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What is Marvel Going to do About Their Cuddly, Wuddly Wolverine?
Can anybody remember why Wolverine became so popular in the first place? Back in the day, Wolverine was the bad boy, the loner who rebelled against authority. He was the guy who referred to Charles Xavier as ‘Chuck’ and we loved him for it. We always knew he secretly had a heart of gold, but Wolverine was the guy who would get in your face, disobey orders and run off whenever he felt like it. He’d smoke cigars, pound back the beers and chase skirts.
It feels good to be a bad role model
But nowadays, Wolverine has become the exact authority he used to rebel against.
He has replaced Xavier as the headmaster of the School for Higher Learning, where he’s directly responsible for dozens of young mutant students. He’s a leader among the X-Men, and has served on more X-squads than anyone else, including when he was leader of X-Force. He’s also one of the most active and respected members of the Avengers, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Wolverine is one of the greatest superheroes on Earth.
So when is Marvel going to come along and take all of that away from him?
Join me after the jump!
Cyclops Continues to Be Right
For those of you following my coverage of Avengers vs. X-Men, and readily agree with my assessment that Cyclops was right, then you absolutely need to be reading AvsX: Cosquences. It’s a weekly series that is following Cyclops now that he’s the villain and in prison, and it’s absolutely perfect! The second issue came out today, and it’s all about Cyclops and Wolverine sitting down and talking this through, and it is everything I could have hoped for how Cyclops would be treated after Avengers vs. X-Men. Ignore his villainous cameo in Uncanny Avengers, this is the real Cyclops.
I’m not going to spoil anything or do a review of the issue, just take my advice and pick it up if you’re pro-Cyclops. It’s exciting to know that at least someone at Marvel understood exactly what was happening with Cyclops. And Wolverine gets absolutely put in his place!
Also, let me know in the comments if you would like some spoilers, because I can readily provide should there be demand.
Dog Logan Set to Return…Again
Does anybody remember Dog Logan, Wolverine’s half-brother? He was in the comic Origin from 2001, when they revealed that Wolverine was really James Howlett, a sickly boy who was born in Canada in the late 19th century. James was the illegitimate son of Mrs. Howlett and the groundskeeper, Thomas Logan. Whereas Dog was Thomas Logan’s actual son. It was a cool twist, believe me. I liked Origin.
Wolverine isn’t the one you think
Well apparently sometime last year…or this year, who knows…Dog returned in the pages of Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine because the two heroes went on some jolly quest through time and managed to bring Dog to the present day. I didn’t read it. The comic was one of those random mini-series that Marvel puts out because having the names Wolverine and Spider-Man on a comic book cover is sure to sell. That Dog returned in that comic, let alone came to the present day, was a fact that seemed to avoid my notice. Apparently he’s since been living out in the wilds of Canada doing research on his half-brother the superhero and headmaster of the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning.
He also likes to cook and eat actual wolverines, because Dog is nothing if not a believer in poetic justice.
His beard appreciates his wit
Well writer Jason Aaron – friend of the site – is going to use Dog in upcoming issues of Wolverine & The X-Men. He said as much in a recent interview with CBR.
On the story side of the coin, Dog Logan should shake up the series in a major way in the wake of its “Avengers Vs. X-Men” crossover tales. The villain was a major player – and major mystery – in Marvel’s successful “Origin” series where it was revealed that Wolverine had a half-brother, but since then the character’s appearances have been few and shrouded in secrecy. Most of that was by Aaron’s design. “I’ve always had plans for Dog, ever since having him pop up in ‘Astonishing Spider-Man And Wolverine,” the writer said. “And I’m really excited about the chance to dig into his character and really figure out what makes this guy tick. He’s one of those deeply-flawed sorts of characters that I love to write. And while he will be coming back into Logan’s life to raise some hell, I want him to seem like much more than just some mustache-twirling bad guy with a grudge against his brother. I think Dog is a pretty tragic figure, so I want him to be a much more complicated villain. But he’s also still a Logan. And Wolverine’s big brother. So I would expect there to be plenty of asskicking going on.”
That should be pretty cool. I always thought Dog had a lot of potential, especially since he wasn’t overused. He hasn’t had any major appearances since Origin, after all – though someone decided that Dog would grow up to be Sabretooth when they made the movie X-Men Origins: Wolverine. That was suspected in Origin, but thankfully Marvel never went that route.
Though how Aaron is going to establish Dog as his own character instead of just another version of Sabretooth/Romulus/Daken/any evil Wolverine ever is anybody’s guess…
New Comic to Feature Wolverine, Stupid Retcon
I didn’t even want to report this comic book news, because it just makes me shake my head and sigh. But I might as well, in case any of you are interested. Though turn back now if you don’t like listening to nerds bitching about stupid comic books on the Internet.
Marvel Comics is going to release a new mini-series in August entitled The First X-Men. It’s going to star Wolverine. And it’s going to involve a stupid retcon in which Wolverine put together a team of mutants before Professor Xavier.
With Wolverine, Sabretooth, Magneto, and token black and female characters
The worst thing is that the idea behind the series actually sounds pretty fascinating, but then Marvel go and mess things up by just making it another Wolverine book. Which is obviously done because Wolverine is a high-selling character, but c’mon! Can’t you guys just publish a cool X-Men book without jack-knifing Wolverine into it?
Review: Avengers vs. X-Men #2
And lo, it was on like Donkey Kong! The epic battle of the Avengers vs. the X-Men has begun! Friend against friend! Husband against wife! Hero against hero! And with that, I’ve pretty much summed up the entire comic. The two teams come to blows very quickly in this issue, and it’s a little bit disappointing. I realize all of these characters are superheroes, and so fighting just comes natural to them. But holy cow does every single character just jump straight into a big brawl without a moment’s hesitation. All of the motivation behind the fighting seems to have dried up.
Avengers vs. X-Men #2
This is just a big, dumb fight issue with far too many characters to keep track of any of them. Though this comic tries its hardest. No wonder Marvel is also publishing a spin-off title that is nothing but fights – because none of them actually happen in this issue.
Comic rating: 4/5: Good.
But none of that is to say this was a bad issue. It’s still a very entertaining comic, and the end reveals that maybe we won’t just have 12 issues of boring fisticuffs. Because quite honestly, if this is all we can expect from the fights for this series, then count me out. This’ll be the most boring Big Event comic ever. Very little of the characters’ histories with one another are touched upon when they come to blows, and most of the fights happen off panel – or in that other comic book. And I’m not even sure if that spin-off comic is even out yet.
So basically what we get here are a few very short vignettes about fights that don’t happen in this comic, and then a medium-sized twist for the ending to catapult us into next issue. Cyclops and Captain America have another discussion during the fighting, but it’s not as good as the one last issue that kicked off the fight. But then this comic has a new scripter, so that could explain it.
That would also explain the silly purple prose found throughout the issue…Join me after the jump for a full synopsis, spoilers and more hot Avenger on X -Men action!
Henchman-4-Hire 