Daken Akhiro, the long lost son of Wolverine appeared on the pages of Wolverine Origins in 2007 and since then he's taken the MU by storm. Now the star of his own book titled Daken: Dark Wolverine, Daken has set out to do what Pinky and the Brain try to do every night... try and takeover the world.
When we last left our "hero"; Daken had just arrived in Madripoor and wanted to help out Tyger Tiger, the current ruler/CEO/Crimelord of Madripoor obtain some ledgers held by some upstart rival gang leaders wanting to cash in on slavery and drugs...the two vices that the lovely Lady Tiger has banned in Madripoor. A city that makes Las Vegas look like the most wholesome place to live.
Now last week our preview started out with Daken trying to get info about his role in this sting. But the issue really starts with a two pages of the gangsters enjoying some adult entertainment while Daken provides his standard narration.
We then flip back to the preview where we see Daken try to schmooze up Tyger and her co-horts but fails while Tyger gets a call from Sister Francis, a local nun who took in a bunch of young girls Tyger liberated in a human trafficking sting. Well it turns out the girls were experimented on and some girls have wounds that won't heal. If you've been reading X-23 (excellently written by Marjorie Liu) or glanced at the solicits for the next couple of months than you already know that this is a lead in to the Daken/X-23 "Collision" crossover; which puts them against Malcolm Colcord (another great Malcolm in the world, though the greatest is yours truly) whose trying to use Phoenix Down on his old Weapon X Program.
One of the gangsters shows up, who just so happens to be an old geezer and starts to mack with one of the female entertainers. She then slips him some drugs during their make out session which causes the old man to go into cardiac arrest. Medics rush (Tyger's men in disguise) and bring him back from the brink and switch the Old Man's briefcase for one with a bomb. They release the man and he goes to his meeting and then the bomb goes off killing Tyger's rivals in the process. Daken then congratulates Tyger and takes his leave saying that their business is done and over with.
Which is bull shit of-course. Turns out that Max, Tyger's Numbah 1, is working for Daken and uses some smoke bombs to knock out Tyger. Daken swaggers in and takes the briefcases, ledgers and money like a G. He then switches into some civies and climbs to the top of a radio tower and uses a small EMP device he stole from Mr. Fantastic to send Madriopoor back to the dark ages.
Madripoor is overwhelmed with chaos while Tyger tries to bring back some form of order and then asks Max what happened. We then seen Tyger on a roof as the sun sets over Madripoor ready to duel Daken for the fate of Madripoor. Which is where Daniel Way and Marjorie Liu leave us for now.
So far since Dark Wolverine was relaunched into Daken: DW the book has been a fun read filled with all kinds of shenanigans. A mix of the good and cheeky and the cruel and tragic shenanigans. This arc has been no different. Action, suspense, back-stabbing, seduction, are all found in this issue.
I love Madripoor. Plain and simple. Its a lot like Roanapur from the manga Black Lagoon (for those manga fans out there, give it a read its BAD ASS); a beautiful city in South East Asia which is actually the home and base of operations of criminals around the world. It's a two faced city, which is perfect for a character like Daken.
Way & Liu not only do a great job of developing Daken but they do a great job of working the arc's supporting cast of Tyger, Max and Gui (Madripoor's Chief of Police). Each character brings something different to the table. Gui is an honest man living in a dishonest town trying to give his wife and daughter a better life, Max cares for his Boss but is willing to do what Daken says to protect his family. And lastly is Tiger whom is trying to promote class/honor/dignity among Madripoor's underworld.
Its fun to see Daken try to flirt/seduce her and have her laugh in his face like Mystique did in the first arc.We all know that Daken has Daddy issues; but its fun to see Way & Liu play with the idea of Daken having Mommy issues as well. It might explain his attraction to strong women like Mystique and Tiger. Or perhaps Daken just has a thing for Women who can kick ass...I know I sure as hell do. I love a woman who can kick my ass!
On a sad note Way & Liu will be passing the writing torch to Rob Williams after the "Collision" crossover. I'm not familiar with Williams work so I cannot say this is a good or bad thing. Its one of those wait and see things. But Williams is starting off his Daken Shenanigans in LA and as a born and bred California boy I'm always supportive of adventures in the Golden State.
Giuseppe Camuncoli's art is once again excellent. Whether its a bunch of scantly clad adult entertainers, Tyger's WTF face after hearing about the girls Sister Francis took in, or Daken's smirk as he used the EMP on Madripoor, Camu's art is great. Hell he actually made me enjoy Daken's designer made costume; which is something because I thought it looked horrid when it first shown to the public back in August of 2010.
There's not a whole lot I can say about the things that I found fault with in this issue. My biggest beef is the panels of some criminals knocking over a bank, then getting knocked over by other gangsters and so on before getting stopped by Tyger. In my humble opinion a montage of chaos across Madripoor with some Daken narration would have been better. That's how I would have done it but such is life.
All and all Daken: Dark Wolverine #6 is a fun read about a man trying to lay the foundations of a global empire by trying to take over the crime utopia of Madripoor. As a single issue its pretty good but as part of an arc its great. The next issue should be fantastic as we see the outcome of Daken and Tyger's duel for the future of Madripoor. I give this 8 Gs out of 10.
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