As you have undoubtedly noticed, chronology updates have slowed down quite a bit as I’ve  spent more time on some personal writing projects, but I did want to share a few updates on the site…

-Wolverine Files on  MySpace: Please add us as a friend if you use MySpace. I would really like to connect with the readers here!
-Wolverine Files on  Twitter: Not sure I’m sold on Twitter, but if you use it, please follow us while we bang the tires…
– Wolverine Files Forums: Check out the fun. We have some interesting discussions ongoing and have cracked the 50 member mark. Not much I know, but we do have over 1200 posts!

As for the chronology, I have added ‘New Avengers: Illuminati #1’ to 021: Department H and Weapon X and am rewriting chapter 024 (The Wolverine) as well as adding recent comics to the existing chapters (‘X-Men Origins: Sabretooth’ and ‘Manifest Destiny: Wolverine’)…

A new trailer for ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’, new photos from Marvel.com and a nice upgrade to the official website…

In Wolverine Comic Book News…
–MySpace: Daniel Way talks ‘Wolverine: Origins’…
–CBR: From Jason Aaron on ‘Wolverine: Weapon X’…
–Marvel: Peter David on ‘Wolverine: First Class’…
–Marvel: Exclusive Wolverine/Punisher Digicomic…

Probable Wolverine Appearances in stores on 3/11/09…
–Astonishing Tales #2 (preview): Wolverine, the Punisher and Predator X, Part II…
–X-Men Noir #4 (preview): Miniseries finale…
–Marvel Spotlight: Wolverine (details): The overexposure of Wolverine continues here…
–Official Marvel Index to Marvel Universe #3 (details): More X-Men chronology…

Wolverine appeared in two titles this past week (March 4, 2009) and I include one other appearance I missed from the previous week…

Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk #3 (preview)
Writer: Damon Lindelof
Artist: Leinil Francis Yu

February 2006.

That’s when this series began, meaning  issue #1 arrived in stores in 2005.

Think about that.

2005.

Makes you nostalgic for the days of ‘Big Numbers’!

I reread the first two issues (of ‘Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk’, not ‘Big Numbers’) having forgotten what transpired and was absolutely blown away by how good they were.

Wow.

From the ripping apart of Wolverine in the first issue to the classic Hulk lines of the second issue (“HULK NO IMPOTENT! HULK NO ANGRY!!” or “TOFURKEY NOT FUNNY!”).

Wow.

So I was excited to get to #3, only to find 22 pages of flippant self-referential humor, and a needlessly intrusive tendency by Lindelof to break the fourth wall.

Maybe it’s a good thing we’ll never see the third issue of ‘Big Numbers’…

X-Men/Spider-Man #4 (preview)
“The Mutant Hunter”
Writer: Christos Gage
Artist: Mario Alberti

When characters within a story make fun of the writing, you know you’re in trouble.

Which is a shame, for this has been a fun series.

But this final issue simply dwells too much on reminiscings of past team-ups and this misplaced, gag-inducing sentiment that throughout the years, Spider-Man and the X-Men have each others’ backs.

Vomit bag, please…

Marvels: Eye of the Camera #4 (preview)
“Deep Wounds”
Writer: Kurt Busiek & Roger Stern
Artist: Jan Anacleto

I missed this Wolverine appearance from last week.

Not a shock considering Wolverine’s cameo consists of a part of his mask from a montage on the front page of the Daily Bugle.

Thanks, once again, to the eagle eye of Comusiv…

Last but not least (for comics), the Wolverine Poster Book also hit the stands with a collection of mostly recent Wolverine cover. Not nearly as good, in my opinion, as the last one that boasted covers from throughout Wolverine’s career…

And don’t forget the excellent ‘Wolverine and the X-Men’ animated series, debuting a new episode tonight, “Time Bomb”.

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…

There was one other great cover in 1985

But it wasn’t your average comic book.

Think ‘We Are the World’ for the comic book industry, or more accurately, Heroes for Hope starring the X-Men.

And the cover by Arthur Adams was about as tremendous a start for such an ambitious project as could have been hoped for…

The project included such luminaries as Stan Lee, Stephen King, Berni Wrightson and Alan Moore, plus a special Wolverine section of the story.

What do you get when you team up Harlan Ellison, Frank Miller and Bill Sienkiewicz on a three-page Wolverine vignette?

Absolute ecstasy as evidenced below…

Other notable teams of contributors included…

–Stan Lee, John Romita, Jr. and Al Gordon
–Stan Lee, John Buscema and Klaus Janson
–Ed Bryant, Brent Anderson and Joe Sinnott
–Louise Simonson, John Byrne and Terry Austin
–Ed Bryant, Brent Anderson and Dan Green
–Stephen King, Berni Wrightson and Jeff Jones
–Bill Mantlo, Charlie Vess and Jay Muth
–Ed Bryant, Brent Anderson and Tom Palmer
–Alan Moore and Richard Corben
–Ann Nocenti, Mike Kaluta and Al Milgrom
–Chris Claremont, Brian Bolland and Craig Russell
–Jo Duffy and John Bolton
–Mike Baron, Steve Rude and Carl Potts
–Denny O’Neil, Bret Blevins and Al Williamson
–George Martin, Herb Trimpe and Sal Buscema
–Bruce Jones and Gray Morrow
–Steve Englehart, Paul Gulacy and Bob Layton
–Jim Shooter, Alan Weiss and Joe Rubinstein
–Mike Grell, Jackson Guice and Steve Leialoha
–Archie Goodwin, Howard Chaykin and Walt Simonson

Phew!

Previous Classic Wolverine Cover: Uncanny X-Men #196 | Next: Captain America Annual #8

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

Lots of X-Men (and Wolverine) News broke over the weekend from WonderCon ’09 …

-‘Uncanny-Men: First Class’: Stories from Newsarama, CBR and Marvel.com…
-Uncanny-Men/Dark Avengers Crossover: From Newsarama, CBR, IGN and Marvel.com…
–From Earlier in the Week: Ron Garney on Drawing ‘Wolverine: Weapon X’ (Newsarama)…

In ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ Movie and Video Game News…
–Marvel.,com: All Three ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ trailers…
–Wired.com: Enter for a Chance to Win a Trip to the Premiere (but you have to take me!)…
–Newsarama: Video Game Interview…
–Marvel.com: New Video Game Screenshots…

Probable Wolverine Appearances in stores on 3/4/09…
–Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk #3 (preview): Finally! Next up, Big Numbers #3…
–X-Men/Spider-Man #4 (preview): Miniseries finale…
–Wolverine Poster Book (no preview): The overexposure of Wolverine starts here…

Wolverine appeared in four titles this past week (February 25, 2009) and I include one other appearance I missed from the previous week…

I reviewed Wolverine Origins #33 and Wolverine: First Class #12 on Wednesday — the major revelations within seemed to require immediate attention.

As for the rest of his appearances…

New Avengers #50 (preview)
Writer: Brian Michael David Bendis
Art: Billy Tan, Matt Banning and Justin Ponsor

Not quite New Avengers vs. Dark Avengers, but Norman Osborn does make interesting opening gambit in his dealings with the New Avengers that makes one wonder where the hell this Brian Michael David Bendis was during Secret Invasion.

And a surprising bevy of guest artists really makes this issue a blast, especially Leinil Yu, Mark Morales and Dave McCaig on the Wolverine page, an amusing look inside Wolverine’s mind. Though I must admit it would have been a lot funnier if Joss Whedon hadn’t already done it in ‘Astonishing X-Men’…

X-Force #12 (preview)
“Suicide Leper, Part One”
Writers: Craig Kyle & Christopher Yost
Artist: Clayton Crain

I’m still having problems getting used to the enormous pupils and irises that Clayton Crain likes to use in his artwork.

As for the issue itself, it’s like every other issue of X-Force before it. So if you enjoy X-Force, you are sure to happy. If you are on the fence like me, you’ll probably stay there.

That said, awesome double-page spread to end the issue…

Young X-Men #11 (preview)
“End of Days”
Writer: Marc Guggenheim
Present Day Sequences: Rafa Sandoval & Roger Bonet
Future Sequences: Daniel Acuna

I completely missed this Wolverine appearance from last week.

A very intriguing future sequence with Wolverine that ties into the current storyline, again with Wolverine.

Since I haven’t been reading this series, please feel free to chime in with comments on just what the hell is going on…

Last but not least (for comics), Wizard Magazine #210 boast a Wolverine/Spider-Man cover by John Cassaday..

And don’t forget the excellent ‘Wolverine and the X-Men’ animated series.

Tonight’s episode, “Wolverine vs. the Hulk” (watch it here), is by far the best episode of the series. Unfortunately, after watching the ‘Hulk vs. Wolverine’ DVD, one realizes just how little Wolverine can do with the claws in a show geared towards kids. That said, this episode really is a hoot with some wonderful one-liners.

Now if only Nick Fury didn’t sound like Lando Calrissian…

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…

1985.

Another year, another solitary classic Wolverine cover.

And this one is more about Wolverine’s shadow than it is about him.

Regardless, Uncanny X-Men #196 by John Romita, Jr. and Terry Austin is one of the most suspenseful covers of this era…

Next up is a selection of Wolverine covers from this time period, from awesome Wolverine cameos to covers that didn’t quite make the cut…

Exhibits A and B are the first issues of Secret Wars by Mike Zeck and Secret Wars II by John Byrne and Terry Austin, examples of tremendous covers, but Wolverine just didn’t dominate the cover enough for me to justify them as iconic Wolverine covers…

Uncanny X-Men #193 by John Romita, Jr. and Dan Green is often cited as a classic Wolverine cover, but it’s way too cluttered and their rendition of Kitty Pryde in the foreground just weakens the cover too much  for my tastes. And Uncanny X-Men #195 by Bill Sienkiewicz, a brilliant Moon Knight artist, and Dan Green simply falls flat.

The good news is another run of classic Wolverine covers is just around the corner…

Previous Classic Wolverine Cover: Alpha Flight #13 | Next: Heroes for Hope #1

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

Some issues are easy to review without giving away spoilers.

Unfortunately, ‘Wolverine: Origins’ #33 is not one of those, so…

SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT!

Wolverine: Origins #33 (preview)
Writer: Daniel Way
Penciler: Doug Braithwaite
Inker: Bill Reinhold

I am of two minds on this issue.

There is one wonderful revelation. Genuinely wonderful revelation.

But it gets obscured, at least for me, by some serious chronological confusion that I will do my level best to chronicle.

In other words, SPOILER ALERT, WILL ROBINSON, SPOILER ALERT!

–Nick Fury suggests that the reason the Canadian government allowed Logan to work for the CIA was because the U.S. government knew about Weapon X and blackmailed the Canadian government into using Logan. But the accompanying visual shows Logan as part of Team X — BEFORE he received his adamantium at Weapon X…

–Nick Fury also talks of Frederick and Elias Hudson, the owners of the Hudson Bay Company. Slight historical problem here as the Hudson Bay Company was named for the Hudson Bay (think East India Company), not any owner named Hudson…

Read more…

For those of you who missed Hugh Jackman hosting the Academy Awards last night, this is an absolute must-watch!

I wonder if he’ll get to sing and dance in ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’?

“Mariko! I just met a girl named Mariko!”

Oh and Wolverine also hosted the AICN Comics 5th Annual Awards Show…

Speaking of ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’, here is the final extended trailer from last week (see the first two here)…

In more ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ Movie and Video Game News…
-Yahoo! Movies: 10 Essential Wolverine Movie Facts…
–Marvel.com: Video Game Cover Art Unveiled…
–Marvel.com: ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ Toys Debut at Toy Fair 2009…

‘Wolverine and the X-Men’ News…
–Marvel.com: ‘X-Calibre’ (episode 6) Preview…
-NickToons: Watch the Full Episode Online…

Wolverine Comic Book News…
–IGN: ‘X-Force/Cable: Messiah War’ Preview (3/25/09 release)…

Probable Wolverine Appearances in stores on 2/25/09…
–New Avengers #50 (preview): New Avengers vs. Dark Avengers…
–Wolverine: First Class #12 (preview): Fred Van Lente’s final issue…
–Wolverine: Origins #33 (preview): Nick Fury tells Wolverine what he knows about Romulus…
–X-Force #12 (preview): Suicide Leper, Part 1..

Wolverine appeared in three titles this past week (February 18, 2009) and I include reviews of four other appearances I missed from the previous week…

And don’t forget the excellent ‘Wolverine and the X-Men’ animated series continues with new episodes every Friday night on NickToons!

Now on with the reviews…

Marvel Adventures the Avengers #33 (preview)
“You’re Driving Me Crazy”
Writer: Paul Tobin
Penciler: Ig Guara
Inker: Sandro Ribeiro

You know you’re in trouble when ‘Marvel Adventures’ is the lead Wolverine appearance for the week.

And long-time readers of this site (all two of you) know that I abhor this series.

So believe me when I say that this one is pretty funny.

Between Wolverine philosophizing on deep-fried sausage pretzels to Ka-Zar learning how to drive in New York City, this story actually elicited several laughs from me.

My favorite line comes courtesy of Storm, “Wolverine… quit hitting them with the bus stop sign, please.”

Uncanny X-Men #506 (preview)
Writer: Matt Fraction
Penciler: Terry Dodson
Inker: Rachel Dodson

I really am not of fan of these types of Wolverine cameos.

Two pages. Five panels. Nine words of dialogue.

Oh… and Wolverine has something stuck in his teeth for three of those panels…

X-Men Legacy #221 (preview)
“Salvage, Part 2 of 5”
Writer: Mike Carey
Penciler: Scot Eaton
Inker: Andrew Hennessy

What do I dislike more than two-page Wolverine cameos?

How about two-page Wolverine cameos that are only physical manifestations of Rogue’s psyche…

Dark Avengers #2 (preview)
Writer: Brian Michael David Bendis
Art: Mike Deodato

No Wolverine. Only Dark Wolverine.

But you do get a terrific story by Brian Michael David Bendis and even better artwork by Mike Deodato.

Best line of the issue, “Skrulls are yesterday’s news.”

If only ‘Secret Invasion’ had been this good…

Marvel TV: Galactus – The Real Story (preview)
“Monsters, Myths and Marvels”
Writer: Frank Tieri
Artist: Juan Santacruz

I can’t believe I missed Frank Tieri’s triumphant return last week!

My favorite Wolverine writer of all-time. With such memorable characters as T and A. And who can forget when Wolverine got ball-gagged. That was so awesome!

And God knows, the Marvel universe would not be complete without this wonderful story about how Galactus doesn’t really exist. And what a great one panel cameo for Wolverine! I love those!

Agent of Atlas #1 (preview)
“Logan: Agent of Atlas”
Writer: Jeff Parker
Artist: Benton Jew

Another comic I missed from last week.

Wolverine appears in the backup story that originally was presented as a free Marvel Digital comic. Nothing to write home about, but it does boast Logan in Cuba during the late 1950s…

And finally, I tracked down a copy of ‘Official Index to the Marvel Universe’ #2 from last week and found references to two Wolverine appearances I had not been aware of previously: ‘Uncanny Origins’ #9 and ‘X-Men Origins: Colossus’. I will be trying to hunt down copies in the next week, but if anyone can shed light on the Wolverine appearances within, I would be most grateful!

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…