September is here and it’s time to crank things up on the Wolverine Files.

To that end, I could use your help on a few things…

1. We really need a few more reviewers. Jrpbsp has been doing a herculean job so far, but I fear for the safety of his brain if he continues on such a torrid pace. Cranial explosions are never a good thing, so if you have an interest in reviewing a few of the Wolverine titles on a regular basis, please drop me a line at dig@wolverinefiles.com. I do need to see a sample of your writing, so feel free to write up a review of any issue currently on the stands as your audition.
2. You may have noticed that we have lost several of the moderators on the Wolverine Files Forum over the summer. Not sure why exactly, but if you are interested in helping out there by creating new threads (especially for upcoming issues), fostering fun conversations and encouraging a friendly environment, email me at dig@wolverinefiles.com.
3. Because I would love to get back to updating the Wolverine chronology, I could also use help dealing with Wolverine News. Ideally, I would like to transition Wolverine News from Mondays to posting news as the news cycle warrants. Again, if interested drop me a line at, well, you can probably figure that one out.

Finally, if you are interested in helping out in general or you have ideas and the time to improve the site (such as a cover and synopsis database for back issues of Uncanny X-Men and Wolverine), well, don’t keep such thoughts to yourself.

Cheers, DiG…

Disney acquiring Marvel is the big news this week, so we start with the best stories I have found so far. Feel free to add more in the comments below…

• Bloomberg News: Disney-Marvel Deal Overview
• Comic Book Resources: Details from the Disney-Marvel Conference Call
• Comic Book Resources: Industry Reactions Including from Jason Aaron
• Newsarama: 10 Questions Raised by the Deal
• Deadline Hollywood Daily: Analysis of the Disney-Marvel Deal
• Deadline Hollywood Daily: Why Disney Has to Wait for Marvel Synergy
• Deadline Hollywood Daily: Universal vs. Disney Over Marvel Characters
• Deadline Hollywood Daily: Stan Lee on the Disney-Marvel Deal

In Wolverine news…

• IGN: Old Man Logan Giant-Size Preview (details)
• Houston Chronicle: Wolverine in ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ Strip (details)

Probable (and Possible) Wolverine Appearances in stores on 9/2/09…
–House of M: Masters of Evil #2 (preview): Awesome cover…
–Marvel Zombies Return #1 (Spider-Man) (details): Marvel Zombies 5…

Wolverine appeared in ELEVEN TITLES last week (August 26, 2009), admittedly not the eleven I predicted in Wolverine News…

So without further ado, let’s get to the reviews by our very own jrpbsp…

• Wolverine: Origins #39: A Really Hot Time…
• Wolverine: First Class #18: Multiple Choices…
• X-Force #18: Disarmed…
• Dark Avengers #8: And the Seas Shall Rise…

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

Dark Wolverine #77 (preview)
Writers: Daniel Way & Marjorie Liu
Pencils: Giuseppe Camuncoli
Inks: Onofrio Catacchio

Interesting story with lots of twists, double agents and even triple agents.

And next issue promises to raise the stakes even more.

I, for one, can’t wait. I don’t even like Daken…

Dark Reign: Elektra #5 (preview)
Writer: Zeb Wells
Pencils: Clay Mann
Inks: Mark Pennington

Wolverine plays a fairly substantial role in this miniseries finale, but I can’t say that I find the lead character very endearing by the end of the issue.

Has anyone been reading this from the beginning? If so, please add your thoughts in the comments…

Hulk #14 (preview)
Writer: Jeph Loeb
Pencils: Ian Churchill
Inks: Mark Farmer

Horrendously corny dialogue, one-dimensional characters, and juvenile plots that makes you wonder if the writer cares at all about these characters.

In other words, classic Jeph Loeb.

Ugh.

TimeStorm #4 (preview)
Writer: Brian Reed
Pencilers: Eric Battle & Jon Bosco
Inkers: Drew Hennessy, Alex Silva & Nelson Pereira

Another miniseries finale and I’m still not sure of the point of the story. But at least Wolverine gets two solid pages of dialogue…

Dark X-Men: The Beginning #3 (preview)
Writer: Jason Aaron
Art: Jock

Jason Aaron gives us a fun-filled short story with “Get Mystique (Slight Return)”.

And the best part is the ending, “To be continued…”

New Avengers #56 (preview)
Writer: Jeph Loeb
Pencils: Ian Churchill
Inks: Mark Farmer

Cover appearance only Wolverine, but Dark Wolverine does cameo…

As for the final Wolverine ‘appearance’, jrpbsp will be reviewing X-Men Forever #6 later in the week. While Wolverine doesn’t appear, his presence is certainly felt.

Shifting gears to animation, we had another new episode of ‘Wolverine and the X-Men’ this past Friday, Backlash dealing with Master Mold. For full details, see the Marvel.com preview…

As always, share your opinion in the comments below OR or simply join in on the fun at the Wolverine Files Forums…

Wow.

• Silicon Valley Insider: Disney to Acquire Marvel in $4 Billion Deal
• Comic Book Resources: Disney Acquires Marvel Entertainment

More details as they become available.

Wow.

UPDATE: Hollywood Reporter on the Disney-Marvel conference call this morning…

SECOND UPDATE: Comic Book Resources adds more details from the conference call and Joe Quesada…

THIRD UPDATE: Deadline Hollywood Daily provides analysis of the Disney-Marvel deal…

Not a lot of Wolverine news this week, but there are a boatload of Wolverine and Dark Wolverine appearances…

• CBR: Daniel Way, Marjorie Liu Talk Dark Wolverine and Kittens (details)
• Houston Chronicle: Wolverine in ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ Strip, Sort Of (details)

Probable (and Possible) Wolverine Appearances in stores on 8/26/09…
–Dark Avengers #8 (preview): Utopia continues…
–Dark Wolverine #77 (preview): Daken takes on Ares…
–Dark X-Men: The Beginning #3 (preview): Wolverine appears or does he?
–Hulk #14 (preview): X-Force Takes on Red Hulk…
–Ms. Marvel #44 (preview): Wolverine may cameo in the War of the Marvels…
–New Avengers #56 (preview): New Avengers vs. Dark Avengers?
–Timestorm 2009/2099 #4 (preview): Timestorm finale?
–Wolverine: First Class #18 (preview): Wolverine Team-Up with Multiple Man…
–Wolverine: Origins #39 (details): Wolverine vs. Omega Red…
–X-Force #18 (preview): Not Forgotten continues…
–X-Men Forever #6 (preview): Wolverine is still dead…

Wolverine appeared in only TWO TITLES last week (August 19, 2009)…

So without further ado, let’s get to the reviews by our very own jrpbsp…

• Wolverine: Weapon X #4: It’s Clawing Time…
• X-Men Legacy #227: God Power (Sans Wolverine)…

As usual, I will share my curmudgeonly impressions for the rest of the Wolverine docket, in this case…

Marvel Adventures the Avengers #39 (preview)
Writer: Paul Tobin
Penciler: Horacio Domingues
Inker: Craig Yeung

Horacio Domingues is not a bad artist. I’ve seen some of his work online. But for some reason, the art is shockingly bad for this issue. So bad that I really had problems getting through the story.

And not a particularly good story either, with Wolverine revealed as a hot dog aficionado.

The only good news, for me at least, is that this monstrosity of series has finally been canceled.

We also had yet another new episode of ‘Wolverine and the X-Men’ this past Friday, Code of Conduct with surprising twist on the Silver Samurai and Mariko storyline. For full details, see the Marvel.com preview…

As always, share your opinion in the comments below OR or simply join in on the fun at the Wolverine Files Forums…

Major Wolverine appearances for November…

WOLVERINE WEAPON X #7
Written by JASON AARON
Penciled by YANICK PAQUETTE
The weirdest Wolverine story in recent memory continues, as Logan learns more about his current residence, the Dunwich Sanitorium, and the bizarre man in charge, Dr. Algernon J. Rottwell. The good Dr. Rot seems to enjoy removing people’s brains and… doing things with them. And now he has his eyes on Wolverine’s noggin. If only Logan could remember how he got here. Or who he is. Or how these claws of his work…

WOLVERINE ORIGINS #42
Written by DANIEL WAY
Pencils by DOUG BRAITHWAITE
“7 The Hard Way,” Part 3 (of 4)
Wolverine’s extremely unconventional plan to take down Romulus takes yet another twist, as he now finds himself plotting a prison break. And who is it he’s planning to spring? Would you believe…Ruby Thursday?!

WOLVERINE FIRST CLASS #21
Written by PETER DAVID
Penciled by SCOTT KOBLISH
Believe it or not, Wolverine’s got a mean streak. You’d just never know by looking at him. Kitty’s faced down alien invaders, Canadian super-teams, raging hormones and other typical dangers of a teenager at the X-mansion, but she’s never had to face a challenge like this – Wolverine! With her powers on the fritz, will she make it out alive?

DARK WOLVERINE #80
Written by MARJORIE LIU & DANIEL WAY
Penciled by STEPHEN SEGOVIA
“My Hero,” Part 4 (of 4)
Norman Osborn’s plan to improve Daken’s public image has gone horribly wrong, resulting in the deaths of dozens of innocent people. Meanwhile, Daken’s plan is moving along quite nicely…

X-FORCE #21
Written by CRAIG KYLE & CHRISTOPHER YOST
Pencils by CLAYTON CRAIN
NECROSHA continues here!! The resurrected dead lay siege to the X-Men’s headquarters, and the fight to survive the Black Queen’s vengeance begins. But while Warpath and Wolverine realize what’s happening, they may be too late to stop it. Because Selene is already well on her way to achieving ultimate power half a world away. And as the rest of the X-Men fight mutants back from the dead, Wolfsbane struggles to survive a very different threat. PLUS!! The long awaited return of the VANISHER. PART TWO (of FIVE)

For complete Marvel solicitations, see CBR. In other Wolverine News from around the Web…

• CBR: ‘Wolverine 2’ Movie Update from Hugh Jackman (details)
• CBR: Christopher McQuarrie to Write ‘Wolverine’ Sequel (details)
• Bleeding Cool: Antony Johnston Talks ‘Wolverine: Prodigal Son’ (details)
• Houston Chronicle: Wolverine vs. Dr. Octopus in ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ Strip (details)

Probable (and Possible) Wolverine Appearances in stores on 8/19/09…
–Marvel Adventures The Avenger #39 (preview): Wolverine returns…
–Wolverine: Weapon X #4 (preview): ‘Adamantium Men’ continues…

Wolverine appeared in FOUR TITLES last week (August 12, 2009)…

So without further ado, lets get to the reviews by our very own jrpbsp…

• Uncanny X-Men #514: Wolverine Is All Wet…
• Uncanny X-Men: First Class #2: Inhuman Judgment…
• X-Men Forever #5: Very Limited Lives…

As usual, I will share my curmudgeonly impressions for the rest of the Wolverine docket, in this case…

Ms. Marvel #43 (preview)
Writer: Brian Reed
Artist: Sergio Arino

Wolverine gets a one-page cameo in this Ms. Marvel vs. Ms. Marvel fest.

Not a bad single-page cameo as far as single-page cameos go.

And for those of you keeping score at home, that single-page cameo would be on page eight.

We also had another new episode of ‘Wolverine and the X-Men’ this past Friday, Badland. Surprisingly amusing, this episode dealt with Sentinels infused with eau de Wolverine. For full details, see the Marvel.com preview…

As always, share your opinion in the comments below OR or simply join in on the fun at the Wolverine Files Forums…

Convention season continued with Chicago Comic-Con and another batch of Wolverine news…

• CBR: Mondo Marvel Panel with Jason Aaron (details)
• CBR: Ultimate Marvel Panel with Wolverine Update (details)
• CBR: X-Men Panel with Wolverine One-Shots by Frank Tieri (details)
• CBR: Tieri Talks Wolverine (details)
• Marvel: Wolverine vs. Thor (details)
• Marvel: Wolverine vs. Mr. X (details)
• CBR: Cornell, Kirk and Lowe Talk Dark X-Men (details)

In other Wolverine News from around the Web…

• CBR: Craig Kyle & Chris Yost on Necrosha (details)
• Houston Chronicle: Wolverine vs. Dr. Octopus in ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ Strip (details)

And last but not least, ‘Wolverine and the X-Men’ episode 15, “Hunting Grounds”, aired this past Friday, with Nightcrawler and the Scarlet Witch in MojoWorld against a mind-controlled Wolverine …

Probable (and Possible) Wolverine Appearances in stores on 8/12/09…
–Ms. Marvel #43 (preview): Wolverine may cameo in the War of the Marvels…
–Uncanny X-Men #514 (preview): Utopia continues…
–Uncanny X-Men: First Class #2 (preview): The X-Men vs. the Inhumans…
–X-Men Forever #5 (preview): Wolverine is still dead…

Shockingly, Wolverine appeared in only ONE TITLE this past week (August 5, 2009), the final chapter of Ultimate X-Men…

Ultimatum: X-Men Requiem #1
(preview | thread)
Writer: Aron E. Coleite
Artist: Ben Oliver

As much as I despised Ultimatum, Aron Coleite is a terrific writer and does bring a true sense of sadness to the closing chapter of the Ultimate X-Men series. One can’t help but wonder if his hand would have brought a steadier flow to the remaking of the Ultimate universe.

Wolverine does appear, in a sense, and if you haven’t read this issue, do visit the preview to see what I mean.

Unfortunately, we all know that sooner or later Ultimate Wolverine will return, but I, for one, would prefer if he and the rest of the X-Men remained buried.

Share your opinion in the comments below OR join in on the fun in the Wolverine Files Forums…