In April of 2011, IGN Comics began allowing MyIGN users to submit articles for their weekly review roundup. Any that live up to IGN’s editorial standards are be published alongside IGN’s staff reviews. Any that I write, I’ll post here, whether they get published or not.
This review was published, and included in the April 20th IGN Comics review roundup.
Story by Kathryn Immonen
Art by Phil Noto
Wolverine and Jubilee began as the tale of a girl who had lost her way, and the mentor who was trying to help her find it. The first 3 books focused almost exclusively on the relationship between Jubilee and Wolverine as her father figure, and did an admirable job of representing her as a young girl caught in a dreadful upheaval. Likewise, Wolverine was well handled as her guardian, in moments that were less action and more interaction. This issue picks up after Wolverine is confronted by the woman who betrayed Jubilee during a moment of vulnerability in order to bait Wolvie into her service. Having successfully drawn the pair into her scheme she kidnaps Jubilee, giving Wolverine little option but to do her bidding.
Issue #4 is a departure from what was previously a dialogue- and introspection-heavy series, replacing that interplay with an action set-piece that is, overall, a little disappointing. I feel that there were single pages in earlier issues that did more to advance Jubilee’s character than the entirety of this final issue, and even Rockslide’s side-plot feels shoehorned into this final battle. It’s not entirely terrible, but it feels like the creative team struggled to find a solid wrap up, relying instead on a tried-and-true X-Battle to bail them out. Even Phil Noto’s art – which has been clean and subtly beautiful leading up to this – feels rushed and almost sloppy.
There’s a brief moment of introspective revelation for Jubilee here, but it’s fairly quiet and doesn’t overcome what is otherwise just a big battle in a goofy environment. As a conclusion to the limited series it feels somewhat anticlimactic, and might be a disappointment to anyone who’s read this far. I know it was for me.
