July 2008 sales numbers are out, and Marvel Apes hits the stands on Thursday, probably Wolverine’s sole appearance of the week (the variant cover is shown to the left)…

Wolverine News: July Sales
-Not surprisingly, ‘Uncanny X-Men’ sales are way up due to the 500th issue, and ‘Wolverine’ sales are down 15% after the huge spike from the first issue of ‘Old Man Logan’. ‘X-Force’ dropped 11%, ‘Wolverine: First Class” another 7% and ‘Wolverine: Origins’ by 1% (for full details see CBR’s Sales Estimates for July 2008).

Wolverine Comics This Week
-Marvel Apes #1: Sneak Preview (Marvel)
-Marvel Apes: Kesel Talks ‘Marvel Apes’ (CBR)
-Marvel Apes: ‘Wolverine: First Class #6 Variant (EW)

The good news is that I seem to be able to keep up with the daily updates so far.

The bad news is that I still haven’t finished updating 006: The Lost Years. But I am making progress.

And due to Labor Day, I have pushed everything by a day. So expect Wolverine News on Tuesday, Wolverine TV on Wednesday and Classic Wolverine Covers on Thursday this week.

New This Week: Last week I gave a sneak peek of Wolverine 1974, so now I am following up with Wolverine 1975, replete with newly scanned covers. Enjoy!

Marvel Adventures The Avengers #27
“And Some Other Small Problems”
Writer: Paul Tobin
Penciler: Jacopo Camagni
Inker: Troy Hubbs and Norman Lee

While Wolverine does not appear in the dreadful (and offensively stereotypical) lead story by Jeff Parker and Ig Guara, he does have a humorous (if highly improbable) cameo in the backup story.

And that seems the biggest problem with this series — going for the stupid sit-com laugh over any sense of story, reality or continuity.

As I’ve said before, I don’t see how any of these stories could possibly hope to bring in new readers.

Especially when the top-selling manga that are pulling in the young audience are all about story, continuity and a depth rarely seen in the comic book industry anymore.

From Marvel: “Marvel: Okay, 27 is your final Avengers issue- we’re expecting something special.
Parker: Oh don’t you worry, it will be. Heh.
Marvel: Really? Great! Who’s in it?
Parker: Um… the guy with the thing- trust me, it’s going to RAWK.
Marvel: You don’t know what the story is yet, do you.
Parker: -think my phone’s running out of juice-zzzz-can barely hear you— bwip*” On sale August 27, 2008.

X-Force (Vol. 2) #6
‘Angels & Demons, Part 6’
Writer: Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost
Artist: Clayton Clay

When ‘X-Force’ launched on the heels of “Messiah CompleX” in April 2008, it seemed a perfect fit for the bloody, desperate world of the X-Men.

But since then, ‘Uncanny X-Men’ #500 moved the mutant community to the happy shininess of San Francisco, and now ‘X-Force’ seems jarringly at odds with the rest of the X-Men universe, especially with Wolverine, Angel and Cyclops appearing in both series.

And if the final page is any indication, these conflicting and contradictory visions are going to be with us for some time to come.

That said, Wolverine is given the best line of the issue, “Sixteen apiece. Kill’em all.”

From Marvel (preview): “The shocking finale to the first arc! Wolverine versus Bastion. Archangel versus the Choir. Wolfsbane versus her father. X-23 versus Matthew Risman. Warpath versus…? This is how a species dies.” On sale August 27, 2008.

Wolverine: First Class #6
Writer: Fred Van Lente
Artist: Salva Espin

Another terrific issue from Fred Van Lente.

Wolverine is hysterical, decked out in Calgary Flames gear and waiting for game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals to begin as is his unrivaled joy at the prospect of an evening drinking beer, watching hockey and eating donuts.

Even better are his reactions to all the obstacles that attempt to get in his way.

“I’m the best there is at what I do. And what I do is WATCH HOCKEY!”

Absolutely priceless.

And the comedy dissolves to a very sweet ending, even for a curmudgeon like me.

From Marvel (preview): “TONIGHT! On a brand-new ‘When Teenage Mutant Girl Sleepovers Turn Deadly’: SIRYN and KITTY PRYDE get into a no-holds-barred throwdown of a catfight over COLOSSUS’s love, with WOLVERINE caught in the middle!” On sale August 27, 2008.

Ultimate X-Men #97
‘Absolute Power, Part 4’
Writer: Aron E. Coleite
Penciler: Mark Brooks; Jaime Mendoza

Now this is an outstanding finale.

A startling revelation, a balls-to-the-wall clash between X-Men (the Wolverine-Colossus fight is ‘epic’) and a final sequence that will blow you away (quite literally).

And a very clever, very funny tip of the hat to the unfinished ‘Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk’ series.

The best single issue of Ultimate X-Men in a very long time, perhaps ever.

Bravo, Aron Coleite, bravo.

From Marvel (preview): “The battle lines of Ultimatum are drawn! Who is the true power behind Banshee? What is their connection to Wolverine and the X-Men? The answers will make the X-Men reconsider everything they’ve ever believed in! How can one ever be human again after being a god? It’s the shocking finale by Aron E. Coleite (TV’s Heroes) and Mark Brooks!” On sale August 27, 2008.

Wolverine #68
‘Old Man Logan, Part 3’
Writer: Mark Millar
Penciler: Steve McNiven; Inker: Dexter Vines

Having reread all three issues so far of this 8-issue epic story, I get the sense (even stronger than before) that Mark Millar is writing more about his vision of a dark and depressing future in the Marvel Universe than he is about Wolverine.

Wolverine is a passenger, quite literally, on this journey.

That’s not to say it hasn’t been an enjoyable journey. It has.

And certainly this latest issue has raised the stakes quite considerably.

But this is not a Wolverine story. At least not yet.

And due to the intermittent publishing schedule, we will have to wait until November to find out if it will be.

From Marvel (preview): “’50 years after the super heroes died, WOLVERINE and the blind archer, HAWKEYE, continue their journey across a ruined America. Next stop: Cedar City, Utah—home of the man who killed Magneto: the all-new, all-different KINGPIN! And he isn’t about to let Logan and Hawkeye pass without paying the toll… Plus: the secret of Hawkeye’s daughter is revealed! The biggest WOLVERINE story of the century by the best-selling creative team of the millennium continues! PART 3 (of 8).” On sale August 27, 2008.

Wolverine Files features every Wolverine’s TV appearances in order, continuing with #2…

Pryde of the X-Men was the pilot episode for a proposed X-Men Saturday morning cartoon series, one that was never picked up. Nonetheless, the pilot did debut in 1989 to mixed reviews.

On the one hand, Wolverine still has his atrocious Scottish-Australian accent (and the same voice actor, Neil Ross), Stan Lee narrates in his usual overly bombastic style and the theme song is simply awful (“Magneto’s hoards are on the way to village, burn and plunder. But there’s one team that will not yield, the team that strikes like thunder. X-Men, X-Men!”).

On the other hand, for the late 1980s, the animation and character designs are really quite good, the cast of heroes and villains is pretty strong, and Wolverine is about as cranky as one can get on Saturday morning cartoons (“The X-Men don’t have room for whiny brats!”).

And be sure not to miss the storyboards from ‘Pryde of the X-Men’ at StoryboardPro.com.

<<< Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends | Next: X-Men 01: Night of the Sentinels, Part I >>>

Lots of Wolverine news from the Fan Expo in Toronto this weekend as well as the nearly 20 Wolverine appearances in ‘Marvel Previews’ for November…

Wolverine News from Fan Expo in Toronto
–Weapon X: First Class (ComicBookResources.com)
–More on Weapon X:-First Class (Newsarama.com)
–Spider-Man/X-Men (ComicBookResources.com)
–More on Spider-Man/X-Men (Newsarama.com)
–X-Men’s Destiny (ComicBookResources.com)

Wolverine Invades Marvel Preview (IGN.com)
–X-Men Titles (at least nine appearances!)
–Secret Invasion (up to four more?)
–Avengers/Invaders, Wolverine and M.A. (another three!!)
–Ultimate Ultimatum (Probably two to three more appearances!!!)

I hope to be able to provide everyone with a weekly update on the Wolverine Files every Sunday night. So without any further ado, I present…

New This Week
-Wolverine Files Search: A new site search is now available from all pages on the right rail. Check it out… it’s very cool.
-Add This: Also added is a new widget on every post and every page that allows you to bookmark and share anything from the Wolverine Files. Go crazy!
–Readers Comments and Web Awards Page: All the reader comments I’ve received over the years have been consolidated onto one page as well as all the details on the Project Fanboy Award that the site won recently.

Weekly Updates
–Wolverine Files Update: Every Sunday night.
–Wolverine News: Weekly Wolverine News every Monday morning.
–Wolverine TV: Highlighting Wolverine’s cartoon and movie appearances every Tuesday.
–Classic Wolverine Covers: A weekly roll out of classic Wolverine covers on Wednesdays.
–Wolverine Files Reviews: Weekly reviews of the latest Wolverine appearances debut on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

More to Come
-Wolverine Chronology Updates: 006 Lost Years should finally get update for next weekend.
-And finally a sneak peak of Wolverine 1974