Customer Reviews

X-Men: Codename Wolverine

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I will admitt--I'm a huge comic book fan. Even now, as I enter into adulthood, I've yet to shake my addiction to them. Since I'm such a fan, I've read a few of these novels that Marvel churns out. Some range from absolute trash (The Fantastic Four: Countdown to Chaos comes to mind) to average (Duane's Spider-Man books), but Codename: Wolverine is perhaps one of the best of the whole bunch.

Kudos to Christopher Golden for writing an entertaining novel that manages to come across well without being silly (let's be honest: It's a little hard to write a "serious" novel when your characters are called "Wolverine" and "Sabretooth"). The book is broken into two sections, "Now" and "Then", and Golden switches back and forth between the two perspectives.

The "Then" section serves to explain the events occurring in the "Now" section. Personally, I found the early story about Wolverine and Team X to be the better of the two. Golden manages to create a pretty interesting narrative about Team X as they fight behind the Iron Curtain to retrieve a computer disk filled with spy info from the KGB's best operative, the beautiful but deadly Black Widow. Throw in on-the-edge Interpol agent Sean Cassidy (aka Banshee), who bears a supreme grudge against the Widow, and the mysterious shapeshifter Mystique, and the action intensifies. Golden does some pretty good work with this story, weaving in lots of espionage, backstabbing, inter-team conflict, and some pretty entertaining fight scenes. He seems to have a good grasp of each character's personality, and I liked the development he did with certain characters such as the Widow (for example, by the end of the "then" portion, she begins to question her role as a KGB spy, which foreshadows her eventual defection). There is a surplus of characters in this book as well, but overall I think Golden did each of them justice. One thing that I was surprised with was the level of violence in the book. It's not overly graphic--no one will be confusing this book with a Tarantino film--but it is a realistic look at the harsh work of a black ops unit. After dealing for so long with the soft-shoe approach of the comics (where every character is seemingly immortal), I found it refreshing that Golden would actually show the lethal consequences of the character's actions.

Unfortunately, I was not so impressed with the "now" section of this book. It started off promising, with Sabretooth being kidnapped by a government agency for some nefarious purpose. It seems as if the government is systematically using their new, elite black ops unit, "Team Alpha", to kidnap and imprison all the old members of Team X as well as those individuals who took part in the op in the "then" section (basically: Banshee, Widow, and Mystique). Mystique escapes capture herself, and is able to warn Wolverine, but the two are too late to save the others. The author promises a payoff, explaining exactly why these superheroes and villains are being captured, but when the true motive for the crime is revealed, it's terribly anti-climactic. The whole thing was some sort of silly revenge scheme to placate a senator who's vote is more important than the lives of Team X? A disappointing ending, indeed. More thought could have been put into this part of the book.

Overall, though, I think this book is worth owning. If you a fan of the comic, and Wolverine especially, you'll enjoy the novel. In my opinion, the "then" section is worth the price of the book alone.

This was without a doubt the best of the marvel books.Non-stop action. Codename: Wolverine had all of the classic spy behind enemy lines, edge of your seat, nail biting, what is going to happen next type story. You can not lose with this one!!

This book has good characterization and the transitions from then to now make sense and are easy to follow. I'd recommend it to anyone who likes both the X-Men and spy novels.

of all the x-men books i've read, this one is my favorite!well written and goodish pictures,wolverine's great!!!if you like wolverine,this is the novel for you!!

Fast-paced, enjoyable; I couldn't put it down. Easily read by someone not following the chronicles of Wolverine in the comic books; a colorful addition to those who do.

Codename: Wolverine is the best Marvel book I have ever read. I am a wolverine fan and love learning about his past. This is one of Golden's best work and I recommend it to any marvel fan.

Chris Golden did a great job. The story flips back and forth between the present and the past and still manages to be fluid. All the way through you get peeks at the relationships between the old Team X and the people they've become today. If you enjoy Wolverine you'll want this book.

Wolverine has always been and will likely be one of Marvel's most popular characters. But, Golden adds a new depth to the background and persona of the lovable hairy mutant. A great deal of the book is flashback to Wolverine's espionage days and those flashbacks lend an insight that has been lacking in the character's development.

After reading Golden's great 'Predator's Smile' Daredevil novel, I was excited to see what he would do with Wolverine. While not
a bad book, the pacing is slow and the action is kind of far
between for a Wolverine tale. All the characters seemed a little
too two dimensional unlike 'Predator' which brought out the best
in all the cast. While I hate to do this, as I am a Golden fan,
you should pass on this one and read 'Predator'. (If you like
DD anyway)

This is a great story of Wolverine and the rest of the project X team. It was very well written, but I'm a comic lover and I love to see the beautiful artwork that most illustrators come out with. I think this story would be great if it were in a comic form, what can I say I love pictures!!