With countless possible appearances for Wolverine within the July 2009 solicitations, I am featuring only the ones most likely to feature Wolverine and Dark Wolverine (Daken).

To view all of Marvel’s July solicitations, see Marvel’s  full July solicitations (Newsarama). To discuss, check out the Wolverine Files Forum July solicitation thread…

NOTE: NO ‘WOLVERINE: WEAPON X’ IN JULY…

WOLVERINE: ORIGINS #38
Written by DANIEL WAY
Penciled by SCOT EATON
Cover by DOUG BRAITHWAITE
“ROMULUS”
After years of searching, Logan finally knows where to find Romulus. But to get there, he must first get through…Omega Red! HE’S BACK! Part 2 (of 4)

NEW AVENGERS #55
Written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS
Pencils & Cover by STUART IMMONEN
Ultimate Spider-Man artist Stuart Immonen rejoins series regular Brian Bendis for this all-new blockbuster Avengers story. One of the Hood’s gang has found a way to power drain the New Avengers and it turns the tides of the Dark Reign in ways no one would have expected it. Plus the new Sorcerer Supreme has a lot to learn, and they’re going to learn it from…Spider-Man?

X-FORCE #17
Written by CHRISTOPHER YOST & CRAIG KYLE
Pencils & Cover by MIKE CHOI & SONIA OBACK
“NOT FORGOTTEN” Part 1 (of 4)
MESSIAH WAR AFTERMATH! When X-Force was pulled into the future, what was forgotten in the present? The Leper Queen’s murderous acts? The Sapien League’s attack on the United Nations using two of the X-Men’s students? Wolfsbane’s reunion with the Asgardian Wolf Prince? H.A.M.M.E.R.’s hunt for X-23? After three months, the wait is over. Find out who lives and dies as the MESSIAH WAR ONE-SHOT art team of Mike Choi and Sonia Oback returns to X-FORCE!

UNCANNY X-MEN: FIRST CLASS #1 (of 8)
Written by SCOTT GRAY
Pencils & Cover by ROGER CRUZ
The early days of the X-Men’s second generation are revealed in an all-new series starring Cyclops, Storm, Banshee, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Wolverine and Phoenix! Professor X invites the mysterious Inhumans into the X-Men’s home, but when Wolverine and Gorgon meet, the party turns ugly! Nightcrawler faces a crisis of faith and searches for an answer in the Inhuman city Attilan – but has he found his salvation or ultimate destruction? Don’t miss a culture clash that will rock both super-teams to their cores!

WOLVERINE: FIRST CLASS #17
Written by Peter David
Penciled by RONAN CLIQUET
Cover by CAMERON STEWART
“I’ll show ya who’s the real Cyclops!” Logan goes undercover as the mysterious “Patch” to visit an old enemy posing as a good guy…but the eye sees all…

ASTONISHING TALES #6
Written by C. B. CEBULSKI, DANIEL MERLIN GOODBREY, MATT YOCUM & JONATHAN HICKMAN
Penciled by KENNETH ROCAFORT, LOU KANG, ADRIANA MELO, NICHOLAS PITARRA & JONATHAN HICKMAN
Cover by KENNETH ROCAFORT
Marvel’s hit anthology series continues! Fur flies as WOLVERINE & PUNISHER duke it out with PREDATOR X and butt heads with the powerful women of Madripoor! IRON MAN 2020 clashes with those who would seek to steal the future – in space! Israeli super soldier SABRA prepares the heroes of tomorrow! And in MOJOWORLD, two goofy guys must make movies – or else!

MARVELS: EYE OF THE CAMERA #6 (of 6)
Written by KURT BUSIEK
Pencils & Cover by JAY ANACLETO
The grand finale! As the X-Men face a splashy televised death in Dallas, Phil Sheldon and his family have a quiet and unexpected late-night reunion. Will it be their last time together as a family? What will it mean for Phil’s legacy, and his book? This issue brings the second great story of Phil Sheldon and the Marvel Universe to an unforgettable conclusion.

TIMESTORM 2009/2099 #3 (of 4)
Written by BRIAN REED
Penciled by ERIC BATTLE
Cover by PIOTRE CIELINSKI
Will 2099 invade 2009? The fabric of time is dissolving, Spider-Man 2099 and Human Torch 2099 collide in the combat arena, and Hulks rampage across modern day Washington DC! New alliances are formed, old enemies reveal themselves, and the temporal tempest reaches critical mass!

See Dark Wolverine and Alternate Wolverine appearances after the jump…
Read more…

With the Wolverine movie less than two weeks away, the amount of Wolverine news is growing at a staggering rate. So don’t be surprised to see more frequent news updates to keep up with the increased stories.

That said, we kick off this week, as we did the past two weeks, with another behind-the-scenes look at the ‘X-Men Origins: X-Men’ video game (see details | threads)…

In Other Wolverine Video Game News…
–GameTrailers: ‘Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2’ Trailer (details | website | threads)
–MarvelKids: ‘Wolverine: MRD Escape’ Mini-Game (details | thread)

In Wolverine Movie News…
–WolverineFiles Forum: Got Milk, Wolverine-Style (details/thread)
-CBR: Hugh Jackman Loves FCBD (details | thread)
-IGN: Hugh Jackman Talks Wolverine — and Comic Books (details)
-MTV: ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ Character Profile Video (details | thread)
-USAToday: Exclusive ‘Wolverine’ Video (details | thread/EW cover)
-ComingSoon: ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ Extended Clip from Papa John’s (details | thread)
-IGN: Final ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ Poster (details)
-CBR: More ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ Stills (details)
-Marvel: ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ App on FaceBook (details)

In Wolverine Comic Book News…
–Marvel: Wolverine #72 Preview (details)
–Newsarama: Wolverine: Weapon X #2 — Djurdjevic Variant Cover (details | thread)
–CBR: Matt Fraction Talks ‘Uncanny X-Men’ (details | thread)
–Marvel: Wolverine World Tour (details | thread)
–Marvel: Wolverine vs. Omega Red (details)

Probable (and Possible) Wolverine Appearances in stores on 4/22/09…
–Astonishing X-Men #29 (preview): ‘Ghost Box’ picks up steam…
–Fantastic Force #1 (preview | threads): 500 years from now, it’s the Hooded Man…
–Incredible Hercules #128 (preview): Dark Wolverine vs. Hercules…
–Marvels: Eye of the Camera #5 (preview): Wolverine makes the cover at the very least…
–New Avengers #52 (preview): Chris Bachalo on pencils…
–Wolverine: The Anniversary #1 (preview | thread): Two stories centered around Mariko…
–Wolverine: First Class #14 (details): Peter David’s second issue…
–Wolverine: Origins #35 (preview): How long before they rename this ‘Daken: Origins’?
–Wolverine: Weapon X Files #1 (details | thread): Brand-new Wolverine handbook…
–X-Force #14 (preview): ‘Messiah War’, part three…
–Wolverine Appreciation Month Covers (thread): Amazing Spider-Man #592 | Daredevil #118
Ghost Rider #34 | Hulk #11 | Incredible Hercules #128 | Wolverine: First Class #14

Hey, everyone…I am still pretty new here and I want to thank DiG for giving me the opportunity to review the issue. I hope people will enjoy it or at least find it helpful.

X-Men Legacy#223
(preview | thread)
Writer: Mike Carey
Penciler: Scot Eaton
Inker: Andrew Hennessy

Note: Wolverine did NOT appear in this issue…

SPOILERS BELOW…

RECAP: The issue has two separate plot lines. The first is Rogue continuing her journey of self-discovery deep in the confines of Danger’s virtual reality. She confronts her past shown by the monstrous form of Ms. Marvel as shown from Rogue’s time in the Savage Land. It was the same Ms. Marvel that Rogue defeated once to expunge Carol from her mind. In this case Ms. Marvel becomes Mystique and is defeated when Rogue lets her own version of Mystique loose. But the real test is Magneto from his days in the Savage Land. He is both a temptation and a source of innate wisdom. In the end it is Magneto that benefits Rogue by setting her on the correct path.

The other story is Xavier, Gambit and the Shi’ar facing Danger’s true self. Xavier is able to use a telepathic back door to confront the program directly. After a conversation between the two where Xavier explains his actions to the A.I. he is eventually able to over ride her sentience and return her to an obedient program. Ending the simulation, Xavier attempts to completely destroy her only to be attacked and disabled by the Shi’ar pirates. Gambit is able to defeat all of them except for their powerhouse, the drug deprived Horse. The alien is about the crush Gambit when their fight is ended by the sudden and ominous return of Rogue.

MY TAKE: The issue had its pros and cons definitely. The overall arc of Xavier confronting the mistakes of his past has been interesting but hit or miss in execution. While it is good that he is finally admitting his flaws and judgment lapses, the pure number and magnitude of those errors has made it harder to sympathize with him. In this case, however, you can certainly see Xavier’s reasoning and it is hard to argue with the choices he was forced to make.

Rogue seems to finally be on her way towards a significant change in her status quo as well. For far too many years she has been tearing herself up over the past and her powers. No one has bothered to really explore her past and give her the option of moving past it. She is finally shedding many of the layers of despair and darkness. I believe she is a better character without all the doom and gloom. Hopefully this is the start of a happier and more self-confident Rogue.

The problems I had were mostly inconsistencies with the plot. The biggest plot hole was the fact that Xavier had a telepathic back door into Danger’s programming but had simply never bothered to use it. In defies reasoning that while Danger was attempting to kill both him and the X-Men, he would not simply use his access to her main programming and shut her down. The simple fact that the entry point existed and he had never even bothered to try to use it was a glaring error.

Secondly the Shi’ar themselves do not really serve any purpose and are filled with their own issues. Their betrayal at the end is very obvious and does nothing for the plot except to setup up a conflict for Rogue’s return. Although it is a minor point, if there was a dangerous psychotic on my team controlled only by drugs, I would make sure everyone in the group had a ready supply. Therefore the fact that no one could give Horse his ‘happy pills’ grated on me personally.

In the end, however, I felt this was a decent issue and the story arc is one of the better ones of Xavier’s journey. There seems to be some good character advancements and hopefully Rogue’s personality will be changed for the better. The ending left me wanting to read next issue and ultimately that is the measure of any comic book.

This is my first review for Wolverine Files, so,  please let me know what you think. I have followed the format graciously set up by Brian. Please feel free to post any feedback you have about the review or the issue itself and thanks for reading.

Wolverine appeared in three titles this past week (April 15, 2009) and two more appearances that I missed from last week.

I also posted the awesomely detailed review of Uncanny X-Men #508 by Brian Knippenberg yesterday, so make sure to check it out and let Brian know what you think.

As for the rest of the titles …

Rampaging Wolverine #1
(preview | thread)

Evocative of the classic black and white Rampaging Hulk magazine from 1977 (I loved the Bloodstone backup stories), Rampaging Wolverine features four stories (one as an illustrated  text piece) by four different creative teams.

Two of the stories are top-notch, the others two not so much.

“Sense Memory”
Writer: Joshua Hale Fialkow
Art: Paco Diaz Luque

Here is my recap: Logan finds happiness. Happiness is violently torn from Logan. Many years later, Logan returns for his revenge.

Nothing wrong with it per se, but we’ve all read it a hundred times before.

“Unconfirmed Kill”
Writer: Chris Yost
Art: Mateus Santolouca

Terrific, terrific story. Chris Yost really knows how to spin a fun yarn.

“Kiss, Kiss”
Writer: Robin Furth
Illustrations: Nelson

I hate text pieces in comic books.

Ever since Alan Moore wrote those wonderful backup pieces in Watchmen, everyone thinks they can write a text piece for a comic book. The problem is, we buy comics to read comics, not text pieces. While reading a comic book, we are not wired to read a long hunk of text.

Put the same text in a regular book or magazine, and we will eat it up. Put it in a comic and we roll our eyes at the additional effort required of us.

Or was that too long of an explanation?

“Modern Primitive”
Writer/Artist: Ted McKeever

If you like Ted McKeever’s warped sense of humor like I do, you will get a kick out of this one.

So all in all, a good first issue, if you can get past the first story and the allergic reaction to extended hunks of text in a comic book…

Wolverine Noir #1
(preview | thread)
Writer: Stuart Moore
Artist: C.P. Smith

If the other online reviews are any indication, this hard-boiled version of Wolverine’s origin should have been slipped a mickey before it even hit the stands.

That said, the art by C.P. Smith is a treat, even if the characters look nothing like their 616 counterparts.

And two brief appearances from last week that I missed: a dead cameo in Exiles #1 and a monkey cameo (and a surprise final page) in Marvel Apes: the Amazing Spider-Monkey…

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…

Hi, folks…your friendly neighborhood Brian Knippenberg here! DiG has been kind and gracious enough to open the reviews up to others, so I thought to give it a whirl. Without further ado…

Uncanny X-Men #508
(preview | thread)
Writer: Matt Fraction
Penciler: Greg Land
Inker: Jay Leisten

We’ll be breaking this review down into a quick play-by-play and then sum up with my thoughts.

SPOILERS BELOW…

MIDNIGHT MASS: The issue begins with a gathering of The Red Queen (Madelyne Pryor) and her Sisterhood at a gravesite. Madelyne explains to a skeptical Lady Mastermind (Regan Wyngarde) her plan to resurrect her father, the original Mastermind, but only more powerful than before. But to begin, her masterplan will kick-off in Tokyo…

SHOWDOWN IN BIG TOKYO: Domino is on a visit to Tokyo and stops at a very non-descript, private memorial cemetary with flowers, at Logan’s request. It turns out that this burial place is owned by Logan, a place where he can bury fallen friends and family. Her visit is cut short when she interupts Spiral, Lady Deathstrike, and Chimera as they attempt to take off with a casket. A brief battle ensues, with Chimera getting a blade to the chest, but a confused Domino is left behind as they escape. She quickly calls Logan to let him know something had happened and to ask, “Who was Kwannon”?

WEIRD SCIENCE: Back at Graymalkin Industries, Hank McCoy meets with his new science team–Dr. Nemesis, Dr. Yuriko Takiguchi, Madison Jefferies, and Dr. Kavita Rao–to discuss and tackle the inert mutant gene dilemma. Dr. Nemesis believes that science will triumph over magic.

THE VESSEL: The Red Queen heals Chimera and has the others prepare the “vessel”, which turns out to be Psylocke’s original body which was inhabited by the mind and spirit of Kwannon. Her plan is to restore and fill the body with a new mind and spirit…Enter: Psylocke, as she’s bound and brought into the room.

WELCOME BACK, EMMA: Nightcrawler convinces Emma to teach once more, but before class is in session, all the psychics at Graymalkin experience terrible feedback from some large-scale psychic event.

PLUS-ONE: Logan travels to Mt. Shasta in California to meet with Northstar and Aurora, partners in Team Northstar Extreme Snowsports. Logan extends an offer of X-Men membership to Jean-Paul, since they took a recent defeat without having enough speed and power on the team. Logan also hopes to make amends for killing him once before. Northstar accepts.

I AIN’T GOT NO BODY (OR DO I?): The Red Queen, with the help of the Sisterhood, unleashes enough power to do the impossible…Psylocke is once again within her own original body (leaving Kwannon’s body lifeless), with seemingly no memory of what has happened.

THOUGHTS FROM A HUMAN’S POINT OF VIEW: Matt Fraction and Greg Land give us an issue of evil machinations in play involving resurrections (Hey, everyone at Marvel’s doing it!) and plans afoot by the good guys to tackle the threat of extinction to all Mutantkind, thanks to the Scarlet Witch. We learn something new about Logan in the process and watch him bring back into the fold an old friend. And for the conclusion, we get an unexpected body swap that would make ’80s movies of the same nature jealous.

Uncanny X-Men #508 is an interesting read, however filled with a bit more set-up than execution. I’m kind of anxious to see it move on, which it looks like it promises to do so based upon the ending. Fraction’s strength in this issue lies in his dialogue and interplay between characters, but I’m missing the dramatic tension that his Invincible Iron Man carries. One little thing that had me scratching my head was in one scene Logan receives some distressing news over the phone and the next time he appears it’s for a casual trip to recruit a member for the team. I would have expected Wolverine to kind of jump into action and rally the team, but it looks like they’re going to take a defensive position and wait it out.

As for Greg Land’s art, all I can say is that it always pulls me out of the story every time by keeping track of all the Sports Illustrated Models’ faces he adds to all of the women’s bodies.

This is my first review for The Wolverine Files, so, what do you think? Feel free to let me know how it strikes you…Do you like the recap? Is it unnecessary? Share your opinion (or your own review), but please be kind, otherwise you might find me huddled in a corner sobbing naked with my clothes burning in a wastebasket…

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 #213.

Wolverine vs. Sabretooth.

It doesn’t get much better than this.

Alan Davis and Paul Neary kicked 1987 off in stunning fashion with this wonderful study in savagery…

Inside Alan Davis filled in as guest artist with inker Paul Neary and provided a truly primal sequence when Chris Claremont was not quite as loquacious as he was in later years…

Wow.

Previous Classic Wolverine Cover: Uncanny X-Men #212 | Next: Uncanny X-Men #221

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

We kick off the week, as we did last week, with another behind-the-scenes look at the ‘X-Men Origins: X-Men’ video game (see details | threads)…

In Other Wolverine Video Game News…
–Newsarama: Three Hours with ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ the Game (details | threads)
–Marvel: New Video Game Images and Video (details | threads)

In Wolverine Movie News…
–IGN: New Stills from ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ (details | threads)
-ICv2: Over One Million Wolverine Downloads (details | threads)
-Adelaide Now: Hugh Jackman Heartbroken at Leak (details | threads)
-Newsarama: Friedman Fired over ‘Wolverine’ Review (details | threads)

In Wolverine Comic Book News…
–Newsarama: Wolverine: Weapon X’s Jason Aaron (Part I | Part II | IGN | threads)
–Marvel: Barry Lyga on ‘Wolverine: Worst Day Ever’ (details)
–CBR: Antony Johnston on Wolverine Manga (details | thread)

In Other Wolverine News…
–IGN: Wolverine Origins and Beginnings (details)
–Marvel: Wolverine Costumes (details)
–Marvel: Wolverine Psych Ward (details)
–Marvel: Wolverine’s Teams (details)

Probable (and Possible) Wolverine Appearances in stores on 4/15/09…
–Rampaging Hulk #1 (preview | thread):
–Wolverine Noir #1 (preview | thread): Meet Jim Logan, New York City private eye…
–Wolverine: Weapon X #1 (preview | threads): Wolverine in black & white…
–The Wolverine Files (details | thread): Alas, nothing to do with this website…
–Wolverine Appreciation Month Covers (thread): Moon Knight #29 | Uncanny X-Men #508
X-Men Legacy #223

Wolverine appeared in five titles this past week (April 8, 2009), the review of his  newest series, ‘Wolverine: Weapon X’ #1 was posted earlier in the week.

As for the rest of the titles…

Wolverine: Prodigal Son
(preview | threads)
Writer: Antony Johnston
Art: Wilson Tortosa

With apologies to Lloyd Bentsen, I know manga.

I’ve been reading manga for years.

Naruto, Dragon Ball Z, Death Note.

My friends, this no manga.

Sure it looks like manga, but therein lies the problem.

It looks like manga, but it’s not actually manga.

It’s a simple (and understandable) attempt to cash in on the manga craze with, I kid you not, a British writer and a Filipino artist.

Don’t get me wrong. There’s a lot of crappy manga out there. But without Wolverine’s name on the cover, this series would be D.O.A.

Frankly, even with Wolverine’s name on the cover, this series might be D.O.A.

And to be honest, that might not be such a bad thing.

Ultimate Wolverine vs. Ultimate Hulk #4
(preview | thread)
Writer: Damon Lindelof
Artist: Leinil Francis Yu

Perhaps this issue should have been called Ultimate She-Hulk vs. Nobody.

Traveling back in time to witness the birth of She-Hulk is an interesting concept that should make for an interesting next issue, but after waiting three years, it’s frustrating that the plot still hasn’t been advanced.

And the dialogue is more cutesy and self aware than clever and funny like the first two issues.

Perhaps after all this time waiting, the bloom is finally off the rose…

Timestorm 2009/2099
(preview | thread)
Writer: Brian Reed
Penciler: Eric Battle
Inker: Andrew Hennessy & Vicente Cifuentes

Wolverine only appears for the final few pages, but next issue promises some entertaining fireworks…

Wolverine: Worst Day Ever
Writer: Barry Lyga

Written as a series of blog posts by a young mutant teen whose mutant ability is not to be noticed, this story by Barry Lyga is surprisingly sweet and quite well done. Intended for a younger audience (it reprints three issues of the Wolverine/Power Pack miniseries), this is a wonderful change of pace if you can manage the $14.99 cover price.

Even this curmudgeon laughed at some of the Wolverine revelations within…

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…

Wolverine: Weapon X #1
(preview | threads)
“The Adamantium Men, Part 1”
Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Ron Garney

The 22-page first issue of the new Wolverine series that Marvel has been hyping for months hit the stands this week.

The first eight pages are spent in fairly standard fashion setting up the plot of this five-part opening storyline.

The next seven pages show, again in fairly standard fashion, how much of a badass Wolverine is and ostensibly introduces a reporter to the cast.

And the final seven pages are devoted to Wolverine researching the bad guys with the help of a de-powered Maverick.

All in all, a fairly tame issue that sets the groundwork for Jason Aaron’s run.

Perhaps unfairly, I was expecting more, though Ron Garney’s art certainly does not disappoint.

All in all, a decent first issue.

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…

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

Barry Windsor-Smith returned to X-Men cover duty in December 1986 with Uncanny X-Men #212 and wrapped up an amazing year of Wolverine covers.

As with his previous cover, one can only look on in astonishment as it slowly comes to life…

As for the issue itself, Rick Leonardi filled in as guest artist with Dan Green and provided some eye-popping interior art to go with some sharp Chris Claremont dialogue…

Followed by…

Rick Leonardi also produced a Wolverine poster around this time that proudly graced my wall for many years before finally disintegrating.

This is the best copy I’ve been able to track down, if anyone has a cleaner version, please let me know…

Previous Classic Wolverine Cover: Uncanny X-Men #210 | Next: Uncanny X-Men #213

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