It seems like it should be a good time to be a Wolverine fan. Wolverine’s debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Deadpool/Wolverine has brought the character back to the forefront of Marvel discourse, and we’re getting multiple Wolverine books for the first time in years. There’s obviously Wolverine, which has been publishing in some way or another for a couple of decades now (with the exception of 2014 to 2019, when Logan was dead and his daughter Laura starred in All-New Wolverine). There’s team-up books like Deadpool/Wolverine and Spider-Man & Wolverine, teaming the mutant with two of Marvel’s other most popular heroes. There’s Ultimate Wolverine, telling the story of the Wolverine of Earth-6160, and a new book called The Savage Wolverine (the second title with that name). The character is also appearing in Uncanny X-Men. This is the most Wolverine we’ve gotten since the early ’10s.
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As a long time Wolverine fan, the main book I’m excited for every month is Ultimate Wolverine. Wolverine-6160 is a bold reimagining of the character, combining elements of Weapon X, the Winter Soldier, and X-Men history to create a new kind of Wolverine. This is the kind of Wolverine story that uses old ideas to give us stories that are quite different from what has came before. Ultimate Wolverine, by Chris Condon, Alessandro Cappuccio, and Alex Lins, has been a breath of fresh air every month, and it’s the best Wolverine book on the stands right now, and these ten reasons are why.
10) The Art
Art is an extremely important part of any comics as a visual medium. Right now, Wolverine has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to art in his books. David Marquez is drawing the character in Uncanny X-Men, Joshua Cassara is back drawing Wolverine in Deadpool/Wolverine (along with fill-in artist Robert Gill), and Kaare Andrews on Spider-Man & Wolverine. Wolverine is the odd man out. Martin Coccolo’s art can be great, but every issue has multiple pages where the detail flags completely and looks rushed. However, that hasn’t been a problem for Ultimate Wolverine. Regular artist Alessandro Cappuccio got attention because of his work on the Moon Knights books, and his action heavy style is perfect for Wolverine. Every issue that Cappuccio draws looks amazing, and the two issues drawn by Alex Lins — Ultimate Wolverine #5 & #6 — are gorgeous as well, despite having a very different style. Ultimate Wolverine looks fantastic and that has helped make it the best Wolverine book.
9) An All-New Sabretooth
There are few characters more important to Wolverine than Sabretooth. Sabretooth is Wolverine’s greatest arch-enemy, their rivalry going back decades to the days long before Weapon X and costumes. Sabretooth is a very popular character, and his battles with Wolverine are the stuff of legend. Marvel used the above image to tease Ultimate Sabretooth, so readers were surprised when they picked up Ultimate Wolverine #5. Instead of the gleeful murderer, we got a bartender caring for Artie and Leech, hiding them from the mutant hunters of the Eurasian Republic. As time went on, we’d learn that this Sabretooth was actually a good man, one who had worked with Wolverine and the Opposition to fight the oppressive yoke of Colossus, Magik, and Omega Red. He’s a great new version of the character, and is completely different from the version we know. We don’t know how his relationship with Wolverine will go, and that’s exciting.
8) Ultimate Wolverine #4 Does “Weapon X”‘s Best Moment in the Best Way Possible
Ultimate Wolverine #4 is the best issue of Ultimate Wolverine. Readers had been waiting for the moment that Wolverine finally completely broke through his Winter Soldier programming, much like he had in the Wolverine classic “Weapon X”. However, instead of doing the whole issue showing the events of those moments like “Weapon X” did, Ultimate Wolverine #4 went in a different direction. It used caption boxes to tell the story and presented the events in a metaphorical sense, using a battle between a beat-up old wolf and a massive bear to tell the sotry. What made this work so well was that it built up reader anticipation to actually see what was going on, and when we finally got to see the scene it was amazing. Now, could the book been better if it had shown the whole situation? Maybe, but then it would have been completely copying what we’ve already seen in “Weapon X”. Why read this book if you can just read that one? It found a way to use the same ideas in new ways, which isn’t something we always get in Marvel’s comics.
7) Getting to See All-New Version of Wolverine’s Relationships
One of the best parts of comics like Ultimate Wolverine is seeing the characters in all-new situations and seeing how their lives have worked. Ultimate Wolverine stars a very different Wolverine with a very different life, so that’s going to change a lot of his world, including how his relationships work. We got clues to this right from the first issue, when he’s sent up against Nightcrawler and Mystique, who recognize him from his old life. This goes on as the book has developed, with characters like Gambit, Black Widow, and Kitty Pryde getting their introduction. We don’t know their histories with Wolverine, and that gives Chris Condon and later writers on the character a lot of ground to cover, establishing how the Wolverine relationships we love so much in the 616 universe work in the 6160.
6) The Mixture of the Weapon X and the Winter Soldier Programs Changes Both
There are some fans out there who are complaining about Ultimate Wolverine because it’s opening chapters are too similar to “Weapon X”, but this is a complaint that doesn’t make sense if you’ve actually read Ultimate Wolverine. Condon could have just lifted the Weapon X program from the 616 universe whole cloth and it would have worked. However, because he was setting his story in Russia, which in the 6160 universe is where mutants were sent when the Maker took over, he melded Weapon X and the Winter Soldier program together. So, there was the adamantium and memory tampering on Weapon X combined with the mind control and hibernation aspects of the Winter Soldier. The Eurasian Republic supersoldier program is also quite different from both of those other programs, and it gave Condon the chance to create his own version of both that is unique.
5) The Eurasian Republic Is Extremely Interesting
One of the best parts of the new Ultimate Universe is the world-building. The Maker re-made the world in his own image, creating a system that gave him power while ending every threat to him. He established the Maker’s Council, and changed the world. This is a very different space from the 616 universe and the Eurasian Republic is one of the more interesting parts of it. This nation state is the mutant one (along with Ni Ho Kuni, which Japan), and Ultimate Wolverine is digging into. It’s ruled by Colossus, Magik, and Omega Red, and their power is being contested by the Opposition. There’s so much to explore about this area of the new Ultimate Universe, and some of the best parts of Ultimate Wolverine involve shining a light on the Eurasian Republic. The modern X-Men titles are inflicted by a paucity of new ideas, and the Eurasian Republic gives readers a chance to see old characters in new ways.
4) A Whole New History of Wolverine
Every Wolverine fans knows the history of Wolverine — James Howlett was a sickly boy, whose life was changed forever when his mutant powers awakened the night his biological father tried to kill him and the man he thought was his father in order to steal his mother. He fled into the woods with his friend Rose, and so began his adventures in the Canadian wilderness. He fought in wars, met Sabretooth, and was eventually taken by Weapon X yadda yadda yadda. However, what we don’t know is the history of Ultimate Wolverine. We know he joined the Opposition and was captured by the Eurasian Republic, but we don’t know if he had ever been to Madripoor. Did he meet Romulus? Did he know Captain America? What was his time with the Opposition like? Who is this Wolverine and what has his world been like? Ultimate Wolverine has the potential to give an all-new history of the character, and that’s something that any Wolverine should want.
3) The Question of the Phoenix
We haven’t learned everything about the Eurasian Republic yet, but we’ve learned a decent amount about the way they control their population. With Wolverine, they used multiple methods of control to keep him as their killer, and in Ultimate Wolverine #3, we learned something very frightening — that they had Jean Grey in their clutches and that she had the Phoenix Force. The Phoenix Force is one of the most important parts of the X-Men mythos, and Earth-6160’s monstrous rulers have it in their clutches. This is such a hype moment and makes the future of this book exciting. Will Opposition be able to free Jean? Will the Eurasians learn how to control her power and use it against them? Will she be the key to defeating the Maker or will Colossus, Magik, and Omega Red use her power to try to take even more power? This is one of the most exciting parts of the book, and it looks like something that is going to become a major part of the book.
2) A Different Look at the X-Men
I love Ultimate X-Men. It’s a horror manga look at the X-Men mythos and it’s a breath of fresh air when compared to the “From the Ashes” X-Men books. However, I also want to see a more traditional type of X-Men team and Ultimate Wolverine is doing something like that. Readers were introduced to Nightcrawler and Mystique in the first issue. The second issue gave us Gambit and Kitty Pryde. The fifth and sixth issue gave us Sabretooth, Artie, Leech, and Beast. Ultimate Wolverine allows us to explore these familiar characters in way that is different from the X-Men books, but is more similar to what people think of when they think of the X-Men. The Opposition even has an “X” as their symbol, so it’ll be interesting to see where all of this is taken in the months to come.
1) Ultimate Wolverine Treads Familiar Ground Without Slavishly Following the Same Trail
I love Wolverine. Right now, though, I don’t love Wolverine. Saladin Ahmed and Martin Coccolo’s Wolverine started out with an interesting idea, but then just became more Marvel regression. Ahmed’s one new idea is surrounded by rehashes. One can tell that Ahmed used to love Larry Hama-written Wolverine of the ’90s (it’s brilliant and you should read it), and is trying to write in that same vein. However, he’s not Hama; Hama was able to make Wolverine into a poetic ronin, but Ahmed’s Wolverine is just the ’90s version without any of the artistry. Ultimate Wolverine is also moving over familiar Wolverine ground, but it’s doing it in a much better way. Condon has a better grip of the kind of story he’s telling and the character he’s writing about. Superhero comics are always going to tread the same territory, but there’s way to do it well. Wolverine isn’t doing it well for the most part, because it’s barely bringing anything new to the table. Ultimate Wolverine is going in recognizable directions, but doing it an all new way with all new ideas. It’s a breath of fresh air, while Wolverine is stale.
What do you think about Ultimate Wolverine? Sound off in the comments below.
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