Don’t bring your martial arts to a gunfight
Wolfpack #8 by John Figueroa, Ron Wilson, and Christopher Ivy
While Wolfpack does a decent job dealing with issues present in late eighties America, it’s strangely tone deaf on the rise of gun violence that was already pervading the culture. The team has fought several gangs already, but all of them are armed with chains and pipes at worst. Now their archenemies in the Nine have summoned the ultimate threat for the team: a single man with a rifle.
I’m beginning to doubt the wide-ranging power of the Nine at this point.
Anyway, let’s actually dive into the issue, which kicks off with the team trying to unwind in a pool hall. This leads to a fight, but Rafael is still overwhelmed by the death of his birth father and his new connection to the Nine.
Melvyn Crenshaw of Bedlam Co. (and member of the Nine) hires an assassin named The Missionary to hunt down the “vigilante group” responsible for terminating their head of operations. Crenshaw is surprised when Missionary doesn’t seem happy with the age of his chosen targets, but he still takes the job.
Rafael’s mother is furious that he’s going to hear the will. (It’s strange that this is happening now, as it was presented last issue as if this had all been done. The message makes it clear that his father knew about him the whole time, but left his ex-wife alive as a favor to his son. He offers his “fortune” to his son, which amounts to a measly sixty-five thousand dollars. (That’s about $175,000 in 2025 money.) The four percent of Bedlam Co. that comes with it would seemingly be worth a lot more than that, but he somehow leads with the money.
Rafael uses it to buy a nice new car for the team, but Sharon isn’t sure she likes the new Rafael with his money. He no-shows for a patrol with her, leaving her to go alone. It’s the wrong time to do so as Missionary takes a shot at her, although he doesn’t finish her because he can’t bring himself to do so. He decides he’s done with this work once and for all.
The team tracks him, but the Missionary heads straight for Bedlam Co. He walks into a board meeting and mows down everyone but Crenshaw. The team tries to stop him, but he seems more than a match for them. He only stands down when he learns that Sharon will live. He agrees to leave Crenshaw alive since he didn’t kill her. The issue ends with Sharon’s dad being warned that she may never walk again.
This issue marks the end of the first two-thirds of the series. Between it and the last, it shows a clear progression of the ongoing Nine storyline after a lot of months that seemed to forget about the Wolfpack’s mission entirely. With only four issues left, it seems somewhat crazy to me that Sharon will be able to make a miraculous recovery by issue twelve, but perhaps some ninja magic will make its way into the series. Either way, with Bedlam Co. short on a lot of board members, it looks like Rafael’s new job will be coming sooner rather than later.
What are your thoughts on the team’s adventures so far? Let me know in the comments.