If you read Frank Cho’s Dynamite book Jungle Girl, you already have an idea of what to expect here.  It takes place in the Savage Land, and all hell breaks lose rather fast.  Cho hasn’t hidden his love of Shanna the She-Devil, and it shows in his writing.  She gets some good dialogue compared to the other characters in this book. Granted, most of her dialogue is explaining the trip that the reader just saw themselves.  Savage Wolverine #1 isn’t written well, but it shows a lot of potential.  It could be a fun and outlandish book.  Cho misses a great opportunity for humor, instead going for straight seriousness.  The recent Avenging Spider-Man arc in the Savage Land used the absurdity of the land rather well.  Wolverine can’t stay in the Savage Land forever, so Shanna will have to make a trip to the Jean Grey School sooner or later, which is a situation ripe with humor.

Wolverine doesn’t fare well in this issue.  It’s clear from the start that Cho wanted this book to be a Shanna ongoing, but Marvel thought it wouldn’t sell. So Cho threw Wolverine into it so that it would sell.  He barely speaks, and narrates every little thing he does.  The reader doesn’t need to be told he just killed someone when we saw the head flying across the panel.  The narrations go away once Wolverine bumps into Shanna, which betters the issue.  If the next few issues have the same problems, maybe Marvel should bring a cowriter aboard for a while.  Help Cho get his ideas out more effectively.  If I had any control over the books Marvel published, they would have turned this into a Shanna book instead.  Wolverine has enough books, and Marvel has been succeeding recently with B and C lister books.  If the book is good, it will sell.  Also, this would be a MAX book.  Cho could pencil the nudity that he terribly wants to pencil.

At this point in Frank Cho’s career, everyone knows what to expect from his books.  Lots of dinosaurs, cavemen, and scantly clad women.  Every other shot of Shanna has her standing in a provocative position with her boobs almost hanging out.  With the story being serious in nature, the amount of boobs sticks out that much more (no pun intended).  If Savage Wolverine had been more lighthearted and over the top, the boobs would have felt natural (I seriously didn’t mean that pun either).  Savage Wolverine is one great looking comic though. Every character is very expressive and detailed, and the lush jungles are beautiful.  The contrast of wide screen panels and small panels is used well to convey the fighting.  Cho’s amazing art is going to be the big draw on this book for some time.

Savage Wolverine is going to be a bubble book for some time.  If the writing can improve, and the tone can shift a little bit, we have ourselves a great book.  But if not, we have a dud.

Savage Wolverine #1 gets 3/5.

MrComicBook, Review: Savage Wolverine #1

–SCIENCE Takes Comic-Con International: San Diego 2012 by Storm with Panels for FIREFLY, DARK MATTERS: TWISTED BUT TRUE and STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW–
TWITTER: @ScienceChannel #FireflySDCC #DarkMattersSDCC #SYSK

(SILVER SPRING, MD) – SCIENCE today announced that it will converge on the world’s leading comics and pop culture convention with three exclusive panels at this year’s Comic-Con International: San Diego (Comic-Con), taking place July 12-15. Headlined by the 10-year anniversary panel for the cult sensation FIREFLY, the network’s first appearance at the event features a star-studded lineup of top talent, producers and never-before-seen footage, along with numerous buzz-worthy surprises. SCIENCE will burst onto the scene at this year’s Comic-Con providing the ultimate signature experience that fans won’t soon forget, with additional presentations for DARK MATTERS: TWISTED BUT TRUE and STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW. FRINGE, which will make its SCIENCE debut on November 20, also will feature a panel on Sunday, July 15.
For the first time ever, SCIENCE will bring together the cast from the beloved but short-lived series, FIREFLY.

Captain Mal and his team will descend upon San Diego 10 years after the sci-fi western first hit airwaves and triggered a fanatical following. Since making its debut on SCIENCE in 2011, FIREFLY has become an audience favorite, attracting an army of both new and veteran Browncoats to the network. Join creator, executive producer and writer Joss Whedon, alongside fellow executive producer and writer Tim Minear, and cast members Nathan Fillion, Alan Tudyk, Adam Baldwin, Sean Maher, Michael Fairman and the rest of the crew of Serenity for one of this year’s the most anticipated panels on Friday, July 13, at 12:30 PM (PT).
Friday evening at 7:15 PM (PT), John Noble (FRINGE) and the creators of SCIENCE’s hit series DARK MATTERS: TWISTED BUT TRUE will unveil shocking never-before-seen footage from the show’s second season. Join host Noble, the series’ executive producer and a featured scientific historian as SCIENCE offers a sneak peak at forbidden research records from the most shocking studies ever executed. Featuring gruesome lobotomy experiments, controversial CIA mind-control studies and accounts of live human transplants, the all-new season shows that science fact can be stranger—and sometimes more entertaining—than science fiction. Noble also will be signing limited edition DARK MATTERS Comic-Con posters at his autograph session for those brave enough to question everything. DARK MATTERS: TWISTED BUT TRUE season two premieres Saturday, July 14, at 10 PM (ET/PT). This is just the beginning of Noble’s Comic-Con conquest, as he will appear alongside the cast of the FRINGE at the Warner Bros. featured panel on Sunday, June 15. FRINGE makes its cable debut on SCIENCE on November 20 at 8 PM (ET/PT).

Finally, everyone’s favorite genius generalists Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant make their freshman Comic-Con appearance to record a live edition of their top-10 downloaded HowStuffWorks podcast. Josh and Chuck will lead Comic-Con’s fans in the 360-degree discussion Time Travel: Science Fact or Science Fiction? With surprise guests and exclusive giveaways, the guys also will reveal hidden scenes from their upcoming SCIENCE series STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW, premiering in January 2013.
“As a network, SCIENCE has one foot in the planetarium and the other in Comic-Con. This venue is the Mecca for creativity and inspiration that can spark a great work of art or the next scientific breakthrough,” said Debbie Adler Myers, general manager and executive vice president for SCIENCE. “From Joss, Nathan and our amazing FIREFLY panel, to John Noble and DARK MATTERS, to Josh and Chuck; our panels reflect the programming on SCIENCE—totally diverse but all whip-smart, hugely entertaining, lean-forward television.”

“We are very excited to welcome SCIENCE to the Comic-Con International family,” commented David Glanzer, director of marketing and public relations for Comic-Con. “They have some of the most-anticipated panels at this year’s event and we know they won’t disappoint the legion of fans that come from all over the world to experience the phenomena that is Comic-Con.”

For more information on this year’s lineup, please visit: SCIENCECHANNEL.com and Comic- Con International: San Diego 2012 at http://www.comic-con.org/cci/.
SCIENCE CHANNEL PANELS AT SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON 2012
TIME TRAVEL: SCIENCE FACT OR SCIENCE FICTION? STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW WITH JOSH & CHUCK

Thursday, 7/12/12, 4:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m., Room: 5AB
SCIENCE presents Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant, hosts of the Top 10 iTunes podcast STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW, as they lead a discussion about time travel with some very special celebrity guests for a live from Comic-Con taping of their podcast. Josh and Chuck’s loyal fan following, chemistry and insatiable curiosity are core to the launch of SCIENCE’s upcoming series STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW, as the two pioneer the way for what likely will be more introductions of talent discovered and incubated online finding a place on new platforms. Join Josh and Chuck and the SCIENCE team at Comic-Con for an exclusive sneak-peek of STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW, as well as limited edition Comic-Con exclusive giveaways from SCIENCE.

FIREFLY 10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY
Friday 7/13/12, 12:30 p.m.–1:30 p.m., Room: 20
It has been 10 years since the crew of Serenity took flight in Joss Whedon’s short-lived but now revered series, FIREFLY. SCIENCE will reconvene, for the first time in a decade, Captain Mal Reynolds and the crew from the ship, calling all Browncoats to unite at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con. The cast of FIREFLY will talk about the past, present and future of FIREFLY, 10 years after its debut. SHINY.

DARK MATTERS
Friday, 7/13/12, 7:15 p.m.–8:15 p.m., Room: 6A
This summer, SCIENCE returns to the laboratory to unearth history’s most sinister tales with the second season of the breakout series DARK MATTERS: TWISTED BUT TRUE. Join USA Today’s Brian Truitt; John Noble; Executive Producer Rocky Collins; and science historian Michael Stevens as we take a closer look at the forbidden research records on the most shocking scientific studies ever executed. From gruesome lobotomy experiments, to controversial CIA studies, to spine-chilling accounts of live human transplants, the all-new season shows that science fact can be stranger, and even more entertaining, than science fiction. The six world premiere episodes take audiences inside a real-life Twilight Zone, where shocking CGI re-creations illustrate unforgettable tales of genius gone horribly awry. DARK MATTERS: TWISTED BUT TRUE premieres Saturday, July 14, at 10:00 PM (ET/PT).

JOHN NOBLE/DARK MATTERS AUTOGRAPH SESSION
Saturday, 7/15/12, 1:30 p.m.–2:30 p.m.
John Noble, host of SCIENCE’s hit series DARK MATTERS, will be signing limited edition Comic-Con International: San Diego 2012 commemorative posters during his autograph session.

Agent Burgos, BROWNCOATS UNITE! SCIENCE CELEBRATES FIREFLY’S 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY WITH EXCLUSIVE SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON PANEL