Writer: Gerry Duggan
Art: Mike Deodato, Frank Martin, and VC’s Travis Lanham
Price: $3.99
Release Date: June 5th, 2019
Open heart surgery, Nazi’s, a thieving Barbarian, a genie in a bottle, back bombs, and Wolverine wrecking shop all in this week’s issue of SAVAGE AVENGERS #2 by Gerry Duggan. Let’s attack this issue!
WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
SUMMARY
Gerry Duggan opens the story in 1940 when a Nazi pilot named Jonah Ricter’s plane crash lands in the Savage Land. He’s forced to survive and fight off dinosaurs until one day when he finds this city and it’s leader Kulan Gath. Gath appears to welcome Ricter into his fray and is now known as the Sickle Priest, which is the man who has been executing strong, talented, and popular figures to summon Jhoatun Lau.
Duggan then jumps back to the present where we see Logan fighting off the Sickle Priest and later tries to save Voodoo’s life by slicing open his chest and massaging his heart. Meanwhile, Conan sneaks into the Sickle Castle to steal an amulet off a sleeping Kulan Gath. After a quick battle between the two, Conan grabs the Venom symbiote in a jar beside him, smashes it open on Gath, avoids capture, and steals the amulet, which just so happened to be the Third Eye of Agamotto.
Duggan jumps back to Wolverine fighting off the Hand and Voodoo pops up to help in the fight. Somehow, what Wolverine did saved his life. The issue concludes with Punisher entering the Sickle City with a bomb strapped to his back, Frankie Boy blowing up some Hand Ninja’s screaming “Where’s my family?”, and leaving fans wanting more and wanting it NOW!
CREATIVE AND EXCITING
Gerry Duggan never takes his foot off the gas throughout the entire issue. From start to finish, this sucker is filled with high-octane excitement and a “savage” vibe that will not disappoint. Duggan’s masterful storytelling puts almost all the characters on tap in this issue, jumps back and forth between them with ease, and still manages to give important background information to the villainous cult in an interesting way.
This reviewer loves the 1940 Nazi tie in, the Third Eye of Agamotto inclusion, as well as the Savage Land connection. Duggan creatively connects years of Marvel history into one story from so many different corners of the Marvel Universe. Sorcery, the Weapon Program, the Hand, the space symbiote, Nazi’s, a Barbarian, a Punisher, and all of this happens in the Savage Land. Readers are two (and a half including the Free Comic Day Issue) into the series and have already experienced some of the craziest $&@& violently mashed together in this epic narrative that leaves fans wanting more. This is some of the most fun this reviewer has had reading comics in months! Keep up the great work Duggan!
QUESTIONS
One question this reviewer actually had throughout the issue was when Wolverine cut open Voodoo’s chest, massages his heart, and saves his life. Does Wolverine’s ability heal others too? Does Wolverine’s blood have the power to heal others and practically bring them back from the dead? Voodoo questions what happened but Logan doesn’t seem fazed by it at all. Is this a new ability or is it simply something associated with the Sickle Priest and what he did to him with the ritual? This reviewer hopes Duggan can shed some light on this question in the next issue.
Lastly, who is the narrator of the story? When Conan refers to the Venom symbiote as a “genie”, this fan loved that description. However, that implies that the narrator was either Conan or someone in the cult who has little understanding of the current make up within the Marvel Universe. But, if it’s Conan, the same narrator was referencing the 1940’s earlier which he would know nothing about. Point is; this reviewer is just a bit confused as to who is narrating the story. Is it Kulan Gath, the Sickle Priest, Conan, or someone totally different?
ART
Mike Deodato’s art was off the chains! Each splash page was placed so well and his eye to detail was astounding. Every reader could pick up the issue and get a taste for each time jump and all story beats even without the amazing dialogue from Duggan. Mike Deodato and Frank Martin’s dark, earthy, and muddy pencils, inks, and colors set the mood of the issue and help place readers into this savagely rough and angry setting of the story. Thanks to the amazing work of Deodato and Martin, fans will leave the issue feeling apart of every slice, punch, uppercut, and explosion. This reviewer wants this art team to stick with Duggan throughout the entire run. Together, the sky is truly the limit!
There are only two bad things about this issue. The first thing is that it ended and the second is that it’s not bi-weekly. That’s it! If Duggan made these issues 60 pages long, this reviewer would buy them and hang on to each page still wanting more. There is so much happening on every page and within every panel. Fans could easily come back for more every other week and STILL need their SAVAGE AVENGER fix. Duggan’s storytelling is fantastic, deeply intricate, smart, and fierce while Deodato and Martin’s art is angry, detailed, violent, and purposeful, which totally amplified the savage nature of the series. These three have found their perfect book to work on together and every other creative team should be put on notice because they’re coming for you! There is no doubt that only after 2 issues, this series could very well be the best ongoing in comics now. If you haven’t checked it out, go to your shop, get issue 1 as well as this issue. Read them back to back and somehow tell this reviewer that I’m wrong!
Final Thoughts:
Put this series on your pull list and while you’re at it, hide your kids, hide your wife, cause Duggan, Deodato, and Martin are kicking $&@$ and taking names!