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…

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

Five years before the legendary ‘Weapon X’, Barry Windsor-Smith gave Wolverine fans a treat with this brilliant cover to Uncanny X-Men #205.

Look at it long enough and you can actually see Wolverine in three dimensions…

Wow.

Jae Lee provided a terrific cover for the reprint appearing in X-Men Classic #109, the second to last issue of this exemplary reprint series and the last to feature Wolverine on the cover…

‘X-Men Classic’, nee ‘Classic X-Men’ (1986-1995).

Requiescat in pace, that’s all she wrote.

Previous Classic Wolverine Cover: Captain America Annual #8 | Next: Uncanny X-Men #207

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

The Wolverine Files Forum has really picked up in traffic and discussions over the past week with some very interesting debates and Wolverine news updates.

Brian Knippenberg has been so prodigious in posting Wolverine news on the Forum that I have recruited him to help out with the Wolverine News Updates on the main site. So as of this update, I will link to the forum thread with each news story and the ensuing discussion. Please welcome Brian aboard and let us know what you think of this new style of Wolverine news reporting…

Up first is news that ‘Wolverine: Origins’ Action Figures are in stores NOW (scroll down thread for story).

In Wolverine Comic Book News…
–WF Forums: From ‘Wolverine: Prodigal Son’ Manga (Amazon)…
–WF Forums: Wolverine vs. Red Hulk in Hulk #13 (MySpace)…
–WF Forums: Wolverine Offerings on Free Comic Book Day (CBR)…
–WF Forums: Scroll down thread for All ‘Wolverine: Weapon X Variant Covers & Podcast (CBR)…

In Other Wolverine News…
–WF Forums: Scroll down thread for Wolverine Video Game Full of Severed Limbs, Exposed Organs (Network World)…
–WF Forums: Scroll down thread for Wolverine: Inside the World of the Living Weapon (Amazon)…

In Breaking Wolverine News…
-Marvel.com: Wolverine Noir Sneak Preview…

Probable (and Possible) Wolverine Appearances in stores on 3/18/09…
–Wolverine #71 (preview): ‘Old Man Logan’ continues…
–Wolverine: Origins #34 (preview): Weapon XI, Part 2 of 5…
–X-Force #13 (details): The lead-in to ‘Messiah War’…
–Ultimate X-Men #100 (details): Final issue…
–Ultimatum #3 (details): The travesty continues…
–Uncanny X-Men #507 (details): Not sure if Wolverine appears in this one…
–Marvel Adventures the Avengers #34 (details): Or this one…
–X-Men Legacy #222 (details): Pretty sure Wolverine doesn’t appear…
–Dark Avengers #3 (details): No Wolverine, just Daken, but you gotta read the preview…

Wolverine appeared in only two titles this past week (March 11, 2009).

But he was the centerpiece and editorial subject of Marvel Spotlight: Wolverine that begins with an absolute must-read interview with Daniel Way.

Early on, Way admits, “[Wolverine] is almost a war criminal. And if we had lost WWII, he would have been a war criminal.”

And here is where Daniel Way and I differ.

Morally, Wolverine is a war criminal, period.

I understand his legal distinction, but for me it is all about what one does when no one is looking. Not merely what one can prove.

And for me, it is for exactly that reason that I do not like ‘Wolverine: Origins’.

I, for one, do not believe it was necessary to take Wolverine to these evil depths in order to show off his redemption.

As he notes at the end of the interview, “…Sometimes I’ve done things that have pissed off fans to the extreme, but I’ve gotten their heart pumpin’ again. ‘I made ya look.’ And, that was the point.”

And here I thought it was to make fans say, “Wow.”

Jason Aaron and Christopher Yost are also interviewed and there are some excellent pieces on Barry Windor-Smith’s ‘Weapon X’, ‘First Class’ and ‘Origin’.

Moving onto the reviews themselves…

X-Men Noir #4 (preview)
“The Mutant Hunter”
Writer: Fred Van Lente
Artist: Dennis Calero

I strongly recommend a thorough reread of the first three issues before embarking on this series finale.

Wolverine does appear, but merely plays a supporting role this time around…

Astonishing Tales #2 (preview)
“The Hard Way”
Writer: C.B. Cebulski
Penciler: Kenneth Rocafort

More over-the-top posturing for Wolverine and the Punisher, and the introduction of “Kimora: Agent of the Mysterious Organization Known as The Facility” whose enormous breasts threaten to burst through the fabric of her low-cut uniform.

So depending on your viewpoint, this is either an incredible waste of your money or the greatest comic book of all time…

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…

1986 was a very good year for Wolverine covers.

We begin with the unforgettable Captain America Annual #8, where we finally witnessed Wolverine’s unbreakable claws go up against Captain America’s indestructible shield.

And the fiery visuals by Mike Zeck did not disappoint…

I still get a grin looking at that cover!

Next up are two classic Alpha Flight covers from the same year costarring Wolverine…

Mike Mignola provided two terrific covers for Alpha Flight #33 and #34. Unfortunately, Wolverine doesn’t quite own the covers enough for me to classify them as classic Wolverine covers, but I share them because they are still pretty awesome…

Previous Classic Wolverine Cover: Heroes for Hope #1 | Next: Uncanny X-Men #205

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