Daken: Dark Wolverine #16

It's time for another issue of Daken... Now don't get me wrong, I love Daken and feel he's one of the more complicated/interesting characters in all of comic books... When written properly. Unfortunately, since Rob Williams has taken over the writing duties for this book, Daken really hasn't been true to the character that was set forth by Dan Way and Marjorie Liu. With that said I'm hopeful that Williams will eventually find his feet in this series and we'll get the old, awesome Daken that I became such a fan of...

Daken: Dark Wolverine #16:

Summary: Ugh, Daken is still suffering from the effects of the Heat drug and due to either the drug or the withdrawal from it, his healing factor is on the fritz. Marcus Roston, who is the supplier of Heat, uses FBI agent Kiel(who he got addicted to Heat) to set the LAPD on Daken, leading them to the home Daken was laying low in. The cops attack Daken's house with a jet(?! Really?!?), but Daken manages to escape... From the LAPD AND their jet. Without a fully functional healing factor. In his underwear... Roston is fine with that, since it allows him to toy with Daken some more. To that end he sends Kiel to talk Moon Knight out of hunting for Daken, leaves a dummy in his office with a mess of Heat pills for Daken(which Daken thankfully doesn't take) and uses his thus far unexplained powers to shape-shift into Daken and kills all of the LA mobsters Daken had managed to get working for him. By this time Daken has caught up to Roston(with an automatic rifle, in his underwear, suffering from withdrawal, with the entire LAPD searching for him), but Roston flies(?!?) up to the rooftop Daken was watching Roston from and tells Daken that he was now going to kill him just for the hell of it.

Thoughts: If I wasn't such a big fan of Daken... This issue was just plain bizarre. There's not really much else I can say about it. I mean if you've either read this issue or read my review of it, I can't see how you can come to a conclusion other than the fact that this entire issue was indeed bizarre. What are Roston's powers exactly? I mean originally I figured he was a telepath, but now it seems he's a shapeshifter, a telepath, can fly, and is presumably a genius since he claims to have created the Heat drug... And then there's the case of Daken, who spent this entire issue in his underwear, toting an automatic rifle, and yet, with no disguise to speak of, has managed to walk around LA hunting down Roston, all while avoiding the LAPD, who used a jet to try to kill him!! Like I said, if I wasn't such a big fan of Daken......

Score: 6 out of 10.Yep, it's safe to say that Daken has seen better days.