By Chris Claremont, Larry Hama, Daniel Way, Marc Guggenheim, Rick Remender, Paul Smith, Alan Davis, John Buscema, Jim Lee, Marc Silvestri, Steve Dillon, Howard Chaykin, Phil Noto & various (Marvel/Panini UK)
ISBN: 978-1-84653-537-6
Wolverine debuted as a throwaway foe for the Incredible Hulk in a tantalising teaser-glimpse at the end of issue #180 (October 1974) before indulging in a full-on scrap with the Green Goliath in the next issue, and then vanished until the launch of the All-New, All Different X-Men.
The semi-feral Canadian mutant with fearsome claws and killer attitude rode – or perhaps caused – the meteoric rise of the reconstructed and rebooted outcast hero team before gaining his own series, super-star status and silver screen immortality.
He hasn’t looked back since, although over the years many untold tales of the aged agent (it was revealed in Origin: the True Story of Wolverine that he had been born in the 19th century) have explored his missing exploits in ever-increasing intensity and torturous detail.
Thus Wolverine’s secret origin(s) and stream of revelatory disclosures regarding his extended, self-obscured life have gradually seeped out. Cursed with recurring and periodic bouts of amnesia, and mind-wiped ad nauseum by sinister or even well-meaning friends and foes, the Chaotic Canucklehead has packed a lot of adventurous living into his centuries of existence – but frequently doesn’t remember much of it.
This permanently unploughed field has conveniently resulted in a crop of dramatically mysterious, undisclosed back-histories, some of which are contained within this intriguing but frequently contradictory action extravaganza produced under the always rewarding Marvel Platinum Definitive Editions umbrella.
This latest treasury of titanic tales gathers some more impressive – if less obvious landmarks – from the Savage Stalker’s extensive canon and cannily focuses on the character’s Asian connections and even a struggle with sinister mastermind (and movie menace) the Mandarin.
Contained herein are alien encounters, high-tech hi-jinks and samurai slaughter-fests from Uncanny X-Men #172-173 and 256-258, Uncanny X-Men Annual #11, Wolverine volume 2 #s 10 and 57, Wolverine Origins #5, Wolverine volume 3 #61 and Uncanny X-Force #34, spanning August 1983 to January 2013, offering a fair representation of what is quite frankly an over-abundance of riches to pick from…
The carnage begins with a sleekly impressive turn from scripter Chris Claremont and illustrators Paul Smith & Bob Wiacek from Uncanny X-Men #172 (August 1983) as ‘Scarlet in Glory’ sees Logan announcing his impending wedding to Mariko, daughter of old enemy Shingen Harada, lord of Yakuza Clan Yashida…
When the rest of the team arrive in Japan for the impending nuptials they are all poisoned, leaving Logan and Rogue – whom he deeply distrusts – to seek out an antidote. Meanwhile staid maternal Storm is transformed from placid nature goddess to grim-and-gritty bad-ass by mercenary maniac and devoted Logan-lover Yukio even as the last X-Man races a ticking toxic clock to a literal deadline…
The result is sheer carnage as the feral mutant goes wild. With desperate-to-please probationary X-Man Rogue in tow Wolverine carves a bloody trail to Yakuza mercenary (and Mariko’s rival for the rule of Clan Yashida) Silver Samurai and psychopathic mastermind Viper in ‘To Have and Have Not’…
Although the bold champions are eventually triumphant, the victory comes at great cost. Logan returns to America alone and unwed after Mariko inexplicably calls off the nuptials…
Depressed, heartbroken and far off the rails, Logan is dragged to another reality in ‘Lost in the Funhouse’ – by Claremont, Alan Davis & Paul Neary from Uncanny X-Men Annual #11 – when duplicitous super-mutant Horde compels the team (Storm, Rogue, Dazzler, Longshot, Psylocke and Havok plus guests Captain Britain and Meggan) to obtain the cosmic Crystal of Ultimate Vision for him. None are aware that the fate of all Mankind is at stake and that Wolverine’s bestial instincts are the key to humanity’s ultimate salvation…
Wolverine volume 2 #10 (from August 1989 by Claremont, John Buscema & Bill Sienkiewicz) then counted down ’24 Hours’ as the mutant’s solitary birthday drink in modern day Madripoor stirs horrific memories of ancient, distant tragedy. On the same day years ago Sabretooth had slaughtered Logan’s woman Silver Fawn and Wolverine’s attempts to gain justice and vengeance proved ineffectual and humiliating…
Moreover those agonised reminiscences keep getting interrupted by gun-toting idiots and even with the aid of Spider-Woman Jessica Drew the incognito hero – who goes by the nom-de-guerre “Patch†in the Asiatic sin city can’t catch the sinister stranger pulling the strings…
Uncanny X-Men #256-258 (December 1989-January 1990) highlight the artistic gifts of Jim Lee & Scott Williams in a dramatic but rather bewildering 3-part thriller that originally featured as part of Marvel’s “Acts of Vengeance†crossover event.
Wolverine hardly features at all in ‘The Key That Breaks the Lock’ which finds telepath Betsy Braddock AKA Psylocke captured by ninja cabal the Hand. The brainwashing and mystic body-swapping engineered by Hand boss Matsuo Tsurayaba turns the English Rose into a sexy Chinese assassin/siren and the perfect gift for the undisputed Overlord of the Orient who employs her as his ‘Lady Mandarin’ in #257 to attack the X-Men…
Just as a physically depleted and delusional Logan – with new sidekick Jubilee in tow – are captured by the Hand, their heroic comrades are targeted by the Mandarin attempting to honour his part of a super-villain pact to switch arch-enemies by destroying the misunderstood mutants…
The tale devolves into a hi-octane, turbulent and overblown battle and the chaotic clash concludes in ‘Broken Chains’ with loads of semi-naked, exotic women, ninjas, big guns, mutants and even ghosts shouting and hitting everything – just what every fan at the end of the 1980s demanded.
Wolverine volume 2 #57 follows with ‘Death in the Family!’ (by Larry Hama, Marc Silvestri, Dan Green, Al Milgrom & Joe Rubinstein from July 1992) as the long-running Clan Yashida storyline was brought to a tragic climax when Wolverine, Silver Samurai and X-Man Gambit came to Mariko’s aid in her struggle to restore the honour of her family, even as Jubilee and Yukio battle for their lives against the Hand and cyborg psycho-killer Cylla. There was no happy ending here…
Since his earliest glory days with the X-Men, the mutant berserker known variously as Wolverine, Logan, Patch and latterly (originally) James Howlett had been a fan-favourite who appealed to the suppressed, put-upon, catharsis-craving comic fan by perpetually promising to cut loose and give bad guys the kind of final punishment we all know they truly deserve. But he also seemed to be a loner within the team.
Always walking the line between and blurring the definitions of indomitable hero and maniac murderer, he soldiered on; a tragic, brutal, misunderstood figure cloaked in mysteries and contradictions until society changed and, as with ethically-challenged colleague the Punisher, final sanction and quick dispatch became acceptable and even preferred options for costumed crusaders.
Inevitably Wolverine grew bigger than his team and increasingly worked alone, or with other groups and heroes.
When Wolverine Origins launched, the title was intended to fill in historical gaps and blanks, using an extended plot which revealed that over course of the 20th century Howlett had been repeatedly manipulated and tortured by a madman, who had moved invisibly in and out of his life, exerting complete mental dominance over the wandering warrior.
When Logan realised this he set all his prodigious instincts and skills to the task of finding the mysterious sadistic phantom known only as Romulus…
He discovered his quarry was the force behind numerous programs such as Weapon X (which first agonisingly bonded miracle metal Adamantium to Wolverine’s skeleton) and was dedicated to manufacturing and augmenting appalling human killing machines such as tortured US super-soldier Nuke, old associates like Wildchild and foes Sabretooth, Cyber and Omega Red…
From issue #5, ‘Born in Blood: Conclusion’ by Daniel Way & Steve Dillon ends the first leg of that monolithic hunt and sees Wolverine infiltrating the White House. It’s a trap and a magic Muramasa sword infects the obsessed mutant with a killing rage. The blood-crazed hero is barely held at bay by Captain America, Cyclops, Emma Frost and New Mutant Hellion and his fury is further stoked by the shocking new memory that decades ago Romulus had killed Logan’s wife Itsu and stolen the son the X-Man never knew existed…
The outré revelations continue in Wolverine volume 3 #61 as ‘Logan Dies: the Conclusion – Soul Survivor’ (January 2006, by Marc Guggenheim & Howard Chaykin) discloses that the true reason Howlett is still alive is that an Angel of Death named Lazear (née Azrael) spiritually battles him at every moment of death – and has since 1914.
Now Lazear, in alliance with enigmatic Hand mystic Phaedra, intends to finish the arcane arrangement, having already excised portions of Howlett’s soul. However the wily Wolverine has a plan to turn his weakness into triumphant strength…
The comics portion of this catalogue of death comes from Uncanny X-Force #34, January 2013. ‘From the Cradle to the Grave: Final Execution’ by Rick Remender & Phil Noto sees the final fate of Wolverine’s ultra-covert mutant wet-work squad as his fully grown and sadistically psychotic son Daken caps a lifetime of monstrous deeds by convening a new brotherhood of Evil, murders Wolverine’s ally Fantomex, turns an innocent child into the new Apocalypse and battles the father he never knew to the death…
With covers and pin-ups by Steven Segovia, Paul Smith, Dougie Braithwaite, Alan Davis & Paul Neary, Bill Sienkiewicz, Jim Lee & Scott Williams, Marc Silvestri & Dan Green, Joe Quesada, Arthur Suydam and Julian Totino Tedesco, this spectacular splatterfest also includes 10 pages of background and biographies of Wolverine’s foes Azrael/Lazear, Daken, Muramasa, Lord Shingen, Phaedra, Silver Fox, Sabretooth and Viper.
Stuffed with non-stop tension and blockbuster action, this another well-tailored on-target tool to turn curious movie-goers into fans of the comic incarnation and another solid sampling to entice the newcomers and charm even the most jaded slice ‘n’ dice fanatic.
© 2013 Marvel. Licensed by Marvel Characters B.V. through Panini S.p.A. All rights reserved. A British Edition published by Panini Publishing, a division of Panini UK, Ltd.