Wolverine is a popular character from The House of Ideas. An iconic protagonist, sometimes a kind-hearted hero, sometimes a true anti-hero, a member of both the Avengers and the X-Men. Today, we wanted to take a look back at the best comics featuring the clawed mutant. Here are 8 iconic comics about Wolverine.
8) Wolverine Origins: Romulus
In 2009, Jeph Loeb decided to revisit the origins of Wolverine once again. He then imagined a new character: Romulus. The latter presents himself as the main person responsible for Wolverine's traumas in the past. He's a bit of a manipulator, the big boss, behind Wolverine's existence. He's responsible for creating the Weapon X project, and he's the one who saved Logan's son Daken's life at birth. And for a while, he even pretends to be Wolverine's father. A dark and very powerful character who challenges all of Logan's beliefs about his past and could be the key to Logan fully regaining his memory.
7) Origins
Origins is the first official story to reveal Wolverine's childhood, which has long remained mysterious. The story takes place in 19th-century Canada, and explores the human origins of James Howlett, a sickly young boy from a wealthy family... who eventually becomes Logan, and then Wolverine. Developed in 2001 by Joe Quesada, this particularly dark and mature comic is an almost anti-spectacular proposition. It's a cold, sanitized, emotionless, and quite terrifying tale about Logan's terrible childhood. Pain, loss, exclusion, and self-denial are at the heart of his evolution, and explain how James Howlett became a savage beast. Origins was a source of inspiration for the beginning of X-Men Origins Wolverine.
6) The Death of Wolverine
In 2014, Charles Soule and Steve McNiven decided to depict the death of Wolverine. Also a source of inspiration for Logan, The Death of Wolverine tells the story of how our beloved clawed mutant gradually loses his regeneration factor. Logan then becomes vulnerable and is hunted by his worst enemies. His journey takes him to Madripoor, Japan, and Nevada, where he confronts significant figures from his past before meeting his tragic destiny. The story traces the key moments in Wolverine's life, allowing us to take stock of his world, his past, and his lack of a future. The Death of Wolverine, as its name suggests, tells the story of how Logan passes away, allowing Mark Millar's Old Man Logan to take his place on Earth-616.
5) Wolverine: Bloodlust
Released in 1990 under the direction of Alan Davis, Wolverine: Bloodlust is an introspective one-shot centered around the figure of Wolverine. The latter finds himself alone in the heart of the immense wilderness of Alaska in pursuit of a mysterious murderer. He finds himself confronted by a primitive mutant tribe, which will lead him to question his own humanity and fight against his animal and murderous instinct. A story that moves away from the classic Marvel continuity to explore the very nature of Wolverine.
4) Wolverine Vol 1
Developed by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller, Wolverine Vol. 1 is Logan's first solo story. Chris Claremont and Frank Miller prove that Wolverine doesn't need the X-Men to exist. It is in this story that the entire Japanese side of the character is addressed and developed. Logan travels to Japan, where he meets the love of his life: Mariko Yashida. This is the first time that Logan will establish himself as a central figure in Japan in the Marvel Comics universe. He will fight against the yakuza, against the different factions of Madripoor, to become the man to be feared. These are the beginnings of Wolverine's immense arc in Madripoor, in which he will be nicknamed Patch.
3) Weapon X
In 1993, Barry Windsor-Smith decided to return to the origins of Logan. He was the one who had the brilliant idea of developing the Weapon-X program, which gave birth to Wolverine. It is this story that tells how Logan is the guinea pig in an experiment aimed at making him a super-soldier, how he lost his memory due to the involvement of William Stryker, and how he obtained his adamantium claws. An obviously cult story, which X-Men Origins Wolverine was largely inspired by.
2) House of M
Released in 2005 under the direction of Brian M Bendis's House of M is also a must-have story in the Wolverine collection. In this story, The Scarlet Witch uses her powers to reshape reality. In this new reality, mutants have become the dominant race. The X-Men no longer exist, and Magneto has become the ruler of the modern world. Wolverine is the last person to remember reality as it was supposed to be. He then decides to embark on a quest to return reality to normal. He assembles a team consisting of Cyclops, Daredevil, Spider-Man, and Hawkeye and attempts to both oppose Magneto's hegemony and bring Wanda back to her senses. House of M is a fascinating story about the notions of probability, choice, and alternate reality, while offering a political approach around the issue of mutants and minorities.
1) Old Man Logan
In 2009, Mark Millar and Steven McNiven imagined a new version of Wolverine. Somewhere in a devastated future, the vast majority of superheroes have disappeared. The world, become dystopian, is torn apart by different factions belonging to supervillains. Wolverine has rebuilt his life on a small farm with his wife and children. Except that the latter are assassinated by the Hulk gang. Faced with this tragic loss, Wolverine decides to take up arms again and begins a bloody revenge against Bruce Banner and his clan. Old Man Logan is a gripping, ultra-violent dystopian tale, without compromise, without salvation, without escape, in which an old Logan becomes, despite himself, the armed and vengeful arm of a bygone era. The story takes place on Earth-807128. Following the success of Old Man Logan, other comic book games like Old Man Hawkeye were released. As for Old Man Logan, he became a character in his own right and joined Earth-616 following the events of Secret Wars. It even received a revival in early 2016. Old Man Logan is the main inspiration for James Mangold's Logan.
0 Comments