Wolverine vs. Sabretooth: The Marvel Knights Animation Motion Comic

Out tomorrow is the latest Marvel Knights motion comic release from Shout! Factory, Wolverine vs. Sabretooth.

I tried to watch it, I did. But I don’t like Jeph Loeb’s writing. I didn’t like the prehistoric werewolf opening or watching bloody scenes of disembowelment while the narrator, Wolverine, says things to himself like

“Having spent the better part of my life with no real certainty who I was or where I came from. And no, it wasn’t the beer. Suddenly, I got memories by the pantload. Trouble is, what is a memory? Is it a dream? A flashback? … What is real?”

I just couldn’t get involved in what was promised to be (by the promo art) a bloody fight between two animalistic characters. Particularly one without much context given to why we should care about these two beasts.

There are six episodes, illustrated by Simone Bianchi, running between 10 and 14 minutes each. The animation is, as you’d expect, limited. Cut paper-looking figures progress against a still background. Mouths are computer-animated to move with dialogue while eyebrows bob up and down. If I was interested in this story, I’d rather read the comics (Wolverine #50-55), because then, I could go at my own pace.

I also think Bianchi’s style lends itself better to static images. Moving some of the designs looks wrong. The art wasn’t designed for that. Here’s the trailer to show you what I mean:

And here’s some art, which looks great by itself:

The bonus is “A Look Back at Wolverine vs. Sabretooth”, 23 minutes. Jeph Loeb explains how he wanted to put together the final battle with Sabretooth “once and for all”. This was more interesting to me, to hear the background behind the creative decisions, than it was to see yet another tough-guy battle. Bianchi also gives his perspective on the story, and Loeb talks about their working relationship and the techniques they used to create together. (The studio provided a review copy.)