Logan: The Wolverine Best There Is 50th Anniversary Appreciation 2024

[WeaponX]

Me too. The guy doesn't have a clue what he is talking about.
In fact I would say that today as an adult and a father I think Wolverine's character growth is one of If not the most interesting in Marvel and much easier to relate in comparison with cyclops.

I would second this. As a kid I was a Gambit fan but as I got older it became Wolverine because I could relate to him and his struggles and now as a dad I even more so relate to him with all his father figure arcs that gave way to fatherhood arcs.

[Jackraow21]

Fall of the House of X #5 Foreshadow Variant by Josh Cassara…



Huh. Wonder what makes this a “foreshadow variant”? Is Logan going back to a wilder state in the new era? Interesting…

[Darth_Caedus]

Fall of the House of X #5 Foreshadow Variant by Josh Cassara…



Huh. Wonder what makes this a “foreshadow variant”? Is Logan going back to a wilder state in the new era? Interesting…

Damn. That looks interesting. Wonder who's writing it...

[Darth_Caedus]

What's the consensus on Romulus lore here?

[Jackraow21]

Personally I think he’s very messy and wasn’t well thought out. I get what Loeb was trying to do… give Logan a new arch villain who was kind of his creator, in a way. Similar I suppose to Cable’s history with Apocalypse. But the execution was poor, for one thing, and for another the seeds were already planted that Apocalypse was the voice on the phone in Barry Windsor-Smith’s ‘Weapon X’ masterpiece, and thus Apocalypse was apparently supposed to be the secret benefactor behind the Weapon X program. This was hinted at again later in ‘The Jungle Adventure’ too, by Walt Simonson and Mike Mignola. And I think Claremont hinted at this as well, or at least said somewhere that he always felt that Apocalypse was behind Weapon X.

So IMO they should’ve connected Romulus to Apocalypse somehow, and thought through his place in the history of the Marvel U a bit more clearly. Too much about him doesn’t line up with pre-established continuity.

Damn. That looks interesting. Wonder who's writing it...

It’s just a variant cover. But it’s supposedly foreshadowing things to come, which is interesting because it certainly looks more like it’s from Logan’s past.

[NK1988]

Trying to retcon Romulus into being involved in basically every significant moment in Wolverine's canonical history was the dumbest part.

Like, I was reading this Original Sin arc from Way and Carey where it's revealed Wolverine first met Xavier after fighting the Hulk. Why? On Romulus' orders. Romulus wanted Wolverine to get the attention of "X" and then to kill him. Then Xavier erased all of this from Logan's mind to give him a "clean slate."

Or how about this amazing blog that does its best to give a coherent chronology to Logan's life:
https://wolverinefiles.com/009-world-war-ii/

Uncanny X-Men #268 (Late Sep 1990) – “Madripoor Knights”
Writer: Chris Claremont; Penciller: Jim Lee; Inker: Scott Williams
In lowtown Madripoor during August 1941, a young Captain America and Major Ivan Petrovitch of the Soviet Union fight a host of ninjas from the Hand. As the ninjas begin to take control, Logan appears and quickly helps to rout the Hand. Later that evening, Logan shares a table at Seraph’s, an establishment with the feel of Rick’s Café Americain, with a civilian Captain America and Major Petrovitch. When Logan ‘mistakenly’ spills a drink on the Nazi Baron Von Strucker and nearly causes a fight, the diminutive owner, Seraph, scolds both the Nazis and Logan, preempting any confrontation. Major Petrovitch then tells Logan that the Nazis, working with the Hand, kidnapped a young Russian girl under his protection, Natasha Romanoff (the future Black Widow). Logan locates the car with the kidnapped Natasha, slams into its front window, and grabs Natasha, using his body to protect her from a hail of bullets. Believing Logan dead, Captain America and Major Petrovitch free Natasha from the car but are quickly captured by the Nazis. Natasha is taken to a ceremony where the leader of the Hand, Jonin, prepares to anoint Natasha as the Hand’s future Master Assassin. Logan, dripping blood but very much alive, arrives in dramatic fashion and frees Captain America and Major Petrovitch. In the following battle, Logan demonstrates remarkable skill with his samurai sword and routs countless ninjas, rescuing Natasha once again. Seraph, revealed as Logan’s close friend, drives Captain America, Petrovitch and Natasha to a local airfield, and they fly off to safety before the Nazis can stop their departure.

A landmark issue when it came out, Uncanny X-Men #268 is the first time we definitively witnessed Logan during World War II, confirming rumors that he had met Captain America during that time. According to Jim Lee, the story originated when Chris Claremont asked him who his favorite characters were, “Black Widow, Captain America and Wolverine. ‘Madripoor Knights’ was really this improv thing where he [Claremont] came up with a cool ‘Casablanca’-inspired story, set in the past, featuring all these characters in a way that made sense.”[1] It is also interesting to note that Baron Strucker fails to recognize Logan, even though he met a future version of Logan some five years previous.

[...]

Wolverine: Origins #16 (Oct 2007) – “Our War, Part 1”
Writer: Daniel Way; Artist: Steve Dillon
After Captain America’s death and with his memories intact, Logan reminisces about previously undisclosed revelations from his first meeting with Captain America.

It was no accident that Logan bumped into and began working with Captain America…
The Hand was looking for a new ally in Baron Von Strucker and the Nazis because the ninja organization had recently severed their relationship with Seraph and Seraph’s ultimate boss (Romulus)…
Logan not only knew Natalia Romanova previously, but she was working for the same organization as Logan…
Natalia’s mission was to kill Jonin, Supreme Leader of the Hand, but she used her assassination weapon, a single-shot minigun, in a fit of anger, shooting Logan when he rescued her in the car…
The plane used to save Captain America and crew was originally intended for Natalia to escape from Madripoor after her mission.

When the plane departs, Seraph gives Logan his new orders, “Exploit the American’s confidence to get close to him — find out if he can be ‘turned.’ Failing that, find out if the experiment that produced him can be replicated.” Failing that, Logan is to kill Captain America.

Still better than being evolved from lupines, though. I was reading Wolverine's bio from X of Swords Handbook. They acknowledge Romulus and stuff but not that. I'll take it.

[MVComics]

Fall of the House of X #5 Foreshadow Variant by Josh Cassara…



Huh. Wonder what makes this a “foreshadow variant”? Is Logan going back to a wilder state in the new era? Interesting…

hmmm interesting

[MVComics]

Definitely looks like it's something from his past too.

What are the chances that this was made before the editorial change and they had plans for him? maybe a rewrite of his origins?

[Grunty]

Personally I think he’s very messy and wasn’t well thought out. I get what Loeb was trying to do… give Logan a new arch villain who was kind of his creator, in a way. Similar I suppose to Cable’s history with Apocalypse. But the execution was poor, for one thing, and for another the seeds were already planted that Apocalypse was the voice on the phone in Barry Windsor-Smith’s ‘Weapon X’ masterpiece, and thus Apocalypse was apparently supposed to be the secret benefactor behind the Weapon X program. This was hinted at again later in ‘The Jungle Adventure’ too, by Walt Simonson and Mike Mignola. And I think Claremont hinted at this as well, or at least said somewhere that he always felt that Apocalypse was behind Weapon X.

So IMO they should’ve connected Romulus to Apocalypse somehow, and thought through his place in the history of the Marvel U a bit more clearly. Too much about him doesn’t line up with pre-established continuity.

It's kind of amusing to look back at how Sabertooth became Wolverine's arch nemesis in comparison.

He started out as secondary Iron Fist villain, before being added to the Marauders for the Mutant Massacre storyline, where his attempt to kill Psyocke actualy gave her a chance to shine, before getting into a vicious brawl with Wolverine.

A fight scene which by todays standards might appear tame or simple, but seems to have done wonders convincing the fans that these two are natural enemies. The rest is publishing history.

Meanwhile here we have a full blown storyline and even tie-ins trying to tell the reader that "No THIS is Wolverine's most personal enemy!", even killing off Sabertooth to reinforce that... and failing.

It's no suprise that Solem, who was also hyped up by marketing as Wolverine's new arch enemy, even making such claims as "What Joker is to Batman, Solem will be to Wolverine.", has not caught on either.

Granted. One might grow tired of Sabertooth at this point. But it seems trying to brute force a new character into his position as Wolverine's arch enemy is a futile endeavour. Come to think of it. Wolverine doesn't seem to have gotten many proper new memorable/reoccuring villains for a while.

Maybe they should introduce one or two who started out more as a thorns in his side, not being on par with or better than him, but capable enough to survive, until they have enough appearances under their belt to gain the status of dangerous.

As for Apocalypse and Weapon X.

He also gave him his adamantium skeleton back when he turned him into Death, hinting at having precise knowledge of how to use the material, which would be in line with having secretly been involved in the project.

[Jack The Tripper]

What's the consensus on Romulus lore here?

I’d go as far as to say Romulus is the single worst thing in Wolverine’s lore

I honestly would support a hard retcon where they just get rid of him from Wolverine’s history without explanation.

[berserkerclaw]

I agree everything from origins by Daniel way needa to go away. With Daken though thats hard

[Mantis-Ray]

Just finished reading Weapon X, my first Wolverine book I bought in a long while. Really good stuff, well deserves its classic status.

I like how its essentially a horror story where scientists create a monster that they inevitably lose control of, and that monster is Logan.

Though of course Logan's origin for his metal skeleton and amnesia is as nightmarish as expected. Its probably one of the most horrific things to ever happen to anyone, poor Logan.

Weill prolly get the classic Claremont/Miller book next.

[K7P5V]

I always found Logan more badass when he could be critically wounded. Being able to heal from a drop of blood is just too much. Paul Smiths amazing artwork.

https://i.imgur.com/5Ovfqho.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/HK8w74q.jpg

Agreed. I much prefer his healing factor at 1980s levels, where he could absorb a lot of damage but the more profound it was the longer it took him to heal. I remember him sometimes being out for days while he recovered, and he would still feel some of the pain and scar tissue for weeks. That Logan really resonated with me as he wasn’t invincible, could feel pain (a lot of it!) for longer periods of time and it made him more relatable than an invincible tank. Ultimately he would heal from just about anything, but it took him longer the more severe it was.

I know, right?! That's one of the many interesting aspects I enjoyed about the Kitty Pryde & Wolverine limited series from 1984 (XD)

[berserkerclaw]

Yeah i wish Logan eas weak as that again its more fun thar way IMO

[X-Logan]

Yeah i wish Logan eas weak as that again its more fun thar way IMO

Not only Logan but I feel like every superhero is becoming more powerful over the years. Take a look at Storm, Cyclops, Jean, Polaris or even other characters in marvel like spider-man and compare them with the old days.
The main problem with wolverine super healing factor is when the writers tend to forget all of others wolverine abilities just because he can tank everything so he doesn´t need to be tatictal smart, inteligent or use any fighting skill that he learned.