Sabretooth #1 by Victor LaValle

Sabretooth #1 Reviews

• 
  Scratch

  I'm unsure. On the one hand, I'm annoyed that Sabretooth is getting his own book at all. He has been an unapologetic murderer for the majority of his time in comics, not counting times he was psychically altered or replaced by an alternate reality version of himself. The way he kills is always barbaric, yet cruel. The way he targets Wolverine's girlfriends, and eats their guts, seems waaaaay too sado-sexual and upsetting.
  
  Still, this particular issue seems like a little higher quality than most post-Dawn of X. It tries to tackle the ethical reasons for, and ramifications of, incarceration. I'm not sure how great a job it actually does handling this. I learned from my first week of Intro to Criminal Justice that there are 4 theories of incarceration: Punishment, deterrence, rehabilitation, and protecting the public at large. These 4 theories aren't really in dispute, except lawyers usually argue about them in court at cross purposes. A defense attorney will wax on to the judge about how their client has already been rehabilitated, while the prosecutor will gloss over that argument altogether to focus on the fact that the defendant deserves to be punished, or the public at large needs to be protected from him/her.
  
  If the writer wants to talk about rehabilitation, Sabretooth is not doing a great job of demonstrating it. We are given to understand that since he has been placed in "the pit" of Krakoa, he is operating in some kind of psychic fantasy world. For some inexplicable reason Cypher believes that Sabretooth was judged too harshly, so he communicates with Sabretooth in this psychic plane to let him know that's where he is at.
  
  Even after receiving this measure of mercy from Cypher, Sabretooth proceeds to demonstrate that all of his wildest fantasies are barbaric. They're just about killing and torturing his enemies. Mystique is shown in a couple panels rent to pieces. Since she and Sabretooth used to have a romantic relationship, and even had a kid together, that increases the awfulness of Sabretooth's fantasy world. It's not just that he wants to kill his enemies; he wants to dismember ex-girlfriends.
  
  It remains to be seen whether later issues are going to show Sabretooth improving at all.
  
  I will say that I am pleased a half-dozen obscure mutants appear at the end of this issue. Nekra is traditionally an Avengers villain, and Madison Jeffries is traditionally an Alpha Flight member. Using X-adjacent characters particularly appeals to me.
  
  We shall see.
• 
  A.J.

  Awesome first issue. Gnarly as hell, but also surprisingly introspective.
  
  That Cyclops page though...... I would have given this 4 stars, but that page alone was one of the cooler things I have read in comics. Also the end is depressing as hell. I wish Oya could just be okay:(
• 
  Mr. Cody

  Not entirely sure what the hell was going on, but Sabretooth is my #1 favorite comic book "hero." A little too much of the ol' graphic violence, but hey, that comes with the territory.
• 
  James DeSantis

  Something about a POS knowing they're a piece of shit and embrace it makes for a fun read. How this will end I don't know but I'm intrigued.
• 
  Colin Post

  This book is kind of inexplicable — philosophical, putrid, paratactic, pulp. I haven’t been keeping up with the Krakoa-era X-books so I may be missing some of the context but LaValle gives enough background to new readers. Sabretooth is vile and exiled, body trapped but mind free to wander. Imprisoned, he creates Hell. I can’t wait to see LaValle explores these concepts in 4 more issues.
• 
  Dimitrios

  3.75
• 
  Emily

  This is super messed up. I love it. But who dropped a bunch of random people in the pit? Madison Jeffries? Oya? They don't deserve exile.
• 
  Burton Olivier

  victor as the king of Krakoan hell is not what I was expecting but i like it
• 
  Papasmurfiiiviii

  I was looking forward to this - in part because I like Sabretooth, and more importantly his contrast with Wolverine. And next, and more prominently, because it’s a plot line from House of X/Powers of X. It doesn’t have to be incredibly long - and I give marvel credit for giving it a short/sweet mini-series.
  
  Really looking forward to the next one!