Experience Wolverine's battle to keep the feral berserker within in check, while trying to be the best there is at what he does. Special guest appearance by the Incredible Hulk. Collects Wolverine #1-23.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What an Essential volume should be,
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This review is from: Essential Wolverine, Vol. 1 (Marvel Essentials) (Paperback)
Having read a couple dozen of Marvel's "Essential" series, I've seen the gamut from excellent to awful. Generally, what makes the comics good are exactly the things you'd expect: good, consistent writing and art, strong characters and a decent supporting cast. (This last feature seems to often be the deciding factor for excellence: it's a reason the Essential Spiderman volumes have been exceptional, while the Silver Surfer was not on the same par.) By these standards, the Essential Wolverine is a top-notch book.
Wolverine is, of course, one of the X-Men, but there came a certain point when he became something more than that. I personally feel that he emerged from being a rather one-dimensional character back in the early `80s during the early issues of the "New" X-Men. In particular, during a storyline around issue 130, the rest of the team had been defeated by a band of villains known as the Hellfire Club, but Wolverine, a character who seemed to be the least powerful, came back to rescue his teammates. He did so in a violent manner, with little qualms about killing or maiming, making him a distinct contrast to many other heroes. Later, Frank Miller gave Wolverine even more of an edge in a mini-series and added the first person narration that was rare at the time but is now commonly associated with this superhero. Not all team characters can stand on their own in their own book, but, as this book shows, Wolverine can. It helps that this volume features a roster of Marvel all-stars: Chris Claremont, John Byrne, Peter David, John Buscema, Archie Goodwin and Klaus Janson (no third-stringers in this bunch). The stories start off during a period when the X-Men had faked their own deaths, and Wolverine goes off to the fictional principality of Madripoor, an East Asian city-state somewhat akin to Singapore. It also bears more than a passing resemblance to the Casablanca of movie fame, a city filled with various lowlifes and people seeking refuge from other places. Wolverine has a connection with Madripoor going back years and feels quite comfortable in this seedy town. He adopts an alias of Patch (which fools less people than he thinks) and gets involved in various capers, starting with the theft of an evil sword. This introduces some of the major supporting characters, particularly Jessica Drew (the former Spiderwoman turned private eye) and her partner, ex-actress Lindsay McCabe. This caper also gets Wolverine tangled up with old enemy Silver Samurai, but not in a fully adversarial way. Other stories get more characters introduced, particularly the various crime lords of Madripoor and the coldly pragmatic Prince. Probably the most interesting foe in this volume is Roughhouse who starts off as a simple tough guy villain but develops into someone far more interesting by the final issue. Most of the stories span over several issues, with the last two taking six and seven issues respectively. As stated earlier, the Essentials volumes vary in quality, but this book is one of the best. With great characters and storytelling, this volume easily rates five stars and, if you enjoy comic books, this is one really fits the definition of "essential."
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The stories are strong enough,
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This review is from: The Essential Wolverine, Vol. 1 (Paperback)
I know many have complained about the format this book is in (cheaper paper stock and the black/white issue) but I felt that my enjoyment of the stories inside wasn't troubled by the lack of colour at all. Even though the original books had been in colour, 'Essential's black and white gives it an almost 'Sin City' feel, making the gritty stories of Wolverines first issues in his own series all the more grittier. As for the paper stock, if getting all these issues in one book for less than 20 bucks means cheaper paper, then sign me up. All around, this book is a great read for Logan fans and a fantastic bargain for the collector.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Maybe not essential, but definitely enjoyable,
By
This review is from: Essential Wolverine, Vol. 1 (Marvel Essentials) (Paperback)
Back in the early `90s I used to collect the Wolverine series from Marvel Comics, but these early issues were a little before my time, so it's great to finally get my hands on them in this collection. The Wolverine solo series was always a little bit different from most Marvel Comics in that it was more like a detective or spy series where some of the characters just happened to have super powers. While in the X-Men comics Logan would travel through time and space fighting alien races, in his own magazine he was usually firmly grounded here on earth, roughing up low-life thieves and killers.
This collection reproduces issues 1 to 24 of the Wolverine series in black and white. It features some of the best artists who worked for Marvel back in those days. John Buscema's art (issues 1-8 and 10-16) comes across beautifully in black and white, resembling something out of the glory days of newspaper comics, like the work of Milton Caniff or Roy Crane. John Byrne (issues 17-23) is another excellent Marvel artist, though his work does suffer a little here from the lack of color. Gene Colan also illustrates one issue (#9). Veteran inkers Al Williamson, Bill Sienkiewicz, and Klaus Janson each contribute their own unique skills to the finished art. The writing overall is very good, but there's nothing here that's going to go down in history as an iconic story in the Marvel mythology. Chris Claremont (issues 1-8 and 10), sets the foundation for the series by establishing Logan in Madripoor, a seamy, crime-ridden island city-state somewhere in southeast Asia. The Wolverine that Claremont presents here is a lot like Humphrey Bogart's Rick in Casablanca. By offering well-intentioned assistance to a motley crew of supporting characters, he finds himself continually confronted by danger and intrigue. Peter David's run on the series (issues 9 and 11-16) is less successful. His six-issue Gehenna Stone story is basically a long, slapstick chase sequence punctuated by frequent fist fights. The collection finishes off strong, however, with an excellent seven-issue adventure by Archie Goodwin, drawn by Byrne (issues 17-23). In issue #10, we are introduced to Wolverine's love, Silver Fox, and her murder at the hands of Sabretooth. This story line was featured in the 2009 Wolverine movie, in a much altered form. Here it's just a one-shot story, with little indication of the importance these events would play in Wolverine's future adventures. In later issues writer Larry Hama and artist Marc Silvestri would further develop the Sabretooth/Silver Fox backstory. In their hands Wolverine becomes a sort of Jason Bourne figure, uncovering repressed memories of his paramilitary past. The Hama/Silvestri stories are collected in volumes 2 and 3 of The Essential Wolverine, and I think they're superior to what's included here in volume 1. Still, there's obviously some value to starting at the beginning, and those who enjoy the inimitable character of Wolverine will find much to appreciate in this worthwhile collection of comic art.
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