We start with an awesome 3-D screenshot from the ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine‘ video game, courtesy of uncaged.com, as well as the official press release.

Moving on to animation news, the ‘Hulk vs.‘ DVD arrives in stores on January 27 and we have a few more previews, clips and featurettes…
–Newsarama has two Hulk vs. Wolverine video previews: 1 and 2…
–CBR has lined up five movie clips and featurettes for Hulk vs. Wolverine…

‘Wolverine and the X-Men‘ debuts on NickToons on Friday, January 23 at 8pm (and yes, I will be reviewing it) and the official site offers up tons of clips.

-Marvel has also posted video spotlights for Cyclops, Rogue, Beast and Storm …

In Wolverine comic book news…
–Wolverine: Agent of Atlas (Part I, Part II and Part III): Issue 3 released as free exclusive from Marvel Comics Digital…
–Astonishing Tales: Wolverine/Punisher (Part I and Part II): Issue 2 released with free preview from Marvel Comics Digital…

Comics Previews of probable Wolverine appearances this week…
– Astonishing X-Men #28 (preview): Ghost Box, Part 4…
– Dark Avengers #1 (preview): Wolverine confirmed…
– Marvel Adventures the Avengers #32 (preview): The IRS comes looking for Wolverine…
– Mighty Avengers #21 (preview): The New Avengers and Dark Avengers guest star…
– Weapon X: First Class #3 (preview): Series finale…
– Wolverine: Origins #32 (preview): More on Daken…
– X-Men Legacy #220 (preview): Wolverine graces the cover at the very least…

Wolverine appeared in two titles from this past week (January 14, 2009) and two from last week that I missed, starting with…

X-Infernus #2 (preview)
“This Mortal Coil”
Writer: C.B. Cebulski
Penciler: Giuseppe Camuncoli
Inker: Jesse Delperdang with Craig Yeung

Wolverine doesn’t get to do much, but next issue looks most promising. Though I do like his dialogue, “You okay, kiddo? An’ let’s keep those hands where I can see’em now…”

X-Men and Spider-Man #3 (preview)
“Clone Sagas”
Writer: Christos Gage
Artist: Mario Alberti

I am enjoying this series a lot, as we fast forward to Wolverine with bone claws. And we get to see him go up against Carnage…

Eternals #7 (preview)
Writer: Charles and Daniel Knauf
Artist: Eric Nguyen

This came out last week and I still can’t find a copy, but Wolverine does at least grace the variant cover as shown on the right…

Wolverine and Power Pack #3 (no preview)
Writer: Marc Sumerak
Artist: Gurihiru

Finally got this one from last week.

Not as bad as I feared with a cute exchange between Power Pack and young James Howlett…

From 2008 to 2009, Wolverine Files highlighted, in chronological order, iconic Wolverine covers and their homages. Want to start at the beginning? Click here…

Wolverine, the limited series.

Back in 1982, the revelation of a Wolverine limited series was the biggest thing I could imagine.

Now it happens nearly every week.

But in September 1982 when Wolverine’s first miniseries hit the stands, I was absolutely blown away. And frankly, so was every other Wolverine fan on the planet.

We all knew about Chris Claremont and his contribution to the Wolverine mythos, but this time he was paired with Frank Miller who was wowing the industry with his unbelievable Daredevil run (including the unforgettable Daredevil #181).

But according to the Chris Claremont interview in ‘Comics Creators on X-Men’ (2006), the limited series almost didn’t happen…

Frank Miller thought Wolverine was an incredibly dull character and didn’t want to have anything to do with him. He had absolutely no interest in drawing a story about a berserk psycho killer. The two of us got stuck in traffic on the way to Los Angeles after a San Diego Comicon… Since we had nothing else to do, we started talking about Wolverine, about who he is and why he is. The conversation ranged over samurai pictures and manga and all of the things that we were enjoying at the time. During the course of the conversation, we basically started building the story. This is one of those rare occasions where a story evolved out of the character, rather than the plot.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

The stunning cover to the first issue is by Frank Miller and Josef Rubinstein and one of the best Wolverine covers from the 1980s, if not of all time.

Below is the cover sans logo…

First up is the original cover artwork with logos, from the collection of Joe Rubinstein.

Yes, the Joe Rubinstein.

And let me mention that Joe does do cover recreations and commissions. If you are interested, please check out his work at Comic Art Gallery and make sure not to miss his amazing commissions page.

Next comes the absolutely breathtaking original color artwork by Frank Miller and Josef Rubinstein, also from the collection of Joe Rubinstein.

Update: It seems I missed two very stunning homage covers when I first posted this. Let me rectify that by adding the Wizard #157 cover from Nov 2004 by Steve McNiven and Mark Morales…

And the Marvel Zombies vs. Army of Darkness #5 homage cover from August 2007 by Arthur Suydam…

Previous Cover: Uncanny X-Men #167 | Next: Wolverine #2 (Limited Series)

Want to see the Classic Wolverine Covers from the beginning? Start here…

Two fresh updates this time around, 015: Adamantium and 016: Memory Implants…

As always, check’em out and let me know what you think…

I’ve also had a comment about waiting for ongoing storylines to come to a close before adding them to the chronology and why that doesn’t apply to Wolverine: Origins.

Good question.

First, I should have said story arcs. I try to wait for each story arc to complete before writing it up. And since Wolverine: Origins is fairly good at five or six-issue arcs, that is how I’ve been trying to approach that series.

Second, since Wolverine: Origins is planned for about 60 issues, I don’t feel this chronology would be up to date if I waited another three years for it to wrap up.

As always, feel free to weigh in with the comments below…

The X-Men Origins: Wolverine Video Game launches its official site. Make sure to mouse over the logo. In other Wolverine news…

–Hulk vs. launches its official site as well, with Wolverine (website temporarily down)…
–Wolverine and X-Men cartoon premieres on January 23: the press release…
–Wolverine: Agent of Atlas (Part I and Part II): Free exclusives from Marvel Comics Digital…

Comics Previews of probable Wolverine appearances this week…
– X-Infernus #2 (preview): Wolverine confirmed…
– Wolverine and Power Pack #3 (preview): Time-traveling to meet a young James Howlett…
– X-Men/Spider-Man #3 (preview): Continued from last issue…

Wolverine appeared in five titles this past week (January 7, 2009), starting with…

Wolverine: Switchback (preview)
Writer: Joseph Clark
Artist: Das Pastoras

What at first glance appears to be a cliche-ridden story turns into something quite different, helped by the most intriguing art style of Das Pastoras.

Definitely worth a look….

“Punching Bag”
Writer: Gregg Hurwitz
Artist: Juan Doe

The backup story actually got me to laugh out loud a few times. A very pleasant surprise…

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Wolverine and Power Pack #3 (no preview)
Writer: Marc Sumerak
Artist: Gurihiru

Sold out at my local shop. I’ll toss in a review next week, or perhaps, Roleplay could give us his view in the comments below…

Cable #10 (preview)
“The Last Hope”
Writer: Duane Swierczynski
Art: Ariel Olivetti

Wolverine gets a brief cameo, but it’s definitely a good one…

X-Men Noir #2 (preview)
Writer: Fred Van Lente
Artist: Dennis Calero

I am really enjoying this series. And since I don’t want to spoil anything, all I can say is buy it…

Marvel Super Hero Squad #1 (no preview)
Script: Paul Tobin; Drawings: Marcelo Dichiara, Todd Nauck, Dario Brizuela

Marvel Super Hero and Super Villain comic strips for kids. Nothing more, nothing less…

Whew!

Another Wolverine Files update — this time, 014: Weapon X Origins.

Check it out and let me know what you think…

And a status update on the previous chapter, 013: Secret Agent Man, Eh?

I will wait to add Wolverine: Manifest Destiny and Wolverine: Agent of Atlas (see Part I and Part II) until those respective series come to a close. I’ve had too many problems trying to include ongoing storylines, so for the most part, I will wait for them to conclude before adding them to the chronology…

From 2008 to 2009, Wolverine Files highlighted, in chronological order, iconic Wolverine covers and their homages. Want to start at the beginning? Click here…

Ever since they first appeared in Giant-Size X-Men #1, the New X-Men (as they were known in the seventies and eighties) were drawn by either Dave Cockrum or John Byrne. Sure there were a few fill-in artists for annuals and such, but these two artists and writer Chris Claremont were the caretakers of the New X-Men for a good seven years.

Think about that.

Three creators solely in charge of the entire mutant universe for SEVEN years.

Wow.

So back in 1982, when a new artist was announced for Uncanny X-Men #165, the fans stood up and took note.

Luckily for us, it was Paul Smith.

Paul Smith’s first cover to give prominence to Wolverine was the final issue of the year-long Brood saga and featured the entire New X-Men team mourning (not for the last time), the death of Professor Charles Xavier….

Next up is the equally impressive but little noticed reprint cover by Adam Hughes who may be best known, as Wikipedia puts it, for “his voluptuous, pinup-style female characters.”

Duh, right?

But in 1992, he was less well known and relegated to doing a series of covers for ‘X-Men Classic’. His cover for X-Men Classic #71, the reprint of Uncanny X-Men #165, may have been his best…

Finally, on the left is Paul Smith‘s first Wolverine cover, Uncanny X-Men #166, with a mask-less Wolverine in the corner. And on the right is the X-Men Classic #66 reprint of the same issue, this time featuring the final ‘X-Men Classic’ cover by Mike Mignola…

Previous Wolverine Cover: Uncanny X-Men #162 | Next: Wolverine #1 (Limited Series)

Want to see the Classic Wolverine Covers from the beginning? Start here…

I just finished updating yet another Wolverine chapter, 013: Secret Agent Man, Eh?.

Check it out and let me know what you think…

A few weeks back I was interviewed by Raju Mudhar of the Toronto Star newspaper about the upcoming ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ movie. I didn’t want to say anything earlier so as not to jinx myself or, frankly, in the event I was made out to look like a complete loser.

But lo and behold, the article was published on January 4th, titled 2009: Year of the Wolverine.
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My sincerest thanks to Raju.

The best part (with all apologies to the rest of your article, Raju), are quoted below…

“Wolverine was a character whose origin was never revealed,” explains Joel DiGiacomo, a writer and web developer from Maryland who started to collect all of the disparate information about his favourite hero and created a website, The Wolverine Files.

“(With) most superheroes,” says DiGiacomo, “the first issue is the origin story and that’s it. He was different. You didn’t know how he got his claws, how old he was or how he even got his powers. Every couple of years, there was a little hint about this background.”

That changed in 2001, when Marvel Comics decided it was going to build an event around revealing Wolverine’s origin. Despite readers’ anticipation, for the most part, the series and origin story were panned.

“I don’t know anyone who liked that origin,” says DiGiacomo. “He’s not Logan (the default name Wolverine used as an amnesiac) anymore. He’s James Howlett, and he was a spoiled rich kid. That’s not who Wolverine was. He was supposed to be the wild kid in the wilderness and I think a lot of that was lost in that series.”

Is that cool or what?

And if I had to pick a nit (something I am quite good at), let me observe that I am a writer and web consultant more than a web developer.

Damn Canadians.

In other, much less important Wolverine news…
–Marvel Digital Comics offers a free exclusive look at ‘Wolverine: Agent of Atlas’…
–Comic Book Resources interviews Jason Aaron about ‘Wolverine: Weapon X’…
–Entertainment Weekly gives ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ an exclusive look with new photo…

And of course, Comics Previews of probable Wolverine appearances this week…
– Wolverine: Switchback (preview): Artwork by Das Pastoras looks most interesting…
– Wolverine and Power Pack #3 (preview): Time-traveling to meet a young James Howlett…
– X-Men Noir #2 (preview): Will Wolverine appear?