Daken: Dark Wolverine #19:
What Happened: With the Runaways battling against the insane Marcus Roston, Daken is laying back, waiting for the perfect time to strike(there's the cold and calculating Daken I know and love!). However, Roston is able to hold his own against the Runaway kids, so Daken recklessly runs in to attack Roston himself(there's the impulsive Daken I know and loathe!). Unsurprisingly, Roston has his way with Daken(who is still sans a healing factor) and knocks him to the ground, preparing the deathblow. Before Roston can strike the final shot, Daken's inexplicable love interest, FBI Agent Kiel, crashes a helicopter into Roston, pinning him to the ground under the copter. Finally having Roston where he wanted him, Daken taunts Roston and... tells the Runaways Roston was their's to do whatever they wanted with, before leaving with Kiel...
The Good: This story with Roston is FINALLY over. It's always a good thing when the Runaways pop up somewhere, and this comic was no different. The fight scenes were big and explosive, which seems fitting for a storyline that was taking place in Los Angeles.
The Bad: I don't get Daken's attraction to Kiel. At all. Daken's whole thing has always been about using people(go back and read the awesome issue of Dark Wolverine where he basically tells Moonstone just that), not falling in love with them... Romulus would be ashamed! The Runaways were just drawn wrong... Molly and that annoying plant girl looked way too old, and Victor didn't look anything like Victor. That bugged me. I also would have preferred it had Daken killed Roston after all of the crap he had been put through.
The Verdict: Eh, at least this storyline is finally over. Unfortunately, both Roston AND Kiel are still alive. And you know we'll be getting more of Kiel and Daken next issue. It's weird, I've always had Daken pegged as somebody who uses other people. That's the character I fell for from Wolverine Origins, through Dark Wolverine and Dark Avengers, to Daken: Dark Wolverine. He used people to get his way. Be it his father, the Fantastic Four, Norman Osborn, whoever. Now all of a sudden, he's in love with Kiel because they're both psychopaths or something? Yeah, no. I think it's finally time for me to just come out and say that Rob Williams has nowhere NEAR the understanding of Daken that Dan Way and Marjorie Liu did...
Score: 6 out of 10.
Oh good, it's Berserker Daken.........
oh good i was worried we would never see dakens 3rd claw again. the possiblity that it was perminatly removed when wolverine cut them (merged with the mursamara blade) out of him scared me i love the way dakens claws are formated to his hand
ReplyDeleteYea, I am pretty sure that they are messing up the character so much that ending this comic does seem like a mercy killing. Writing a sociopath shouldn't be that hard.
ReplyDeleteGood point, Moviartman. I guess, much like when Wolvie's boneclaws were always breaking, Daken's couldalso grow back. But yeah, the third claw and it's placement are pretty awesome.
ReplyDelete"Writing a sociopath shouldn't be that hard." Not only that, but you'd think a character like that would be a blast to write, Jermox. After one really great issue that gave me hope that Rob Williams knew how to write Daken(the first Daken issue he wrote I believe), the rest of it just fell apart. Daken just lost that edge that seperated him from Wolvie. I'm just hoping Daken vanishes for a few months and either pops up during the AvX thing, or gets a mini-series to try to reestablish who he is.
I know it's old, but I just wanted to read the 3 comics that involved the runaways xD and I figure i'll post this..
ReplyDeleteFor all we know, he probably was using Kiel anyways, no? Daken has a high level of foresight. I recall he had a "Romantic Relationship" with some chick (forgot what comic) and after he was done with her, he let her know he was cheating on her, with out her knowing he was letting her know, and ended up poisoning the wine he bought, knowing her well enough to drink it to spite him. Just an example. Saying that he's using Kiel like he used that girl would be an easy save.. but if it's as bad as you describe, it's unlikely to be used if the same writer stays..
also yeah, When X-23 pulled her metal claws out of her arm, and burned her arm away, she had Dr. Nemisis extract the bone claws that were regrowing with her new arm, to put the adamantium claws back in (like a baws lol.)
That def could be the case with Kiel and Daken, and to be honest, I wish that was the way it went, because it would have made way more sense. But in a later issue(#20 or 21) Daken was still professing his love for Kiel and seemed genuinely hurt when she tried to shoot him. It was weird... Who knows, maybe if this series was to continue, Daken would have eventually turned on Kiel instead of acting like a lovesick puppy.
ReplyDeleteDamn, that sounds pretty awesome! Everything about that scene sounds great!