Synopsis & Review by Sean Mills. Thanks!:
Synopsis: High above the Midwest, Wolverine has dropped in on a stolen federal treasury jumbo jet. It was high-jacked by a religious nut job with a Crusades motif called, of all things, the Crusader. He has a whole legion of troops and Wolverine cuts through them in his usual manner. The Crusader seems to only quote scripture, even when commanding his pilot to crash the plane into the towns and villages below. Wolverine cuts his way past the Crusader and the pilot and takes over the controls, managing to steer the giant plane into a cornfield. A shame really, Wolverine loves corn.

Sometime later, Wolverine wakes up amidst the cleaning crew and heads to a local bar for some relaxation. While chatting it up with the country bumpkin teen-age waitress in Daisy Dukes, Logan gets an emergency beeping on his Avengers communicator. Next thing he knows, he also gets an emergency beeping from his X-Men communicator. Glancing to the TV, Logan learns of the Stamford Accident from Civil War #1. The exploding super villain Nitro used his powers on a massive scale in a residential neighborhood, killing hundreds of innocent people. He caused the explosion after being attacked by the New Warriors, a team of teenage superheroes who fight crime as part of a reality show.

In Doomstadt, Latveria, two mysterious men are also watching the footage of the New Warrior’s battle with Nitro. The men seem very interested in Nitro, whose real name is Robert Hunter.

In Stamford, Connecticut, Wolverine joins the X-Men and Avengers in cleaning up the rubble. The heroes remain mostly quiet, but the first words are about Nitro and punishment, but Logan knows that that will change. Who really gets blamed and scape-goated will change with time, especially since the O*N*E* Sentinels are standing by watching the X-Men because it’s their job.

In the backyard of some family home in Port Washington, New York, a pretty soccer mom gets a secretive telephone call, and when it’s over, she tells her husband that the operations directorate says they need to get on a plane.

In New York City, Logan’s dining out at one of his favorite Asian restaurants as he laments the fact that there’s been no sign of Nitro as the Superhuman Registration Act grows stronger. His meal is interrupted by the manager, however, who asks him to leave because the other patrons don’t like a superhero dining with them. Logan relents and heads out the back door, only to run into several Asian men who seem to want to take Logan down. They act tough, but then Logan cycles through his history of training and weapons and they back down. They were stupid, but anger makes people stupid and the smoke is rising.

At a gathering of superheroes in the Baxter Building, Wolverine defends the right to wear masks because the world isn’t so nice outside of that Ivory Tower. The Thing accuses Wolverine of giving superheroes a bad name. Later, when Logan asks Iron Man about the hunt for Nitro, Iron Man simply replies that SHIELD is working on it. When Logan doesn’t like the answer, Iron Man tells him to let it go. The last thing they need at the moment is a superhero out there with a vendetta. Iron Man leaves Wolverine in the dark. He’s soon joined by fellow-Avenger Luke Cage, who defends the Registration Act while Wolverine compares it to Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. Cage doesn’t like the comparison and Logan mentions the Sentinels that are parked on Xavier’s lawn. Cage gives the government line about them being there for the mutants’ protection. Wolverine then compares the Sentinel on their lawn to a burning cross and explains that, to a mutant, a Sentinel is the ultimate symbol of oppression and bigotry. Logan storms off.

At the X-Mansion, with the Sentinels still parked outside, Cyclops and Emma Frost try to convince Logan that Nitro is not their problem. It quickly turns into an argument that Logan won’t even listen to and he storms off again.

Suiting up, Wolverine returns to the heart of Stamford and picks up Nitro’s scent. He’s been an Avenger for several months, but he’s finally got something to avenge.

Review: Best issue of Wolverine I have ever read! This Civil War tie-in was perfect on every page, from the dialogue, to Wolverine’s role in Civil War, to the art. This was beautiful, Wolverine at his best. With all the rest of the superheroes fighting each other over this registration, it makes perfect sense for Wolverine to take the high road and keep his eyes on the prize. That’s one of my biggest problems with Civil War, that everyone’s blaming the New Warriors and nobody seems to care that Nitro is the one who killed everybody. But Wolverine understands, he knows all about scape-goating and the curse of politics, so he’s going to do what he does best and stop the bad guy. Guggenheim does an excellent job with Wolverine’s inner monologue, being both funny in a Wolverine kind of way and also intelligent. This is Wolverine, this is his role in the Marvel Universe. He can’t always be the rough and tumble guy in the bar, sometimes he needs to don his costume and be a bad ass superhero. I can’t wait for what happens next.

Also, this may be one of the only mysterious two page segways I’ve ever really cared about. The mysterious men in Latveria are well written.

And Ramos’ art may be wild, but it’s nearly perfect. While his Logan could use some improvements, his Wolverine is gorgeous! The shorter mask spikes make for a good visual and the flurry of motion he seems to portray is nicely suited for Wolverine-style violence. Again, great stuff!