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In breaking news that is shocking the comic book world, WolverineFiles.com has learned that Marvel Comics is at risk to lose rights to one of its most popular characters, Wolverine.

At issue is a contract between Marvel Comics, the current publisher of Wolverine, and Twentieth Century Fox, a subsidiary of News Corporation and producer of the big budget ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ movie.

According to legal experts, News Corporation lawyers added a clause giving Twentieth Century Fox complete rights to Wolverine upon release of the movie, as well as complete rights to all other Marvel Comics’ characters appearing in the movie.

With U.S. release slated for May 1, 2009, it seems that News Corporation will take over ownership of Wolverine, Sabretooth, Deadpool and several other Marvel characters in a little over a month. This is not unprecedented as News Corporation retained rights to the “Watchmen” movie through a similar legal loophole, eventually extracting distribution rights from Paramount Studios.

Marvel Comics is reportedly working on contingency plans in the event that their planned injunction against News Corporation fails. Potential plans include a new publishing schedule to wrap up existing story lines from the main title, ‘Wolverine’, and sister title, ‘Wolverine: Origins’.

As this story began to leak, several Marvel writers weighed in with their thoughts.

Legendary X-Men scribe Chris Claremont said, “It really is unfortunate to lose a character of this complexity. Even more unfortunate is that I will never be able to tell the true origin of the character that I have been planning for the past 35 years.”

Prolific writer Brian Michael David Bendis (New Avengers, Dark Avengers, Mighty Avengers, Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate Origins, Powers, Daredevil) was more philosophical, “Is this is a sad day for Marvel? It is. It really is.”

WolverineFiles.com has learned that Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada will soon be releasing a statement which, in part, will read, “As much as it is an anathema to me personally, we may need to remove Wolverine from Marvel continuity entirely. I hope we can seamlessly achieve this goal with the full support of the fans, much like we did with Spider-Man and ‘Brand New Day.'”

If this eventuality does comes to pass, the final Wolverine story, the final appearance of the character in the Marvel universe, will reportedly be entitled ‘Wolverine: Prima Aprilus’.

More details to come as they become available…

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

Back in November of 1986, Marvel Comics celebrated the 25th anniversary of the “Marvel Age” of comics by featuring a character portrait on every single Marvel title that month.

Uncanny X-Men #211 was no different, placing Wolverine in the exalted position.

The cover by John Romita, Jr. and Bob Wiacek wonderfully captures Wolverine at his battle-tested best, mask torn asunder.

If you want a real treat, alternate placing your hand over each side of the cover. You will be amazed to discover two entirely different images.

It is really difficult at times to determine if Wolverine is central enough to a cover to truly call it a classic Wolverine cover.

And because of the overabundance of genuinely terrific Wolverine covers from 1986, I made the difficult decision to downgrade Uncanny X-Men #210, also by John Romita, Jr. and Bob Wiacek.

But because the cover rocks so much, I decided to present it here as an added bonus…

Make our day, indeed.

Previous Classic Wolverine Cover: Uncanny X-Men #207 | Next: Uncanny X-Men #212

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

We start this week’s edition of Wolverine News off with My Cup o’ Joe from MySpace and the details on the upcoming black and white ‘Rampaging Wolverine’ magazine (scroll down for details)…

In Other Wolverine Comic Book News…
–Marvel: Dark Avengers #4 Preview (details)
–Marvel: Wolverine Art Appreciation Month UPDATED (details | thread)
–Marvel: X-Student Eric Mattias’ Blog (Day 1 | Day 2)

In More Wolverine News…
–SuperHeroHype: Raven’s Vondrak on the Wolverine Video Game (details | thread)
–Marvel: Exclusive ‘Wolverine and the X-Men’ DVD Clip (details)

Probable (and Possible) Wolverine Appearances in stores on 4/2/09…
–Cable #13 (preview): Messiah War, Part 2 (and Deadpool!)…
–Astonishing Tales #3 (preview: More over-the-top action…
–Marvel Assistant-Sized Spectacular #1 (details: Marvel comedy book with Wolverine…
–Avengers/Invaders #9 (preview): No idea if Wolverine appears
–Wolverine Magazine #1: Reprints, puzzles and more…
–Wolverine Appreciation Month Covers: Agents of Atlas #3 | Amazing Spider-Man #590
Anita Blake: The Laughing Corpse – Necromancer #1 | Secret Warriors #3

I must admit that I’ve been a little nervous about the release of ‘Wolverine Saga’, Marvel’s latest attempt at a Wolverine chronology in comic book format. So now that it’s out, let’s how good it really is…

Wolverine Saga (details | thread)
Writer: Ronald Byrd
Chronology Writer: John Rhett Thomas

For a free giveaway, this is a very impressive Wolverine chronology.

Even at regular price, this would be an impressive chronology.

Constructed by Ronald Byrd, the creator of the old ‘Unofficial Wolverine Chronology’ abandoned back in January 2003, this is, quite frankly, the best Wolverine chronology that Marvel has ever published.

It reads well and will be helpful for old and new readers alike.

That said, there are a few things contained with ‘Wolverine Saga’ that I would like to address…

Dates (thread): We’ve been having some genuinely fascinating debates around here and on the Wolverine Files Forum (see this thread) concerning Marvel Time and how dates  are handled in the Marvel Universe. So it is interesting to see this chronology very blunt in assigning dates through the 1970s and placing the debut of the Fantastic Four at some unspecified time after that…

• Logan’s time training young Natasha Romanova has been placed in 1937, suggesting Black Widow is 70 some years old.
• Logan’s spell with Neil Langram and a secret Canadian Intelligence group is placed during the 1970s as is his run-in with Peter Parker’s parents and his intelligence work with Carol Danvers.
• The events of team X are placed between 1961 and 1968.

Chronological Discrepancies (thread): If this is indeed the official Marvel position on Wolverine’s chronology, then, obviously there are officially no errors. But let me point out a few places where I have a difference of opinion with their conclusions…

• With Logan meeting Sabretooth for the first time in Japan prior to World War One, it is posited that Logan first began his work with Chang and Landau, Luckman and Lake at this point in history. This is something that I had not previously considered, but seems plausible, even though Logan himself describes this period of time as “bumming ’round.”
• The romance between Janet and Logan and her resulting death at the hands of Cyber is placed AFTER World War One. Not sure why, since it fits better prior WWI, but it certainly is something to consider.
• Logan’s initial meeting with Ogun in Shanghai is placed prior to 1921, an odd choice since the Japanese involvement in Shanghai didn’t really start until the Shanghai War of 1932, culminating in the Japanese occupation of Shanghai in 1937.
• I completely forgot about Logan saving Blade’s life in ‘Blade’ #5, and there is a deft reference to Raven Darkholme and Irene Adler, that makes my time traveling adventure slightly more plausible.
• The treatment of Logan’s adventures in World War II is interesting as Logan globe trots from adventure to adventure willy-nilly instead of  attempting a more coherent flow as I did. Left untouched is how Captain America could work with Logan again after his betrayal to Baron Strucker.
• Interestingly, it is suggested that the experiments of Tule Lake were at the behest of Romulus, even though Logan hid his son there specifically because Romulus didn’t know anything about it.
• Jasmine Falls is handled most strangely, placing Logan there twice, once from 1945-1946 with Itsu (even though Logan claims to have spent four to five years there) and a second time in 1948 (accounting for ‘Logan: Path of the Warlord’), having forgotten his initial stay.  Again, I attempted to create a smoother flow, reversing and combining the events as posited here. Not sure why they chose the more complicated route, but there you go.
• It is funny to see Experiment X’s Professor referred to as, “Truett Hudson a.k.a. ‘Professor Thornton’.
• While I understand why they place the Ben Grimm and Logan miniseries after ‘Weapon X’, it really should be placed before.
• There is some very bizarre chronology of Logan’s early days as Wolverine. His battle with the Hulk was his first assignment as Weapon X, but here, they move many of his later adventures to before this story. Not sure why as they place plenty of the adventures afterwards. And personally, I think Logan rescuing Hudson’s armor should take place before he met Hudson, since in the story he takes on the job only reluctantly.
• A bit of a surprise is the suggestion that Logan sought out Ogun AFTER he became Wolverine. I have no idea why this is even mentioned as I have seen nothing at all to even hint at this possibility.
• Perhaps my biggest single issue as a chronologist is this assertion that Romulus was behind (or possibly behind) everything. It is an unnecessary device that needlessly clutters an already complicated history.

Unknown Wolverine Appearances (thread): One of the biggest treats for me was that there were mentions of several appearances that I had been blissfully unaware of. Please, please help me discover what issues they took place in….

• Not sure when Logan smuggled bootleg alcohol and met Jim Beam. Anyone remember?
• Where specifically is it mentioned that Logan worked with Doop during the Cold War?
• When did Logan cross paths with Arnim Zola (before joining the X-Men)?
• And where is the reference to Logan serving with Xavier in Asia (probably Korea)?

Phew! As always, leave comments below or join in on the discussions in the Wolverine Files Forum…

Wolverine appears in four titles this past week (March 25, 2009) as well as the free ‘Wolverine Saga‘ chronology, a chronology that I will be covering in quite some detail over the weekend.

But first the reviews…

X-Force/Cable: Messiah War (preview | thread)
Writers: Craig Kyle & Christopher Yost
Art: Mike Choi & Sonia Oback

As most readers know, I have been quite critical of X-Force in the past.

But the opening chapter of ‘Messiah War’ finally provides a view through Scott’s eyes, a view that brings into a focus a perspective that makes sense to me.

In my humble opinion, this is how the series should have started, sharing Scott’s perspective in a personal way to explain why he has acted the way in the way that he has.

That said, if the bad guys are allowed to kill literally thousands of innocents and mutants at a time, can Marvel please allow an assault team of expert killers to actually kill the bad guys?

Not the redshirts. Not the guards. Not the characters who have no names and no faces. But kill the people who are actually responsible for these 9/11- style terrorist attacks.

If this series is about the ends justifying the means, then let the ends justify the means.

Leper Queen is the woman responsible for literally thousands of death, hundreds of them mutants. And it is the writers’ deus ex machina that saves the Leper Queen’s life (‘X-Force’ #13), not the characters.

Back to the issue at hand, we do get a terrific Deadpool guest star.

So, all in all, the best issue of X-Force to date…

Wolverine: First Class #13 ( (preview | thread)
“Hand in Hand”
Writer: Peter David
Art: Ronan Cliquet

What has made this series so appealing, so special over the past year is the entertaining interaction between tough guy and professional curmudgeon Wolverine and snarky and genius teenager Kitty Pryde. They get on each other’s nerves, but genuinely care for each other. It makes for a pleasant diversion in this age of dark and grim superheroes.

So when Peter David, clearly a talented writer, took over the series, I was surprised to find that Wolverine and Kitty Pryde don’t interact with each other.

At all.

Instead, one half reads like a teenage comics (with Kitty’s new BFF Sarah) and the other like a charmless Marvel Team-Up with Wolverine, Daredevil, the Hand and a surprise guest-star for next issue.

Clearly, I will give this series and Peter David some time to develop their own voice, but so far, it’s lacking exactly the charm that made the series so likeable in the first place…

New Avengers #51 (preview | thread)
Writer: Brian Michael David Bendis
Art: Billy Tan, Matt Banning and Justin Ponsour & Chris Bachalo, Tim Townsend and Antonio Fabela

There are time when I’m reading an issue that I’m not sure if Wolverine is going to appear. Such was the case with this issue.

But Bendis’ writing is so good, that about halfway through, I was hoping that Wolverine would appear, just so I could tell you just how good this issue is.

Fortunately for me (and for you), Wolverine does appear. And the first official meeting of the New Avengers therein could not have been better.

So if you are not reading Dark Reign across ‘Dark Avengers’ and ‘New Avengers’ yet, start reading today…

X-Infernus #4 ( (preview)
“Soul’s End”
Writer: C.B. Cebulski
Penciler: Giuseppe Camunculi
Inker: Jesse Delperdang

A surprisingly touching and effective finale to a miniseries that nicely and deftly sets the stage for the new ‘New Mutants’ series set to debut in May…

What do you think? Feel free to share your opinion in the comments below OR join in on the fun in the Wolverine Files Forums…

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

Uncanny X-Men #207 is perhaps the single most enduring Wolverine image of 1986.

John Romita, Jr. perfectly captures the savagery and danger of Wolverine while subtlety breaking the fourth wall.

And if the name sounds familiar, it should.

He is the son of legendary Spider-Man artist John Romita, Sr. who just so happened to have created the visual design for Wolverine back in 1974…

From the collection of Chris Burnham, comes this stunning color guide by colorist Tom Smith…

I am so jealous…

Previous Classic Wolverine Cover: Uncanny X-Men #205 | Next: Uncanny X-Men #211

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

With countless possible appearances for Wolverine within the June 2009 solicitations, I am featuring only the ones most pertinent to Wolverine. Please click through for more details on all the June comics…

From ComicBookResources: Advance X-Solicitations | thread

DARK WOLVERINE #75
Written by DANIEL WAY & MARJORIE LIU
Pencils by GIUSEPPE CAMUNCOLI
“The Prince,” Part 1 (of 3)
DARK WOLVERINE begins! Wolverine’s son, Daken, has finally emerged from the shadows, stepping out onto the main stage of the Marvel Universe. As one of Norman Osborn’s Avengers, he has power, access, and an identity that he hates–his father’s. This new Wolverine doesn’t know how long this will last, but one thing’s for sure: He’s going to have some fun while it does. All that, plus extra director’s cut style bonus pages!

WOLVERINE NOIR #3 (of 4)
Written by STUART MOORE
Pencils and Cover by C.P. SMITH
New York’s seedy Bowery district, 1937. In the past twenty-four hours, private detective Jim Logan has been jerked around by a dame called Mariko and beaten half to death by a bruiser named Creed. Now he’s ready for payback. But little does he realize that it might just be the secrets of Logan’s violent past that bring him down for good.

WOLVERINE: FIRST CLASS #16
Written by PETER DAVID
Art by GURIHIRU
What do you get when you cross an enraged feral fighting machine with a shiny roller-skating diva? Beautiful music, of course…

WOLVERINE: ORIGINS #37
Written by DANIEL WAY
Pencils by SCOT EATON
“ROMULUS,” Part 1
For over a century, he’s been hiding in the darkest shadows of Wolverine’s life, controlling the beast and destroying the man. But now, finally, the tide is turning…and Wolverine’s vengeance is within reach! Introducing: ROMULUS!

WOLVERINE: REVOLVER #1
Written by VICTOR GISCHLER
Art & Cover by DAS PASTORAS
What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, right? But Logan’s gone to Vegas in search of something that’s been hiding there a bit too long. In a place where anyone will wager on anything, it’s no wonder that Logan finds himself in a game of Russian Roulette surrounded by rowdy Russian mobsters. But they’re not the real problem. Logan’s got his eyes trained on the man sitting across from him. The guy with the revolver in his hand and the killer smile who is much more than he seems. Bang.

WOLVERINE: WEAPON X #3
Written by JASON AARON
Pencils & 50/50 Cover by RON GARNEY
In the third issue of this all-new ongoing series from the same creative team as last year’s sold-out “Get Mystique” storyline, the super soldiers of Strikeforce X have Wolverine trapped in the jungles of Colombia. They are heavily armed, ruthlessly brutal and outnumber him 12 to 1. But when one of their ranks disappears and screams begin to ring out through the darkness each night, the soldiers ask themselves…who’s really the hunted?

Many more June Wolverine appearances after the jump…

Read more…

In Wolverine Comic Book News…
–CBR: ‘Wolverine: Weapon X’ Sneak Peek (details | thread)
–CBR: Victor Gischler on ‘Wolverine: Revolver’ (details | thread)
–Marvel: Wolverine Art Appreciation Month (details | WashPost gallery | thread)
–CBR: Wolverine to Appear in Timestorm 2009/2099 #1 (details | thread)

In Other Wolverine News…
–Marvel: New ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ Movie Images (details)
–Marvel: Marvel Superheroes Coming to Massively MultiPlayer Gaming (details | thread)
–Comicon: Marvel Wants You to Blow Wolverine (details | Comicon thread and more details)

Probable (and Possible) Wolverine Appearances in stores on 3/25/09…
–New Avengers #51 (preview): No Wolverine in the preview…
–Wolverine: First Class #13 (preview): The Peter David Era begins…
–X-Force/Cable: Messiah War Prologue (preview | thread): The lead-in to ‘Messiah War’…
–X-Infernus #4 (preview): Miniseries finale…
–Wolverine Saga (details): Wolverine’s past for FREE…

Only appearing in two titles last week, Wolverine made up for it by appearing in NINE this week (March 18, 2009).

Is it to much to ask to spread out the X-titles over the course of the month?

Sigh.

The first two issues on the docket, ‘Wolverine’ #71 and ‘Wolverine: Origins’ #34 were reviewed earlier in the week.

As for the rest of the titles…

Ultimate X-Men #100 (preview | thread)
Writer: Aaron Coleite
Penciler: Mark Brooks
Inker: Karl Story

A pretty strong farewell for ‘Ultimate X-Men’, boasting a neat concept wrapped around Multiple Man and a very touching final few pages.

My only gripe is that the speed and depth of slaughter of ‘Ultimatum’ in general has forced a lot of plotlines in ‘Ultimate X-Men’ to be given rather short shrift.

Ultimatum #3 (preview | thread)
“Heaven on Earth”
Writer: Jeph Loeb
Artist: David Finch
Inker: Danny Miki

A surprisingly strong installment for ‘Ultimatum’ and by far the best issue to date.

Gone are the dreadful Jeph Loeb quips, gone is the macho posturing and gone is the melodrama from earlier in the series.

And we are finally privy to some poignant moments as characters are actually forced to deal with their grief.

This is what ‘Ultimatum’ should have been all along.

That said, the end of ‘Ultimate X-Men’ #100 does sort of diminish one of the stronger sacrifices of the issue.

X-Force #13 (preview | thread)
“Suicide Leper, Part Two”
Writers: Craig Kyle & Christopher Yost
Art: Clayton Crain

I know a lot of people really like this series.

I, on the other hand, have always been skeptical.

Wolverine is a little too bloodthirsty for my tastes. And likes killing a little too much.

So you shouldn’t be surprised when I say that I did not like this issue at all.

I understand that this series is predicated on the ends justifying the means. But when you repeatedly fail to stop the bad guys, when you repeatedly fail to prevent whole scale slaughter of innocents and when you repeatedly fail to save the lives of your teammates, then there are no ends to justify.

But again, that’s just me. Your mileage may vary…

After the jump are  a series of cameo appearances for Wolverine…

Read more…

Wolverine #71 (preview | thread)
“Old Man Logan, Part 6”
Writer: Mark Millar
Penciler: Steve McNiven
Inker: Dexter Vines

Now we’re talking!

This is, by far, the best issue to date.

It may still be a travelogue through Mark Millar’s Marvel Universe of the future, but at least this time around, the travelogue remains firmly and effectively in the background.

And the plot actually starts going somewhere.

As has been said before, I have a hunch the trade paperback is going to read much smoother and ultimately much better than this issue by delayed issue publishing schedule.

Wolverine: Origins #34 (preview | thread)
Writer: Daniel Way
Pencils: Doug Braithwaite
Inks: Bill Reinhold, Cam Smith & Paul Neary

Remember when Joss Whedon portrayed the X-Men as a top-notch mutant commando team in Astonishing X-Men?

Remember how awesome that was?

Well, Cyclops obviously has been replaced by an incompetent Skrull as his sub-par tactical skills make this team of X-Men look like amateurs against Daken.

Oh yeah, and Daken takes center stage… again!

Clearly this issue hits a few of my pet peeves, namely giving one side a case of the stupids for the sake of a fair fight.

That said, it’s not really all that bad.

What do you think? Feel free to share your opinion in the comments below OR in the Wolverine Files Forum using the ‘thread’ links above…