, as they try to determine who is responsible for ruining their Mexican vacation. An assassination attempt separates the two X-Men, leading them around the world through a web of deception and danger, matching wits and power with the Russian villains Quark, Doctor Neutron, and General Meltdown. Walter and Louise Simonson construct a story that, while a bit heavy on the melodrama and cheesy dialogue, is nonetheless entertaining. They give us two heroes with very distinct personalities: Havok/Alex Summers, the cool customer, and Wolverine/Logan, the head-buster. Regardless, they are shown to be true buddies who care for one another. The real stars here are the artists, John J. Muth and Kent Williams, who couldn't have styles that are more different; however, their pairing works excellently, based upon a distribution of duties. Muth handles the segments with Havok, portraying Alex Summers as a sort of James Dean type rendered in soft watercolors, with jarring plasma energy added for occasional effect. Williams handles the segments with Wolverine, giving us a Logan that is, in my opinion, the all-time best representation of the character: short, stocky, rough, hairy, ugly, and altogether unappealing... the exact opposite of how Wolvie is depicted these days, and he was better for it. Picture Harvey Keitel with claws, and you'll have it.

The lesson is this: don't read this as just a Wolverine story. It is a Havok/Wolverine story, from a long-forgotten time at Marvel when a lesser character like Havok was treated with respect, and Wolverine was less than he is now, but actually something more. And most importantly, it's a story of friendship.