Creators: Daniel Way, Marjorie Liu, and Stephen Segovia
For those not up to speed on the Marvel soap opera, here’s the shortest version possible: Norman Osborn–the former Green Goblin–is pretending to be a good guy. He’s become head of Homeland Security, he’s disbanded S.H.I.E.L.D. and formed a new agency called H.A.M.M.E.R. (no, i don’t recall what it stands for). Since most heroes won’t play ball with the guy who’s spent years trying to kill Spider-man, he’s been forced to recruit super-villains to masquerade as heroes. Filling the role of Wolverine (see, Dark Wolverine, cuz he’s… okay, you get it) is Logan’s estranged son, Daken.
So, to recap: Daken is a sort of bad guy pretending to be a really bad guy pretending to be a good guy, working for a genuinely bad guy pretending to be a good guy.
Despite supposedly being a baddie, it’s hard not to like Daken. He has much the same skillset as his father, but can also manipulate pheromones to bend people to his will. Aside from his mild mind-control power, he’s also extremely smart and highly manipulative. Turning him loose in the Stark Tower headquarters among such mental giants as Hercules and Bullseye has been a fun, fox-in-the-henhouse sort of treat for several issues now. He’s failed to impress Osborn, however. He questions Daken’s loyalty after some hijinks, and sends him to apprehend some criminals at a photo-op situation of his own creation.
This leads to a run-in with minor Wolverine supporting castmember Emmy Doolin, who realizes right off the bat that Daken isn’t really Wolverine and that Osborn is trying to manipulate her.
The story sounds more complex than it really is. The fun in this book is found in the way Daken is constantly pushing people’s buttons. Sometimes he seems to pick fights just to be a jerk, but you find rather quickly that he doesn’t undertake much of anything without a plan. His goading of Osborn is witty and scornful, but he plays at least somewhat nicely with other heavies like Reed Richards. They both ask him whose side he’s on, and he has set himself up rather brilliantly so that he can honestly answer “yours” to each of them.
Taking over on art recently is Segovia, who has a lively style that suits the action well. Lots of linework (crosshatching, shading, etc), but he manages to keep the action at the forefront without making everything too busy. His page layouts try to be a little too cute sometimes, and he accidentally confuses the flow of the page. But aside from a few ticks, he has a very accessible and easy-to-read style.
By the end of the issue, we’ve set up a showdown between Daken and Doolin, and indirectly a showdown between Daken and Osborn’s trust in him. Meanwhile, Bullseye continues to believe he has Daken’s number, and the Fantastic Four (who sit this issue out) will no doubt be involved as well.
Daken loves to make enemies, and we’re quickly building to see if he can best them without getting plowed under.
Grade: A
Michael is old enough to know better, but still reads comics. He writes about them to make himself feel less nerdy. 
