First Published: May 2006

Contents: Wolverine #70 (June 1993) to #90 (February 1995)

Key Creator Credits: Larry Hama, Adam Kubert, Dwayne Turner, and others

Key First Appearances: Zoe Culledon

Story Continues From: Essential Wolverine Vol. 3

Story Continues In: Essential Wolverine Vol. 5

Overview: Welcome back, Wolverine! After an eight-year absence from the Essential schedule (see Footnotes), you finally have a new volume tracking your solo adventures away from the X-Men.

This volume begins by finishing up a three-part story in the Savage Land fighting Sauron that was started in Essential Wolverine Vol. 3. From there, we get a story of Wolverine and Jubilee fighting Sentinels in the X-Men’s old headquarters in the Australian Outback.

The highlight of this volume comes with Wolverine #75, which was a tie-in issue with the Fatal Attractions storyline in the X-Men books. In Fatal Attractions, Magneto returned once again to face off against Xavier’s students. In the course of the battle, Wolverine savagely cut up Magneto, leaving him severely wounded. In retaliation, Magneto used his powers to extract all of the adamantium out of Wolverine’s skeleton, as well as his claws. The story picks up in Wolverine #75, as the X-Men are returning to Earth as quickly as possible to get Wolverine medical treatment. His mutant healing factor is extended well beyond what it can handle, and his body seems to be shutting down. Thanks to the skills of his teammates, the X-Men get the plane safely to the ground, and Wolverine gets the help he needs to start his recovery.

While he is recovering, Wolverine takes leave of the X-Men to travel the world and settle his affairs. That journey takes him to Canada, Madripoor, Japan, and back to Canada. During this period, Wolverine finds that he can extend “claws” made out of bone, but his body is having a hard time healing each time he bares the claws.

The volume concludes with yet another showdown between Wolverine and Sabretooth. Wolverine finally returns to the X-Men’s mansion and finds that Sabretooth is being held in a cell in the basement. As luck would have it, Sabretooth has been testing the limits of his holding cell, and finally manages to break free, leading to a battle with Logan.

What makes this Essential?: I really enjoyed this volume, in particular when Wolverine was without the adamantium. This was a new take on the character, who now could be hurt, could be stopped, and potentially could be killed. This was a good move by Marvel to be able to do something completely different with the character. I think this is a must-own volume for the Wolverine and/or X-Men fan if they do not already own the individual issues. 

Missing in Action: Wolverine ’95 (the very first Wolverine annual) is not included in this Essential or Essential Wolverine Vol. 5. Volume 5 does contain the Wolverine ’96 annual.

Footnotes: Essential Wolverine Vol. 3 was released in June of 1998, but Essential Wolverine Vol. 4 was not released until May of 2006. During the long gap, Marvel reprinted Volumes 1-3 multiple times, as the cover format was updated in the early 2000s.

With the changes in the production process for comic books in the 1990s, the Black & White reprints of the comics in this volume come across as very dark and are at times hard to read.

The full review can be found at Essential Showcase. 

To find the original issues, or reprints, of Wolverine, check with your local comic book store. In the Midwest, I strongly recommend Clint’s Comics in midtown Kansas City. Clint’s has been in business for nearly 50 years at the intersection of Main St. and Westport Rd. The back-issue selection is incredible, and what you see in the store is just a small fraction of their total inventory. In addition to the back issues, Clint’s stocks current issues, trade paperbacks, toys, T-shirts, and more. Check out Clint’s Comics to build your own essential collection!

Categories: Jerry

Tags: Essential Showcase, Jerry McMullen, Throwback Thursday, Wolverine