Wolverine is a character who has had a tremendous upward trajectory from the beginning. He was first introduced in The Incredible Hulk #181, then was in Giant-Size X-Men #1, and quickly became the breakout star of X-Men in the late ’70s. The ’80s saw him get his first miniseries and become even more popular, and since the ’90s we’ve basically lived in Wolverine’s world. In a lot of ways, he’s Marvel’s Batman: he’s in numerous titles every month, from ongoings to miniseries to one-shots, and is usually a main star of at least one team book, although at times its been as many as six (there were years when he was appearing in multiple X-Men and Avengers books; it was insane). Wolverine is a guaranteed money maker.
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Over the years, Marvel fans have formed some opinions about the character based on his history. Many people love the ol’Canucklehead, but just as many don’t for a variety of reasons. Looking over the character ‘s51 year history, there are some ideas that Marvel fans have about the character that are completely wrong, and here are five of them.
5) Wolverine Is Better on the Avengers
Wolverine is one of the best X-Men, but he’s a team book master so that’s not too hard. The mutant hero can fit well in just about any team, though, and he eventually made his way to the Avengers. Wolverine in the Avengers was a lot of fun. In the X-Men books, he becomes too much of a focus; there are a lot of characters without books there that need that page space more. In the Avengers, he’s just one superstar among a bunch of others and he’s given important moments because of this rather than just the fact that he’s Wolverine. Plus, there’s just something about seeing him with Captain America, who once promised him he would never be an Avenger, Iron Man, and, of course, Spider-Man. It’s an all-new environment for him, and it pays off very well.
4) Wolverine Does Work as the Moral Center of the X-Men
X-Men: Schism placed Wolverine in a strange place; as the moral center of the X-Men. The book’s conflict stemmed from Cyclops giving Oya the okay to kill a bunch of Hellfire Club goons while Wolverine screamed at him not to. A lot of fans felt this was hypocritical, but it actually makes a lot of sense. He was the one there to do the killing. Having the children do it was wrong. It’s not hypocritical for someone to want to spare other people the trauma of killing others. Wolverine can seem like a strange person to dictate morals to the rest of the team, but he’s also the one who has to make the tough choices and do the hard things. Who better to hold the others accountable than the one who has to do their dirty work? It might seem counterintuitive, but it makes sense.
3) Ultimate Wolverine Is Good, Actually
Ultimate Wolverine is the best Wolverine title right now, despite the complaints about it. The Logan of Earth-6160 was the Winter Soldier, used as the assassin of the Eurasian Republic. He eventually broke free and joined the Opposition, battling against Colossus, Magik, and Omega Red, as well as their massive, oppressive war machine. The book, by Chris Condon, Alessandro Cappuccio, and Alex Lins, gets a lot of flack for walking similar territory to other Wolverine stories, but this is a very limited view of the book. The point isn’t all of that, it’s how it’s different from the other Weapon X-centric stories we’ve seen over the years it is. There are some cool character moments, and intense sequences throughout this book. It’s a roller coaster ride, and it’s created an excellent version of Wolverine. It really raises the question of what people expected this Wolverine to be; he’s playing a role that made sense, in a series that is rather well-crafted from a very talented team. I’ve read everything Wolverine I can for decades, and I find new things to love in every issue. It’s an excellent book, and the complaints mostly seem to be from people who don’t like Wolverine anyway.
2) “Old Man Logan” Lives and Dies on the World Building and Not the Story
“Old Man Logan” is a Wolverine classic. Mark Millar and Steve McNiven’s epic ran through Wolverine (Vol. 3) #66-72 and Wolverine: Giant-Size Old Man Logan #1, and is fondly remembered. It is partly the inspiration of the movie Logan, and is perfect to give someone who just wants a good Wolverine story and doesn’t want to be bogged down with years of continuity. It’s basically just Unforgiven set in a post-apocalyptic Marvel Universe; however, when it comes right down to it, fans don’t love it because of its story of cross-country revenge, they love it because the world building (and honestly the art) is so amazing. The book’s writing is good, but it also has a lot of Mark Millar edge; the world building is fantastic, though. The Wastelands have become extremely popular and they’ve proven to be fertile ground for stories in the years since, and all of that is because of the fantastic world building. It’s a pretty standard Wolverine story, but the world building (and, again, the art) put it over the top.
1) Bone Claw Wolverine Was a Great Idea
X-Men (Vol. 2) #25 saw Magneto rip the adamantium from Wolverine’s skeleton, and Wolverine (Vol. 2) #75 showed that the character had bone claws. This started a 70 issue run where he had to learn to deal with being weaker than ever before, trying to prove to himself that he still had what it took. He succeeded at that, but eventually he would have to deal with his mutation transforming him into a beast without the metal stopping it. There are a lot of people who will try to convince you this whole thing was a mistake, but it was actually something of a renaissance for the character. We got to see him in a new way, and the character became ever more introspective (especially the Larry Hama-written issues of Wolverine (Vol. 2), up to issue #118; sensationally written stuff that really drove it all home in the best possible way; 10 out of 10 recommendation for really any Hama Wolverine, but especially these 43 issues). Wolverine was vulnerable for the first time in ages and it led his adventures in exciting directions that wouldn’t have been possible before.
What are your unpopular Wolverine opinions? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!
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