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The diminutive mutant has starred in ongoing series, miniseries, and one-shots, and many of the greatest creators of all time have worked on his stories. Some of the best stories of his history have slipped through the cracks, and that’s unfair. These ten Wolverine stories don’t get enough credit, and we should talk about them more often.
10) Weapon X #1-4
“Age of Apocalypse” is a legendary story, but we don’t talk about every part of it equally. Weapon X #1-4, by Larry Hama and Adam Kubert, was the Wolverine story of the tale, and it’s awesome. Weapon X and Jean Grey battle against Apocalypse at the behest of the Eurasian High Human Council, but their bond is broken by the direction the humans want to take the war. Full of guest stars galore, amazing twists and turns, and Kubert’s brilliant art, this is a Wolverine story that is endlessly re-readable, and one of the coolest alternate Wolverine stories ever.
9) Wolverine: Inner Fury
Wolverine had some amazing moments in the ’90s, including losing his adamantium. However, most fans don’t know that Marvel teased the loss of the hero’s metal skeleton a year before 1993’s X-Men (Vol. 2) #25. Wolverine: Inner Fury, by D.G. Chichester and the legendary Bill Sienkiewicz, sees Wolverine pulled into a SHIELD situation after nanites enter his body and begin to detach the adamantium from his bones. This book is all about Sienkiewicz’s art, his unique style giving this story a visual identity that sets it apart from every other Wolverine story. It’s been forgotten, but it never deserved to be.
8) Wolverine: The Jungle Adventure
Wolverine has some very dangerous enemies, and has battled against the most powerful villains out there. He’d eventually go up against the most powerful X-Men villains of them all in Wolverine: The Jungle Adventure, by Walt Simonson and Mike Mignola. Logan finds himself in the Savage Land, helping a tribe against a mysterious enemy. A Wolverine versus Apocalypse story in the Savage Land is already a winning plot, but once you add in the fact that it was by legends like Simonson and Mignola, it bumps it to a must-read. This Marvel at its finest, and it’s a shame that more fans don’t know about it.
7) Logan: Path of the Warlord
Stories from Wolverine’s history are always fun for readers and one of the coolest that has seemingly dropped off the face of the Earth is Logan: Path of the Warlord, by Howard Mackie and John Paul Leon. This story follows Logan in Japan, trying to deal with the beast inside of him, when he’s recruited by Landau, Luckman, and Lake, the interdimensional law firm he worked with in the days before Weapon X, to deal with an enemy that he thought was dead. This is Logan before the claws and the adamantium, and Mackie nails it. Leon’s art is the best part of the book, his unique pencils truly capturing the tone of the story and elevating the writing.
6) “The Case of the Black Sword”
Chris Claremont revolutionized the X-Men and made Wolverine a superstar, so when the character started to get solo stories, he was put in the driver seat. Wolverine (Vol. 2) #1-3 was the first three issues of Logan’s first ongoing series and it gave readers a great story that has proven to be very important to the character’s history. “Case of the Black Sword” saw Logan in Madripoor as he got pulled into a battle over the Murasama Blade, battling against not only the criminals of the island, but foes like Silver Samurai. The Murasama is crucial to Wolverine history and this story introduced it, but it never gets the love it deserves. Claremont is on fire here and the art from Marvel legend John Buscema is gorgeous, perfect for this action-packed masterpiece.
