Wolverine was created in the ’70s, became a superstar in the ’80s, and took his victory lap in the ’90s. The decade of extreme was a pretty interesting time for the character’s fans. Nowadays, when characters get popular, Marvel will constantly return them to the status quo every chance they get, but back then, they went in a different way. Logan was at a stage that it would have been impossible to end his popularity. He was becoming a household name thanks to X-Men: The Animated Series, so the House of Ideas decided to experiment with the character, taking him in numerous interesting directions and redefining who the character could be. Readers got some amazing moments over the decade because the publisher was willing to take chances with the ol’Canucklehead.
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The ’90s contains the greatest Wolverine run of all time, Larry Hama’s seven-year run, and some moments that have been etched in the character’s history. An argument can be made that the ’90s were Logan’s greatest decade, the character taking many of the biggest losses of his existence. These five ’90s Wolverine moments are the best of the decade, making it a beloved decade for his fans.
5) “Not Dead Yet”
Wolverine comics in the ’90s were great, with the first three-quarters of the decade under the pen of the great Lary Hama. When he left the book, Warren Ellis took over as writer for four-issues, leading to the excellent “Not Dead Yet”, with the book’s regular artist Leinil Yu. This story saw Logan go up against the Gweilo, an assassin that he knew years ago who has decided to kill the hero. However, the Gweilo thinks that the hero still has his adamantium, meaning that his traps for the mutant are meant for his old, nearly indestructible self. This is an action masterpiece showing off why Logan is the best there is at what he does, even when he’s “weaker”. It’s a high point of the decade for the character.
4) Wolverine (Vol. 2) #90
Wolverine and Sabretooth’s rivalry is one of the best in comic history, with Wolverine surviving many brutal battles with his arch-foe. The ’90s had several amazing fights between the two (shout out to Wolverine (Vol. 2) #126), but the best of them is Wolverine (Vol. 2) #90, by Larry Hama and Adam Kubert. The story revolves around Logan returning to an empty X-Mansion, with only Sabretooth there. Most of the issue is about him fighting his desire to kill the villain, and mostly succeeding until Creed escapes. What follows is a brutal fight (with an awesome fold-out page that makes owning the original issue so much better) that is amazing. This is one of the best Wolverine comics of all time, a story that does great character work and tops it off with a best of all time fight. It’s also the turning point of the bone claw years, making it an integral part of the character’s history.
3) Wolverine (Vol. 2) #145
The loss of Wolverine’s adamantium (more on that later) was a major moment for the character. Logan’s unbreakable skeleton was gone for six years, from 1993 to 1999 (which were also the years when the character was presented to the biggest audience because of the X-Men cartoon). Erik Larsen had taken over as writer of the book in 1998, and gave readers some great stories, all coming to a head with Wolverine (Vol. 2) #145, with Leinil Yu. This story spins out of the end of the millennium X-story “The Twelve”, showing how Wolverine became the Horseman of Death, with Wolverine battling Sabretooth, who had an adamantium skeleton at the time, to see who Apocalypse would choose and a present day battle between Logan as Death and Hulk. It’s an amazing, action-packed issue that fans had waited six years for. There was a lot of anticipation, and this issue delivered.
2) “Weapon X”
“Weapon X”, by writer/artist Barry Windsor-Smith, opened a door that readers had been waiting to go through for years. Logan was the X-Men’s man of mystery, and readers got tantalizing glimpses into his past. This story told the tale of how he got his adamantium skeleton, showing the horrors of the Weapon X Program. This story is sensational, a horror story where everyone is a monster. Readers got more Weapon X stories after this one, leading the character to some cool new places. Everything about the issue is perfect, and it’s gone down as one of the greatest Wolverine stories in the character’s history. This 1991 tale was the first sign that this wouldn’t be the same kind of decade for the character as the one that came before.
1) X-Men (Vol. 2) #25
X-Men (Vol. 2) #25, by Fabian Nicieza and Andy Kubert, contains one of the most important moments in Wolverine history: when Wolverine tore the adamantium from his skeleton. This story was a turning point in the character’s life and ushered in the bone claw years, which tested the hero like never before. It was the biggest change that could be make Logan’s status quo and it paid dividends. Wolverine (Vol. 2) sold massively well in the bone claw years as fans followed his evolution, and going back and reading his stories after this issue (especially Wolverine (Vol. 2) #75-100) reveals just how awesome a change this was.
What are your favorite ’90s Wolverine moments? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!
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