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The Wellington Comic Lover’s Guide to... Wolverine

By Gus

I’m the best at what I do, but what I do is tell you how to read comics in publication order. It’s the Wellington Comic Lover’s Guide to Wolverine!

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Have an hour to spare? Watch Marvel execs explore the last 50 years of Wolverine!

Who is Wolverine?

His past shrouded in mystery, the loner known as Logan was blessed with the mutant ability to heal from any injury and grow long claws out of his knuckles. After a lifetime of being used as an endlessly expendable soldier, Logan finally found a home with the X-Men, striving alongside them to overcome his dark past and fight for a better tomorrow. He’s the best at what he does, but what he does isn’t very nice... he is Wolverine!

Wolverine: Origins

Logan’s past was a mystery for a long time, even to himself due to amnesia, but over time his history has been revealed and explored in his ‘Origin’ series. The ‘Weapon X’ series explains how Logan was captured and experimented on by the titular organisation, which gave him his signature adamantium-coated bones.

Wolverine would join the X-Men in Giant-Size X-Men, alongside other mainstays like Storm and Nightcrawler. We have this landmark issue in both its original form (republished the second volume of ‘X-Men Grand Design’) and in its tribute form, with each page redrawn by a different artist.

Classic Wolverine

These classic Wolverine adventures include him journeying to the lawless island nation Madripoor as his alias ‘Patch’, being brainwashed by The Hand in ‘Enemy of the State’, and tracking down the revived Weapon X.

Wolverine and the X-Men

After the Schism event, the X-Men split into two factions; those loyal to Wolverine moved to New York to build a new mutant school. With Logan as their principal and the X-Men as their faculty, the students at The Jean Grey School for Higher Learning would travel to space, explore the Savage Land, fight Frankenstein’s Monster and his Murder Circus (yes, really), and face off against a rival mutant school run by the Hellfire Club.

Wolverine and the X-Men reading order

Wolverine and the Avengers

Wolverine was one of the first New Avengers, a team assembled by Captain America and Iron Man during a mass supervillain breakout in New York. It was during this period that Logan regained all his lost memories (in House of M) and fought against the X-Men to prevent the Phoenix Force from possessing another mutant (in Avengers vs X-Men).

Avengers vs X-Men is the only Marvel Comic (so far) to be translated into Te Reo Maori, as Te pakanga a Ngāti Rānaki me Te Ranga-Tipua. Here, Wolverine is called Matihao (Te Reo for ‘claw’).

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Wolverine NOW!

Wolverine had two series during the 2011 line-wide refresh of Marvel NOW! Savage Wolverine follows Logan in a series of globe-trotting adventures, while the Wolverine series explores what happens when Logan loses his healing factor.

Savage Wolverine

Wolverine (Marvel NOW!)

Death of Wolverine

After losing his healing factor, Logan dies in a battle with the founder of the Weapon X program, as his friends, teammates, and students mourn his passing.

All-New Wolverine

Wolverine’s female clone Laura Kinney (aka X-23, more on her later) takes up the mantle of Wolverine in his stead. Together with her clone sister Gabby and their pet, an actual wolverine named Johnathan, she tries to live up to Logan’s legacy.

Old Man Logan

‘Old Man Logan’ is an older, grizzled version of Wolverine from a post-apocalyptic world where supervillains successfully conquered the world. After originally appearing in his own miniseries (which inspired the Logan film), Old Man Logan eventually appeared in the 616 universe, where he tried to prevent his future from ever coming to pass.

Old Man Logan reading order

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Wolverines

In the aftermath of Death of Wolverine, a small team of heroes and villains with ties to Logan (X-23, Sabretooth, Mystique, and Lady Deathstrike) must track down his body to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands.

Hunt for Wolverine

In this set of miniseries, Wolverine has seemingly returned, and the Marvel heroes scour the globe to track him down.

Return of Wolverine

Wolverine is finally resurrected, and wastes no time getting back to business, setting off on a mission with Loki to recover the Infinity Stones, before teaming with Cyclops to reinvigorate the X-Men.

Krakoa Era Wolverine

The creation of the mutant nation of Krakoa (which you read about in our blog here) also lead to technology that allows any mutant to return from the dead. So what does mutantkind's fiercest protector do when no mutant can die?

But Logan's newfound peace can't last forever, and soon enough, he's back to doing what he does best.

Deadpool and Wolverine

Logan and the Merc with the Mouth have crossed paths many times, and even reluctantly worked together on the Uncanny X-Force. Here are just some of their team-ups:

More Wolverine books

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X-23

X-23 is Laura Kinney, a female clone of Wolverine created by the mysterious Facility to be the perfect assassin. She was rescued by the X-Men and became a loyal member, even taking over for her ‘father’ after his death. Laura now has two clones of her own, her younger sister Gabby Kinney (codename: Honey Badger) and Talon, created during a cloning snafu on Krakoa.

X-23 appearances

X-23's Teams

Laura has also been a member of X-Force, Jean Grey’s ‘X-Men Red’ team, and the X-Terminators. She also teamed up with Ghost Rider, Red Hulk and Venom during the ‘Circle of Four’ crossover storyline.

Daken, the Dark Wolverine

Unknowingly sired by Wolverine during his time in Japan, Daken inherited his father’s longevity, healing factor and claws. Ostracised in his homeland due to his mixed race, Daken now seeks revenge on the father who he believes abandoned him, and not even death has stopped him in his quest.

Daken appearances

Daken’s Teams

As a villain, Daken was the evil Wolverine on Norman Osborn’s ‘Dark Avengers’ team. When the mutant nation Krakoa granted amnesty to all mutants, Daken joined their criminal investigation unit X-Factor and later the strike force The Marauders.

Weapon H

Clayton Cortez is Weapon H, a soldier who was transformed into a hybrid of Wolverine and the Hulk by Weapon X. Possessing the strengths of both heroes, Cortez breaks out of captivity and goes on the run.

Weapon H appearances