While I agree Essential X-Men 1-4 is pure gold , they aren’t without their imperfections either. Essential X-Men has a “Wolverine who hadn’t been molded” yet. No one knew what his past was going to be , and some of his intended back ground was laughable. I remember one scene where a leprechaun insinuated that Wolverine was half human and half Wolverine. Thankfully this leprechaun nonsense was never mentioned again , but my point is each series has it’s good and bad parts. (I even remember they weren’t sure if Logans claws were part of the costume , since a typical villain mocked Wolverine for his claws not being real.) The part that I find the most amusing was how the team often rejected Wolverine as “one of them” , and for the most part they were justified. Logan was a character who originally received a lot of therapy for his murderous rage, and on one or more occasion he acted like a lunatic. It wasn’t until later that other sides of Wolverine were shown, and he became the character we all love today.

If you are looking to start from scratch Pamela , I highly recommend both Ultimate X-Men collections. (Ultimate X-Men : Ultimate Collection Book One and Book Two.) Sure Wolverine has that annoying super healing factor , but the stories are really good. Keep in mind this takes place in alternate universe then the Essential X-Men storyline. But in my opinion this is a nice twist on a old classic . And you’ll be free of the burden of the other story lines that are already established in the original comic. Plus their are some fresh perspectives on Wolverine and he dates Storm in one of the story arcs. If you have the extra cash , I would check them out. A lot of people bash on Mark Millar for returning Wolverine to his assassin roots . But Logan is all about “redemption” and I really like that about him. Heres a link to those TPBs <—-

The other one I can recommend if “Marvel Omnibus : New X-Men”. This one is done by Grant Morrison and it’s one of the better X-Men stories out their. The price tag is a little high , but if you have a Wolverine obsession like me , then you won’t regret spending your hard earned cash on this. This collection is filled with heart break , action , and comedy . Plus this is the story that introduced Scott and Emma’s relationship. In my opinion that last few issues has one of the best Wolverine moments ever. Here is a link to this huge collection <—–

I would stay away from the Wolverine Essential trade paper backs. A writer named Larry Hama worked on those. Digg agrees with me , when I say he introduced a lot of dumb things into the Wolverine canon. If you are looking to get a monthly series I would suggest either “X-Force “ or “Wolverine :First Class”. Both of these series are really good , and worth the monthly trip to the comic book store.

I can only agree with Pamela about your site as the best Wolverine source on the Web. Even if I not always agree with your opinion, I like your reviews (and check the RSS twice a day).

To the best Wolverine I would add “Enemy of the State” and “Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.” Probably not a Wolverine for purists, but it made me think a lot about violence and our personal stand about it, as the body count went so high. Wolverine as archetype has a lot to offer in terms of relation between civilization and savage nature, pain and suffering, revenge, and atonement. I think this is much more interesting then just slicing and clawing.

Another nice issue was “So. This Priest Walks Into a Bar” (Wolverine #6) who is strange because there is no fight in it.

And of course there are a lot of other possibilities to read X-Men and Wolverine: through your local library (maybe they start a comic collection, if you demand it periodically through interlibrary loan), the digital issues at Marvel.com and the not so legal torrent downloads.

Regards
patora