Daken Akihiro - Dark Wolverine #75-77

(okay, I take back what I said)

When I learned that Wolverine/Logan had a son named Daken, I was perplexed. Not to say that Logan can't get his swerve on. At the end of the day, he is human and has desires like the rest of us. To be honest, Logan is over 100 years old. So I am sure Daken Akihiro won't be the last offspring to pop up.

Like his father, Daken has a healing factor. It's a power that I am really kind of sick of. So there was one strike against Daken. It also made me wonder that if he had a healing factor like his father, then he isn't a mutant since there is no genetic variation. Take it step further with Daken's bone claws. I figured he was just another carbon copy (like Dead Pool -whom is really a mixture of Wolverine and Spiderman if you think about it). However, Daken also uses his pheromones to manipulate people's emotions.

Daken, unlike his father, uses deception to control people and pit them against each other. At times, Daken is willing to be defeated to achieve his aims. In the Dark Wolverine series, we see Daken manipulating the Fantastic Four against Norman Osborn and the Dark Avengers. This story sold me on Daken Akihiro.

I still have my issues with bone claws and the fact that he rocks a tattoo (how does a guy with healing factor keep a tattoo?). Like any comic book hero (with the exception of Dead Pool, Moon Knight, and 85% of the DC Universe) in the hands of a decent writer, some great stories can be produced.

Doomwar Part One

Written by Jonathan Maberry
Penciled by Scot Eaton
Inks by Andy Lanning & Robert Campanella
Review by Dan Tres OMi

When I first saw the promo for this limited series, I was hesitant to pick it up. Now I think Dr. Doom is one of the best villains out there. I dislike the Fantastic Four movie franchise and felt that Hollywood did a horrible rendition of Dr. Doom. Dr. Doom is vastly powerful and I find that most writers haven't explored Doom's personality or genius. Since Reginald Hudlin began writing and reworking Black Panther/T'Challa, he has introduced Dr. Doom as a rival. I really liked this. Two monarchs of two advanced nations squaring off on a grand chess board. Sometimes, T'Challa and Doom are allies and sometimes they aren't. Well, Doom has finally made his final move and has behind the dethroning of T'Challa and his sister Shurri. To top it off, Ororo, T'Challa's wife and X-Man has been captured by Doom's minions, the Desturi.

T'Challa and Shurri flee Wakanda leaving Ororo/Storm to fend for herself. With no allies and the entire world community believing allegations of human rights violations committed by T'Challa ans his family, the monarchs find refuge with the X-Men. Cyclops however, realizes that his hands are tied since Utopia Nation X is a new nation with few allies and very few nations that recognize it's sovereignty.

The story so far is wonderful. T'Challa knows that a full all out war will kill a great number of his people so he has to pay Doom's game for the time being. Meanwhile his sister, refuses to wear the kid gloves and wants to return Wakanda to it's rightful owners by any means necessary. The X Men are wary of T'Challa since he so readily abandoned his wife. It will be interesting to see who else who take sides and lend a hand.

This is a story I have been waiting and hoping on. I hope that we see the Wakandans take the war to Latveria since Doom rules that country like an Iron Fist. If not, it would be great to see another political realignment with several groups within the Marvel Universe.