Wolvenheart #8 Review
Writer: Mark London
Artist: Alejandro Giraldo
Colorist: WK Sahadewa
Letterer: Miguel Zapata
Reviewer: KrisK
Mad Cave fires all engines as the little engine that could. In a few years, they have pushed out a a continuous stream of comics. After the sellout success of Nottingham, its not doubt we will be hearing a lot more from them, as they try to capitalize on the run.
Wolvenheart combines a roster of literary characters fighting supernatural threats, similar to League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, with the time travel and bureaucracy of Loki’s TVA. Big difference, these guys muck up the timeline actively.
In the previous volume, Sterling Cross, resident vampire, Slayer, and top hat aficionado, fought with Wolvenheart to take down the Queen in Black. Wolvenheart watches over the supernatural threats to humanity, though they mainly seem focused on England. Sterling associates with the Romani. The other two main groups are the Monks, standard soldier of god types, and the Bokor, vodou practicioners. Kesia, a Romani fortune teller serves as his adviser when he visits. The Queen in Black and Dorian Gray attack Wolvenheart, killing everybody there.
Sterling Cross visits Queen Victoria for access to information regarding the case. He learns Queen Victoria sides with the Queen in Black, who promises the return of her recently deceased husband. Time travel and battles lead to Sterling and Wolvenheart defeating the Queen in Black. After they do so, Sterling travels back in time to take out the Queen and her future associate, Dorian Gray, along with the painting which grants him immortality. Cross then travels back to Wolvenheart base to find the timeline is royally messed up. Cross may have done irreparable damage to his timeline.
Unsure how to proceed, Cross just takes the next mission to get the lay of the land. He goes to Blackmoor, England (1861) to hunt down a father figure. His team features Joan of Arc as a warrior and cleric/prophet, Romeo and Juliet as homicidal lovers/acrobats, and Nicola Tesla as the tech guy. They meet up with a Romani clan housing a fortune teller ally of Cross. The meeting goes poorly, and the group get ambushed by a pack of werewolves. Considering Wolvenheart and Romani seemed ready to kill each other, the ambush may have been a good thing. When they get back though, Cross runs into a face he was not expecting.
Wolvenheart features a strong world of favorite Victorian characters in a new world. While they travel through the past and future, the style remains Victorian, albeit with Wolfenheart having computer situation rooms. The variants of the characters keep it interesting, particularly with the very dark Romeo and Juliet. (Romeo carves her name into his skin. No one ever said the duo were a healthy romance.)
London clearly plotted out this world and its rules, creating an immersive experience. Giraldo and Sahadewa’s art feels unique to the series. Giraldo draws monsters well, particularly werewolves, and I look forward to what other monstrositiesnhe will draw. Sahadewa’s color palette varies greatly with the setting, creating vibrant settings which feel specific to the scene.
Verdict: Buy! Wolvenheart creates a fun world to jump into, full of adventure. If you love literary characters turned into action heroes, this book will scratch the itch.
