Suggestions From The Long Box- Wolverine (1982)

Suggestions From The Long Box- Wolverine (1982)

Hello again, comics fans. It's Big Bob Hefler, bringing you another suggestion from the long box. How long has it been since you've read the 1982 4-issue Wolverine mini-series by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller? If you're a Wolverine fan, this has to be on your reading list. It's the story that defined so much of who the character is, and yet it's almost been forgotten over the years. We've forsaken Wolverine's beginnings in the Marvel Universe and replaced them with over-sensationalized stories, scads of lame guest appearances, and kid-friendly caricatured artwork. This series is what the character is really about. It's a stripped down look at the man, not the mutant, and it's comic book storytelling of the best kind.

In Wolverine, Chris Claremont introduces a human side to the berserker mutant. He demonstrates that comics can be about love, honor, and betrayal and that we don't always have to have colorful costumes or capes to enjoy a good book. The plot reminds me of an Akira Kurosawa movie. Wolverine no longer hears from his love in far off Japan, so he travels there to see if she's in trouble. It turns out she is. She's been married off to a cold heartless businessman to make her father's pockets feel a little less empty. Wolverine decides to fight for his sweetheart's hand and loses in a big humiliating way. When you're humiliated like Wolverine is, there's only one thing you can do and that's run off with your tail between your legs, go on a depressed drinking binge, and sleep with an enemy assassin ready to kill. And when it comes time to kick butt on blood thirsty ninjas, Wolverine bounces back and does what he does best.

Miller's art is perfect. Long before he applied his “Sin City” black and white artistic style with splashes of reds and yellows, he relied on his knack for expressing his characters through their facial features and body language. This is very strong throughout the entire series and through all of the characters. Miller has always been a master of light, but without the obvious convention of his current noir look, he pulls it off in this book. I don't think I've seen an artist since, who has made Wolverine look as haggard and defeated as Frank Miller has. And that says something for the skill of this artist.

The writing on Wolverine is filled with motion and emotion and the art is perfectly matched. If you haven't read this series, get it. It's one of the most important stories in Marvel history and maybe the most important story in the history of the character.