Just when I think this week’s Wolverine Week-in-Review is ready, something new crops up…

The latest delay comes from the sudden need to change hosting companies and to finally establish the website on Wolverine Files.com, instead of my personal website of TypingMonkeys.com. For complete details, please see the most recent Wolverine Files Update (XXXVIII)…

So this week’s announcement concerning a slight change (or perhaps, more accurately, a clarification) in Wolverine Files’ policy is published much later in the weekend than I had intended. In any event, please note the following …

• Wolverine Files is a Wolverine site, first and foremost. So while I will cover Wolverine’s son, Daken, for the time being, I no longer feel obliged to detail Daken’s cameo appearances, such as the single panel appearance in ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ #596. It’s hard enough tracking down every Wolverine appearance, so if others want to add those appearances in the comments below, please feel free.
• I’ve mentioned my fervent belief in the past that Wolverine is in too many books, such as the FIFTY-ONE APPEARANCES over a recent six-week span. So while I will continue to chronicle Wolverine’s countless cover appearances and single panel flashback cameos, I, for one, will no longer be buying them. I know this doesn’t impact the site or you, but I simply will not financially support these gratuitous appearances anymore. So, again, if I have miss anything, please note my omissions in the comments below.

Movie Update: With ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ petering out at the box office, I will be running updates on Monday nights when the weekend tallies have become official.

TV Update: Friday night featured a brand new and intriguing ‘Wolverine and the X-Men’ episode, “Past Discretion”, dealing with Wolverine’s past (episode details)…

Comic Strip Update: Wolverine guest stars in the ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ comic strip. And you can read them all at the Houston Chronicle, Wolverine’s appearance starting June 1st…

As for comics this past week (June 3, 2009), Wolverine appeared in only FOUR TITLES.

Jrpbsp wrote up an extensive recap and review for ‘Wolverine: Revolver’ #1, and as usual, I will give my curmudgeonly impressions for the rest of the Wolverine docket…

Ultimatum #4 (preview | thread)
“A Time to Die”
Writer: Jeph Loeb
Artist: David Finch

This series has been a disaster (in more ways than one)  from the word go.  And this issue is no exception.

Since I don’t read ‘Ultimate Spider-Man’ or ‘Ultimate Fantastic Four’, I have no idea what is going on as the story has suddenly jumped from previous issue’s finale without explanation.

Further, the relationship between Wolverine and Kitty Pryde seems to be tied more to the 616 universe instead of the Ultimate universe.

Only one issue to go, and I hope, frankly, that Wolverine does not survive so I won’t be forced to continue enduring this universe…

Dark Avengers #5 (preview | thread)
Writer: Brian Michael David Bendis
Art: Mike Deodato

While I have thoroughly enjoyed this Dark Reign storyline, you know you’re in trouble when the writer takes to Twitter to defend his handling of Norman Osborn and the press.

So it would seem that I am not the only one not buying the Norman Osborn manipulating the media.

Norman Osborn is the Green Goblin. If you wanted to finesse this properly, then Marvel should have used the events of One More Day/Brand New Day to wipe everyone’s memories of Norman Osborn as the Green Goblin as well.

Seems like a rather appropriate turn of events when dealing with the devil…

Astonishing Tales #5 (details | thread)
“Lowtown Showdown”
Writer: C.B. Cebulski
Artist: Kenneth Rocafort

Were I not a Wolverine completist, this is one of the titles I would be dropping…

UPDATE: I should mention that Wolverine does not appear in ‘Dark Avengers’ #5 and that while Daken does appear, it’s not a substantial appearance…

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…

As you may have noticed, the Wolverine Files website was down for much of Saturday.

Unfortunately, this has become an all-too-frequent occurrence.

When I launched Wolverine Files on a whim back in 2005, it was as part of my personal website, TypingMonkeys.com.

Not sure who to use as my provider, I chose ValueWeb.

Big mistake.

For some reason, their SQL databases are horrendously slow and prone to crashing for hours at a time.

Well, I finally purchased WolverineFiles.com through GoDaddy earlier in the year when we launched the forums.

But it was last night when I snapped and moved the entire website (save for a few older pages) from TypingMonkeys.com (and ValueWeb) to WolverineFiles.com (and GoDaddy).

One hopes, the transition will be seamless as I used 301 redirects to map the old site to the new.

But if you happen to notice a broken link or something screwy, please don’t hesitate to contact me at dig@wolverinefiles.com, leave a comment below or in this forum thread.

DiG…

Hey, everyone… Here is my second and final review for the week. I am reviewing the new New Mutants series.  Hope you enjoy it.

New Mutants #2 (preview)
Writer: Zeb Wells
Pencilers: Diogenes Neves
Inkers: Cam Smith and Ed Tadeo

NOTE: Wolverine does not appear in this comic.

SPOILERS BELOW…

RECAP: The issue opens with Sam and Roberto debating with Illyana and Amara about Shan’s location. Her body is with the boys but her mind is trapped in Legion’s head. The girls tell her what is happening and we flash to Shan and the unknown mutant child fleeing from the rest of Legion’s personalities. And there are a lot of them now.

Shan tries to hide the child in the attic while keeping her doll which is a focus for Legion. But the rest of the personalities break in before Shan can really hide the girl. Bobby tries to break her free from her chair but Shan’s powers back fire and nearly pull him in too. Sam is forced to deck his friend to break him free.

Shan confronts the personalities and she is told they only want ‘The Fixers’ i.e. the four New Mutants from his first appearance, Rahne, Dani, Doug and Warlock. Shan fights them buying time to get the doll to the girl before she is pulled down.

With the girl in charge, her mother tried to protect her believing Legion is truly her daughter. Amara wants to take Legion to Emma to get the telepath’s help but her mother moves to stop them and is in turn restrained by her husband. The father understands that this is not their daughter and there is nothing they can do while she is being hunted in Legion’s mind.

With the girl taken, some of the less pleasant personalities begin to fight over the doll. The first one hits them all with a telekinetic punch. The next one blasts Illyana with some sort of energy beam from his mouth. The third impales both parents with some sort of spike from his arm then the fourth flies away.

As the parents die, the father confesses that it was he who had called the mutants here. Illyana calls Sam and Roberto to find Dani because she knows that is who Legion is going after. They confront the bartender to make sure Shan’s body will be looked after, and he tells the boys that Dani is in jail. He explains that they were afraid of what would happen if they had a mutant child in town.

Sam and Roberto leave only to be confronted by a mob of police. Not wanting to fight, Sam grabs Roberto and blasts off. The issue ends with Legion arriving at the police station and confronting the still imprisoned Dani.

MY TAKE:  This is another strong issue in a series which is fast becoming one of my favorites. The characters are all being done very well and the personalities are still spot on. The dialogue is fun and the plot is interesting without being overpowering or convoluted. Shan especially shone, while she has never been a favorite, her courage and desire to protect the innocent were on prominent display.

Most of the issue was devoted to Legion and establishing the villain and the conflict which was needed since last issue we were given virtually nothing. I still would have liked a bit more explanation on where all the new personalities and powers came from and what the significance of the doll is, but I expect that will be shown in later issues.

My biggest complaint in the issue were the parents. The mother and father seemed to be thrown in for a sense of drama and then quickly killed off. It made them seem to be disposable and therefore unneeded in the plot. I would have preferred they were left out entirely or given less time in the issue.

The strength of the first issue was in the character interactions and we do not get too much of that here. But what we do get is still enjoyable. The writer obviously knows these people and understands them. There are also some nice little bits thrown in for the fans of the original series. I am not sure how off putting that will be to new fans but I enjoy it.

The art was good if nothing spectacular. My only complaint is that I occasionally had a hard time telling Illy and Amara apart especially in the action sequences. I would have liked to see them looking a bit more distinctive.

All in all though another great comic and I am looking forward to the next issue eagerly. I have been waiting for a return of the New Mutants for a very long time and finally it looks like I am getting my wish.

Thanks for reading my review for Wolverine Files. I will be keeping to this format for the most part but please keep the comments coming and I will see everyone again tomorrow.

Hey, everyone… I am back with another pair of reviews for this week. For the first review I am going to do ‘Wolverine: Revolver’. Hope you enjoy it.

Wolverine: Revolver
(preview | thread)
Writer: Victor Gischler
Pencilers: Das Pastoras

SPOILERS BELOW…

RECAP:  The issue opens with two men playing Russian Roulette in front of a hoard of gamblers and the Russian mob. One of the men is scared but the other, the champion is completely at ease. After two empty clicks, the scared man’s luck runs out and he shoot himself.

Next round comes up and the new competitor is Logan. He asks the man running the show for two bullets rather then one and the champions agrees. Logan goes first and the chamber is empty as it is then for the champion.

With the third pull, Logan shoots himself in the head. He gets back up and tosses the spent bullet on the table. The champion then goes again and shoots himself in the head. But he too heals before transforming into a demon.

The demon kills the mobsters and turns on Logan. Wolverine indicates he has been tracking the monster ever since he killed a medicine man and his Indian tribe.

The demon claws Logan in the chest just as he cuts one of the creatures arms off. The demon puts the arms back on and it heals but then Logan shows the monster that he too can heal. Their fight is short but vicious with Logan cutting the demon into pieces before taking its head.

Still that does not kill it. Logan then puts all the pieces in separate bags and leaves them all over the southwest. He saves the still living head for last putting it in a deep cave where it would not be found for a long time. And he faces it towards the wall.

MY TAKE: This is not a bad issue for a one shot. The plot is extremely simplistic but it flows well and is generally entertaining. We have seen Logan track down and kill monsters many times but this adds a bit of a unique spin on it. You actually see Wolverine playing its game and forcing it to show itself rather then coming out with claws blazing.

But what works the best is the fact that it shows Wolverine thinking and planning. He had hunted this creature for a while and even though he is not sure what it is exactly, he is able to take it out. I really enjoyed the depiction of Logan here in general. He is cool and confident and just enough of a bastard to be interesting. The dialogue works quite well, too, between Wolverine and the demon as do the internal thought bubbles.

That is not to say this issue is great. The plot is very simplistic and drawn out. While I understand trying to play for tension, the two Russian roulette scenes tended to drag. You knew who was going to be shot and you understood what was going to happen from the very beginning. There is no surprise that the champion is not human, you could tell that from the way he was not in the least bit scared.

You also knew that Wolverine was going to be game and that he was going to shoot himself. The fight scene was over too quickly and somewhat underwhelming. It is simply a fast way to get to the end pay off where Wolverine deposes of the body in a half dozen different places.

The art is not a style I like although the interior is better then the cover. But all the characters faces had a vaguely simian look that I found a bit irritating.

In the end this was better then expected but still a pretty forgettable one shot. It will not go down as a great Wolverine story but it was an amusing read, mostly due to the dialogue and Wolverine’s internal thoughts.

Thanks for reading my review for Wolverine Files. I will be keeping to this format for the most part but please keep the comments coming and I will see everyone again next week.

Before we get to the comic strip news, let’s start with a movie update.

‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ pushed its domestic gross to $170.8 million over the weekend and positioning itself as the #138th domestic grossing film of all time, slashing past ‘A Beautiful Mind’, ‘A Quantum Solace’ and ‘Chicago’.

Up next? ‘Tarzan’ and ‘The Matrix’.

With international box office added in, ‘Wolverine’ has accrued $341.1 million worldwide, clocking in as the #151st grossing film of all time worldwide, placing ‘Wolverine’ just ahead of ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’, ‘Wanted’ and ‘Batman Forever’.

And now on with the regularly scheduled Wolverine comic strip news…
–Newsarama: Wolverine to Appear in ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ Comic Strip (details)
–Marvel: The First Wolverine Appearance in ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ Comic Strip (details)

Probable (and Possible) Wolverine Appearances in stores on 6/03/09…
–Dark Avengers #5 (preview): With Dark Wolverine…
–Ultimatum #4 (preview): Oft-delayed Ultimatum limps on…
–Wolverine: Revolver (details): Another Wolverine one-shot…

I will run the ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ box office update tonight when the weekend totals become official and instead lead off with the new ‘Wolverine and the X-Men’ episode from Friday, “Greetings from Genosha (episode details)…

As for comics this week (May 28, 2009), Wolverine appeared in TWELVE TITLES, putting him in FIFTY-ONE COMICS over the past six weeks, not including variant covers. Holy cow!

And many, many thanks to the herculean efforts of Jrpbsp who have wrote up extensive recaps and reviews for…

• Wolverine #72
• Wolverine: Origins #36
• Wolverine: First Class #15
• X-Force #15
• Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk #6
• X-Men Legacy #224

As usual, I will give my impressions for the rest of the Wolverine docket…

Runaways #10 (preview | thread)
“Mollifest Destiny”
Writer: Chris Yost
Artist: Sara Pichelli

If you liked the first 12 issues of ‘Wolverine: First Class’, then you will get a kick out of Wolverine’s interactions with little Miss Molly.

Funny, clever and ultimately poignant.

If only all Wolverine appearances were this much fun…

New Avengers #53 (preview | thread)
Writer: Brian Michael David Bendis
Pencils: Billy Tan
Inkers: Matt Banning

Sorcery takes center stage once again, but Wolverine does get his moments, as seen in the preview…

Amazing Spider-Man #595 (preview | thread)
“American Son, Part 1”
Writer: Joe Kelly
Penciler: Phil Jimenez
Inker: Andy Lanning

Interesting two-page cameo (the first half can be seen in the preview) for Wolverine. Again, if only all Wolverine appearances could be this relevant and appropriate.

But I still don’t get the power that Norman Osborn wields. Methinks if O.J. Simpson killed Osama Bin Laden, he might not be put in charge of the FBI by the President.

But that’s just me…

Avengers/Invaders #11 (preview | thread)
“Royal Allies”
Plot: Alex Ross & Jim Krueger
Script: Jim Krueger
Pencils: Steve Sadowski & Patrick Berkenkotter

Wolverine actually gets a few lines this issue, but I for one can’t wait for this series to be over…

Marvel Apes: Grunt Line #1 (preview)
“This Man… This Monkey”
Writer: Karl Kesel
Penciler: Reilly Brown and Joe Suitor
Inker: Wong & Paris and Joe Suitor

Intriguing Wolverine cameo in the final panel of the first story.

Worth a look at your local comic book store…

X-Men Future History – The Messiah War Sourcebook (details)
Writers: Jess Harold, Dugan Trodglen & Jeph York

Wolverine cameos on the cover and is featured inside as part of Scott Summers’ dissertation on X-Force.

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…