Wolverines #3 Review

writer: Charles Soule / artist: Juan Doe / Marvel Comics Well this was unexpected. Wolverines #3 was that segment that takes you so far away from the original storyline that you stop and ask, “what was this about again?” Now, sometimes that tactic is a distracting divergence from an otherwise strong plot, while other times it’s a welcome reprieve that broadens the story. In this case, it’s the latter. We left issue 2 with Mystique in the war room, briefing the team – for lack of a better word – on the challenges of recovering Wolverine’s corpse from Sinister. His fortress impenetrable at best, and fatal at worst, but they would have an ace up their sleeve to help them recover the body that is the key to saving their lives. That ace’s name is Fantomelle. How would they get Fantomelle to help them? Why would she risk her life? None of that matters in this issue, as it only serves to answer one question: Who is she? And that turns out to be a fun answer.

Fantomelle is the world’s most unstoppable thief, and the issue begins by showing her work: she stakes out an apartment, breaks in, and begins to steal diamonds, million-dollar artwork, a source of great power, The Punisher’s shirt, literally off his back. On the list of brazen gangster robberies, this ranks somewhere alongside Omar robbing a poker game of drug dealers on The Wire. I imagine her assignment was like a game of dare that escalated quickly: Buyer: I bet you wouldn’t steal from The Punisher.Fantomelle: You don’t kno…