Classic Comics Compendium: Wolverine – Jungle Adventure

There are a lot of great stories that expand on Wolverine’s backstory. These stories present different pieces of the puzzle in his Swiss cheese memory. His origins are even finally given. Fascinating compositions add to the mystery. Creating a complex and layered character that goes far beyond a grumpy little Canadian government agent.

But sometimes you just want to watch him fight dinosaurs.

“What’s going on, man?

Wolverine: Jungle Adventure go through Walter Simonson, Mike Mignola, Bob Wisek, Mark Chiarelloand Ken Bruzenak Logan is sent into the Wild Lands to investigate a mystery, only to become embroiled in normal life there, fighting the evil conspiracy that brought him there in the first place. There are dinosaurs (squeakers), robots, and a big red-haired woman.

Part of the fun is how Walter Simonson and Mike Mignola construct the story. It’s a nested narrative, with Logan working with an elder of the Savage Land tribe to tell the story of Wolverine’s adventures there, with further flashbacks to the story of how he got there. It employs many pulp adventure narrative tropes, including Tarzan-like environments and lost world Elements of Savage Land, some noir hints of America, and robots just for fun.

The art by Mike Mignola, Bob Wiacek, and Mark Chiarello is fantastic. Mignola recently completed Darkseid Cosmic Odyssey before that, so it would be great to see his take on Revelation. Gorgeous placement and character designs, and a different fine line quality brought about by Wiacek inks. The shadows are heavy, but the lines are a little more subtle. Combined with Chiarello’s limited palette, it’s a great story.

Ken Bruzenak’s typeface is also interesting here. I’m used to it being a bit larger in size than the other letters, but it seems a bit restricted, as well as the placement on the page, including the narration box on the gutter between panels. It reminds me a lot of John Workman’s approach, especially when Workman worked with Simonson, which was most likely intentional by the creative team. I love how the letters feel like a design element and add to the flow of the story.

“Wolverine, the Doomhorner, is back. But this time, he took away Falk’s son.

Wolverine: Jungle Adventure The stories of Simonson, Mignola, Wiacek, Chiarello, and Bruzenak remind you—yes, deep introspection and character development is great, especially for those with shady pasts Mysterious Heroes – Sometimes all you need is a straight-up, um-action yarn narrated by a group of masters.

And, well, maybe a little joy remains, which I believe was never extended.