Wolverine Origins #45 (Preview)
Writers: Daniel Way
Pencils: Doug Braithwaite
Ink and Washes: Bill Reinhold with Mike Manley

From Marvel: “Wolverine’s plan to take down Romulus is revealed, and the endgame to what it’s all been building to begins! But who is the mastermind behind it all? And more importantly, will it even work? With the treacherous Ruby Thursday set to tell all to Romulus, it seems doubtful…”

On sale March 17, 2010.

Share your thoughts on the finale of the penultimate arc of the series in the comments below. And if you haven’t picked up the issue, make sure to read the preview, linked next the series title above.

Crazy, crazy week at work, so here is the belated and lengthy list of probable/possible Wolverine appearances for the week of 3/17/10, with super-awesome previews…

–Dark Avengers #15 (preview): Siege tie-in with Dark Wolverine…
–Doom War #2 (preview): The X-Men battle Dr. Doom…
–Hercules: Fall of an Avenger #1 (preview): Wolverine attends Hercules’ wake…
–Hulk #21 (preview): Fall of the Hulks…
–Incredible Hulk #608 (preview): More falling Hulks…
–Nation X #4 (preview): Wolverine does appear…
–Prelude to Deadpool Corps #3 (preview): With this series, who knows…
–Siege #3 (preview): Marvel’s big, big event…
–Spider-Man and the Wars #4 (preview): Flashing back to ’80s…
–Wolverine Origins #45 (preview): Building to the big finale…
–X-23 #1 (preview): Unbelievable pages in the preview…

In the remaining Wolverine appearances for the week, we first have a neat tale from the early days of the new X-Men, second is a bizarro alternative universe appearance, third is a kids version of Wolverine (ugh!), and finally, we have a fun appearance I missed from previous week…

Breaking Into Comics: The Marvel Way #1 (Preview)
“Let It Out”
Writer: Chris Yost
Art: Paul Davidson

From Marvel: “Want to know what it takes to break into Marvel Comics like these guys? Then look no further than this two-part book which is a must-have for anyone wanting to be a Comic Book Breakout Star! After traveling the globe and meeting scores of talented illustrators, intrepid writer, editor and talent manager C.B. Cebulski is giving twelve rising star artists the opportunity to do their breakout work at Marvel Comics! But not only will BREAKING INTO COMICS THE MARVEL WAY showcase the work of these up-and-comers, C.B. will also provide an insider’s commentary on how these artists got their work seen and what it was that landed them the gig. And with step-by-step submission information and a sample Marvel Comics script, these books are MUST HAVES for anyone interested in doing their breakout work and breaking into the comics industry!”

In stores March 10, 2010.

Prelude to the Deadpool Corps #2 (Preview)
Writer: Victor Gischler
Art: Whilce Portacio

From Marvel: “Witness the birth of the most important super hero team ever in a universe-spanning event that will rock the month of March! Wade Wilson has been tapped to save the Universe, and to do that he’s going to need help. Enter: The sexy-but-insecure Lady Deadpool! The devious-but-lovable Headpool (a.k.a. the Zombie Deadpool Head)! The bratty-but-brilliant Kidpool! And the irascible mutt known as Dogpool! Individually, they’re, well, kind of messed up, but together, they’re the unstoppable force know as DPC.”

In stores March 10, 2010.

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Marvel Super Hero Squad #3 (Preview)
Writer: Todd DeZago
Art: Leonel Castellani, Marcelo DiChiara

From Marvel: “‘When Slurks The Slime!’ When a tiny jellyfish is transformed into a giant slimy blob, the Super Hero Squad have their hands full trying to keep it from engulfing all of Super Hero City! Also, Thor reflects on his childhood–and his own gorgeous reflection in ‘Reflections!’ And, Captain America and The Falcon team up again…for the first time! ”

In stores March 10, 2010.

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Girl Comics #1 (Preview)
“Head Space”
Writer: Devin Grayson
Art: Emma Rios

From Marvel: “With the most controversial question in the Marvel Universe finally answered right on the cover, Marvel is proud to bring you a celebration of amazing women in comics with the first of a three issue anthology entirely created by the most talented and exciting women working in comics today, including Ann Nocenti (DAREDEVIL), Amanda Conner (Power Girl), Laura Martin (SECRET INVASION), G. Willow Wilson (Air), Devin Grayson (Nightwing), Stephanie Buscema (WEB OF SPIDER-MAN), and more! With stories featuring your favorite Marvel characters, from the Punisher to Mary Jane, don’t miss what will be the one of the most talked about series of the year! (Please note: She-Hulk would totally win).”

In stores March 3, 2010.

Share your thoughts on the four Wolverine appearances in the comments below.

And don’t forget to add any Wolverine other appearances from the week that I may have missed (that still means you, Comusiv!)…

Hey, everyone, jrpbsp here…This week we have another Wolverine One Shot up for review, ‘Wolverine: Mr. X’. Hope you enjoy it.

Wolverine: Mister X #1 (Preview)
Writer: Frank Tieri
Art: Paco Diaz with Guillermo Ortega

SPOILERS BELOW…

RECAP: The issue opens with Mr. X remembering his childhood when he experienced a dying woman’s thoughts and it jump started his psychic powers. He then reflects on his history of training and his fights with Wolverine, including losing the second time they fought. Being beaten has made him obsessed with Logan and in the present it is revealed that he has been dressing people up like Wolverine and killing them. He has also been training to match Logan’s berserker rage by fighting actual wolverines. Once he has killed a hoard of them he declares himself ready.

Logan is in a bank waiting in line. It is predictably robbed but he takes out the gun men in seconds with no one being hurt. The teller thinks that Wolverine is trying to steal the money until he produces his Avengers card. A delivery man interrupts the exchange and nearly loses his head. He hands Logan a package and runs off. Inside, Wolverine finds a note from Mr. X and the severed head of a kindergarten teacher wearing a Wolverine mask. X says he will kill the kids unless Logan makes a personal appearance.

Wolverine races to the rescue and finds the kids, in Wolverine masks, dosed in gasoline and X holding a lit match. He threatens to kill them unless Logan gives him what he wants, which is a rematch. They set up a meeting in the hall of warriors at the Museum of Natural History at midnight. Wolverine arrives and is greeted by an arrow from the dark which he prompting deflects. Having passed the test of worth, X attacks him.

The fight is brief though, as Wolverine refuses to unleash his berserk side. Instead he decides not to fight at all. X hits him and then grabs a sword and begins cutting off bits of Logan but he refuses to fight back. Eventually Mr. X falls to his knees defeated. After Wolverine leaves, X receives a call from Osborn asking him to join the Thunderbolts.

MY TAKE: The Wolverine one shots are generally a mixed bag and this is no exception. I am not really a fan of Mr. X so his history did not interest me, but there were some pretty good scenes of his battles and even his monologue had its moments. On the other hand, most of Wolverine’s scenes were pretty cliche and not very interesting. Even though this was ostensibly a Wolverine story, he seemed to be more of a secondary character for the whole issue.

There is very little that is new here, most of these plot points have been done a hundred times. The traumatic death that triggers mental powers, the hard training to take down a powerful foe. Wolverine has foiled bank robberies so many times I wonder why they even let him through the doors. He is obviously bad luck to the entire banking industry. Maybe that is how the delivery men was able find him in a bank since there is no other explanation to receiving a package in a public place.

The ending was original though, and I definitely like seeing Logan using his brains rather then just his claws. The scene was pretty intense too and enough to make any guy wince when he read it. However, I am a bit confused at how that was actually beating X. There is no reason why he can not go back to taking and killing little kids to make Logan fight and there is every reason to believe he would. While Logan might be willing to suffer torture to win, I do not see him letting innocents die because he will not fight.

In the end, this issue had some pretty good fight scenes and interesting ideas but was hurt by an unoriginal plot. It was certainly not bad for a one shot but I found it hard to get into due to my lack of interest in the antagonist. Still it was fast paced and it read well. I was hoping the story would increase my interest in X, but there was nothing that really grabbed my attention. Perhaps a future story will make the character better developed but for now I would have preferred a story with a more established villain.

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 time.

Wolverine: Mister X #1 (Preview)
Writers: Frank Tieri
Art: Paco Diaz with Guillermo Ortega

From Marvel: “Mr. X is back for a rematch and revenge on the only man who’s ever beaten him: Wolverine! Find out everything you never knew about one of the most dangerous psychopaths in the Marvel Universe. The first time these two met, Wolverine barely escaped with his life, and this time…well, one thing’s for sure, you’ll never see the end coming but you’ll love how you got there!”

On sale March 10, 2010.

Share your thoughts on this Wolverine one-shot in the comments below. And if you haven’t picked up the issue, make sure to read the preview, linked next the series title above.

For the past few weeks, Marvel has been teasing who will be in the new New Avengers lineup.

As most of us suspected, Wolverine has made the cut (see the teaser image on the left)…

In other Wolverine new, Comic Book Resources talks with Frank Tieri about this week’s “Wolverine: Mister X” (details)…

From Marvel, top writers discuss the “game-changing’ X-Men crossover event, ‘Second Coming’ (details)…

And finally, ICv2 reports that Christopher McQuarrie has turned in his script for Wolverine 2, rumored to be based on the classic Chris Claremont/Frank Miller miniseries (details)…

As for probable/possible Wolverine appearances this week (3/10/10), we have previews of…

–Wolverine: Mister X #1 (preview): Dreadful Frank Tieri villain returns…
–Super Hero Squad #3 (preview): More of Munchkin Wolverine…

Hey, everyone, jrpbsp here… I have not been feeling too well so I missed last week’s review, but I am jumping back to hit ‘Wolverine: Weapon X’ this week. Hope you enjoy it.

Wolverine: Weapon X #11 (preview)
Writer: Jason Aaron
Pencils: Ron Garney

SPOILERS BELOW…

RECAP: The issue opens with a new hero taking his first trip out into the city on rounds. He had been training and preparing for years but his night does not go as planned. He is gunned out and killed almost immediately by Deathlok. The cyborg then moves on to his next target.

Meanwhile Logan and Steve Rogers are catching up. Wolverine is taking Cap on a worldwide barhopping tour to celebrate his return to the living and filling Rogers in on what he missed. Logan has tapped his fellow X-Man, Nightcrawler, as the pilot in return for a promise to attend church in the morning.

The cyborg’s next target is a young couple on their first date. Deathlok confronts them and it turns out that their child will be a hero in the future. Once their identities are confirmed, they are executed.

Logan and Steve are on their fifth bar when they stop for a little heart to heart. Cap says he is glad that Logan stayed with the Avengers and Wolverine admits to losing hope when Rogers fell. They also discuss Wolverine’s love life and the state of mutant affairs before a local gets in Logan’s face about his taste in music. A bar brawl naturally starts. But since they had made it to five bars, Kurt won twenty dollars from Scott.

Deathlok fights his way through a horde of police and security in a hospital to reach his next victim but not even an ax to the chest can stop him. He enters the Maternity Ward and kills the next future hero.

Steve and Logan arrive back in New York the next morning and go their separate ways. But Logan is quickly confronted by an unknown woman who calls him by name and tells all about the Deathlok’s killing the heroes of the future. Naturally Wolverine does not believe her. Meanwhile the final low level target is killed and we learn that there are at least eight Deathloks and they now are all focused on killing Captain America.

MY TAKE: I enjoyed this issue quite a bit, especially the interaction between Captain America and Wolverine. While the Deathlok story line definitely has potential, the real meat of the story is the catching up of the two old friends. This is something we really have not seen before, Steve and Logan just sitting around drinking and talking, and I thought it was done very well. I hope these scenes will be followed up on in either the new Avengers’ series or in this title.

The Deathlok story is meant to be the main part of the arc but it felt like it was the lesser focus here. Still the idea is very solid even if it not the most original  plot and the Deathloks look to be a serious threat. The first sequence in particular was amusing and well done if a bit over the top. I enjoyed the single minded and focused pursuit of the cyborgs and the set up definitely pulled me into the story. The surprise reveal or the army of the creatures does a lot to up the stakes for the next issue.

I did have a little bit of an issue on how similar the plot was to Terminator 3 with the list of people to kill. It also did not make much sense to me that they would start with the lesser targets and leave the primes for later. That simply means that the harder heroes to kill have more advanced warning and time to prepare. Killing the children and the inexperienced heroes could have been done at any time. It would have also been nice to see a little bit more about the characters that are killed so it has more of an impact. Of course that might be addressed later in the arc.

In the end, this was a strong issue, mostly due to Cap and Logan interactions, but still has enough of hook to the overall story to keep things interesting. I am not sure on the use of another mysterious female character but I have not seen enough to judge her character yet. But even with the unknown elements, as long as the characterizations and interactions remain strong, the story will still be very good. I am eagerly awaiting the next issue to see where the plot goes from here.

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 time.

X-Men Noir: Mark of Cain #4 (Preview)
Writer: Fred Van Lente
Art Dennis Calero

From Marvel: “The notorious cat burglar Katherine ‘Kitty’ Pryde was already legendary, at her tender age, for slipping in and out the most tightly guarded buildings as if walking through walls. But duping the headquarters of the Office of National Emergency would be a challenge even for her considerable talents…”

In stores March 3, 2010.

Share your thoughts of this X-Men Noir finale in the comments below.

And don’t forget to add any Wolverine appearances from the week that I may have missed (that still means you, Comusiv!)…

X-Force #24 (Preview)
Writers: Jason Aaron
Art: Ron Garney

From Marvel: “TOMORROW DIES TODAY, PART ONE: Beginning an epic, action-packed arc featuring the debut of an all-new, all-different Deathlok. Killer cyborgs have come from the future to kill the heroes of today, while Wolverine embarks on an international pub crawl with a certain recently reborn Sentinel of Liberty. Beer and bullets galore!”

On sale March 3, 2010.

Share your thoughts on the premiere Wolverine title in the comments below. And if you haven’t picked up the issue, make sure to read the preview, linked next the series title above.

A little slow on the news front this week, but Marvel Digital Comics has debuted a new exclusive Wolverine comic, “Wolverine: Worst There Is” by Matt Yocum and Jake Bilbao (details)…

As for probable/possible Wolverine appearances this week (3/03/10), we have previews of…

–Wolverine Weapon X #11 (preview): Wolverine vs. Deathlok!
–X-Men Noir: Mark of Cain #4 (preview): Miniseries finale…