By various (Marvel/Panini Publishing UK)
ISBN:Â 978-1-84653-409-6
Perhaps it’s my advanced age or possibly my surly, intractable nature, but I’m finding fault in a lot of places where minor annoyance too easily becomes major grievance. A perfect example is this large and lavish compendium of adventures culled from the publishing history of major motion picture star and everybody’s favourite man-on-the-edge Wolverine.
Debuting as an antagonist for the Incredible Hulk as a tantalising glimpse at the end of issue #180 (Oct 1974) before having a full-length scrap with the Jade Giant in #181, the semi-feral Canadian mutant with the fearsome claws and killer attitude rode – or perhaps caused – the meteoric rise of the All–New, All Different X-Men before gaining his own series and super-star status; a tragic, brutal, misunderstood hero cloaked in mysteries and contradictions.
And as a primer or introductory collection for readers unfamiliar with the diminutive mutant this book has a lot to recommend it. I’m also keenly aware of the need for newcomers to have his centuries-long life presented in some form of chronological order: but as so much of that convoluted chronicle has been collected elsewhere in full, wouldn’t a bibliography page of other available collections and trade paperbacks be less confusing than the extracted snippets from longer sagas that make up so much of this book?
For each chapter from a longer saga printed here, another lesser known piece had to be ignored. For example there’s nothing of the fascinatingly insightful little vignettes that Christopher Claremont and John Bolton produced for the back-up slot in Classic X-Men, no solo one-shots or Annual stories and only one-eight page instalment from the character’s well-nigh one hundred appearances as the lead in the fortnightly anthology Marvel Comics Presents – yet the first Wolverine mini-series, already collected numerous times (and as recently as a Premiere Hardback in 2007) appears in it’s entirety. I realise the title is “Marvel Platinum”, but what a wasted opportunity…
However, I cannot deny that what does appear is of great quality, beginning with the second part of his long-awaited secret origin. Taken from the landmark 2001/2002 miniseries (available as Origin: the True Story of Wolverine, ISBN 978-1-904159-07-0) by Paul Jenkins and Andy Kubert & Robert Isanove, it depicts the tragic and horrific events that led to sickly boy James Howlett first “popping his claws” on a 19th century Canadian estate. Good dialogue, entrancing pictures but very little sense can be gleaned from this extract, so we should be grateful at least that the untitled chapter of the Weapon X Saga – part 8 of 13 (written and illustrated by Barry Windsor-Smith) is so short and pretty to look upon, because it’s utterly bewildering seen out of context – and I’ve just read the latest complete compilation of the tale (Wolverine: Weapon X, ISBN: 978-0-7851-3726-9) when it was re-released in March 2009.
At least ‘And Now… the Wolverine!’ from Incredible Hulk #181 (November 1974) by Len Wein, Herb Trimpe & Jack Abel is a complete tale wherein Canada’s top-secret super-agent is unleashed upon both the Emerald Goliath and the man-eating Wendigo in an 18 page romp stuffed with triumph, tragedy and lots of slashing and hitting. It’s followed by ‘Home Are the Heroes’ (Uncanny X-Men #109, February 1978); a superb one-off tale from Claremont, John Byrne & Terry Austin, who were fast approaching their collaborative peak.
Returning home from saving the entire universe for the first time the X-Men are attacked by Weapon Alpha (James Hudson, latterly Vindicator of Alpha Flight) determined to reclaim Canada’s “property”; i.e. Agent Logan A.K.A. Wolverine. Amidst the frantic action the first intriguing hints of the story behind the team’s “resident psycho” were tantalisingly presented, but never at the expense of clarity and entertainment.
Following that is the aforementioned four part miniseries from September – December 1982, by Claremont, Frank Miller & Joe Rubinstein. Undoubtedly one of the best Wolverine tales ever created, it reveals the mutant adventurer’s savage clash with both Japanese royalty and their criminal underworld (apparently almost the same thing) to secure the love of the tragic princess Lady Mariko. This leads into the one-shot Spider-Man versus Wolverine (February 1987) wherein the Web-Spinner’s arch foe Hobgoblin meets his fate, almost as collateral damage, in an extended clash with Soviet spies and treacherous friends which brings the globe-trotting X-Man and the Wall-Crawler to Cold War Berlin. ‘High Tide’ is by James C. Owsley, Mark Bright and Al Williamson.
The next two tales are again chapters from an extended story-line: namely the all-out war between the X-Men and Magneto termed Fatal Attractions (ISBN: 978-0-7851-0065-2), but at least there’s enough expository dialogue to inform readers of what’s going on. Beginning with ‘Dreams Fade’ (X-Men #25, October 1993, by Fabian Nicieza, Andy Kubert & Matt Ryan) and continuing in ‘Nightmares Persist’ (Wolverine #75, November 1993, by Larry Hama, Adam Kubert, Mark Farmer, Dan Green & Mark Pennington) Charles Xavier’s prodigies clash with the master of Magnetism terrorist Acolytes, resulting in the traumatic removal and unexpected after-effects of the super-metal Adamantium which had for so long augmented Logan’s skeleton.
The story part of the book ends (although there’s still a superbly informative text feature from comics savant Mike Conroy and an extended 10-page data file at the back) with the beautiful and utterly bewildering contents of Wolverine #145 (December 1999), by Erik Larsen, Leinil Francis Yu & Dexter Vines. Again drawn from an extended storyline this impenetrable mish-mash has our hero lost in time, replaced by a Skrull who became the Wolverine of many of our favourite past classics, whilst the other, real, hero became one of the Four Horseman of mutant Darwinist Apocalypse.
I think…
There’s lots of chaotic, brutal action; savage duels with the Hulk and Sabretooth before the entire thing ends on a cliffhanger. It isn’t even the last part!
One of the most frustrating and poorly conceived books I’ve ever reviewed, the true gems in here – which every comics fan should read – are practically cancelled out by impressive yet infuriatingly incomplete fragments that are no more than a catalogue of other books you should buy. Caveat Emptor, fans, because this is not Marvel’s finest moment.
© 1974, 1978, 1982, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1999, 2001, 2009 Marvel Entertainment Inc. and its subsidiaries. All Rights Reserved.