Logan faces off with the Adamantine. The Wendigo is pulled into a deadly trap as a specter from the past emerges. And a story you never thought you’d see begins here. Wolverine #8/400 is written by Saladin Ahmed, drawn by Martin Coccolo, colored by Bryan Valenza and lettered by Cory Petit, with a backup written and drawn by Daniel Warren Johnson, colored by Mike Spicer and lettered by Petit.
Wow! Four hundred (totally distinct) issues of Wolverine!
Youâd almost swear there was at least double or triple that for Marvelâs favorite cash cow. Thatâs not counting the plethora of miniseries, maxiseries, limited series or differently titled series starring everyoneâs (second?) favorite clawed mutant.
But alas, weâre not here to speak about Marvel Comicsâ borderline addictive tendency to renumber, relaunch and retitle their series. Nor their strange legacy numbering scheme to celebrate milestones without actually sticking to those numbers.
No, my friends, weâre here to discuss the celebratory issue specifically pertaining to the various distinctly named volumes of Wolverine. The always running, no matter what volume it might be, series for James âLoganâ Howlett (his full name will be important later).
Being an anniversary issue generally means a main story wrapped around some secondary stories. This issue follows the same path with a minor shift, where there are two main (to this new run) stories and a third, disconnected one.
Letâs talk about those two main stories as essentially one because they are both by the regular creative team of Ahmed, CĂłccolo, Valenza and Petit.
In the first, the eight-part (holy crap, it sure felt longer) Adamantine saga comes to a (somewhat) close. After all that buildup, Logan just pushes through and takes Romulus down with a mouth shot like the useless chump he is. The Adamantine comes to life, declares something about learning about this new world through âwaging warâ and takes off.
A plot to drag out and do more with! What a shocker.
Everything about the conclusion feels anticlimactic and points to how nostalgia heavy and contrived this plot has been. Nothing new under the sun when it comes to Wolverine (except the Ultimate Wolverine).
Speaking of plotlines that kind of went nowhere, the Wendigo story is also wrapped up here. At least itâs more positive and ends conclusively â even if it could have been done in just an issue or two, rather than standing as an unexplored, mostly-there plot across seven issues.
Basically, Arcade (the most tiresome old-school villain) shows up to put them through the wringer. Logan blows through the traps, gets caught in an acid vat, Wendigo saves him, only to âdieâ in the acid. Death brings Leonard back to human form. Logan travels with him to reunite with the mother who was trying to get him back out of the system.
Logan wasnât in need of any moment of bonding with a teenager. He does that 24/7, so this added nothing really. It was at least a novel concept, just one that was overall backburnered and underserved because the lukewarm Adamantine plot ruled all.
Now we reach the biggest revelation of the issue: a secret that comes for Logan, set to drive him for the foreseeable future of this series. That being his mother, Elizabeth Howlett, is somehow still alive.
Thatâs right, the woman who called her son a monster and killed herself with a gun well over a century ago is still kicking.
Look, this is a really dumb, unnecessary retcon. Itâs just piling on the âspecialnessâ of Logan and those connected, and once more digging in the long-dry well that is Loganâs past for more.
That said, itâs also kind of funny. The man recognizes that the letter belongs to his mother because of her scent. Which is wonky on so many levels. Itâs been over a century, his memories of that time were wiped out for decades and she died before his full powers emerged.
But somehow, by golly, he remembers that smell and knows this has to be his mother! Comic books, folks. Theyâre quite the ride.
Artistically, the stories are fine. There is a colorful, dynamic quality to most things, even if there is a bit of a glossy, slick finish that doesnât entirely feel like Wolverine. Much of this feels like what you would expect from an X-team book that also happens to have Wolverine onboard.
Something more visceral, different, outside the box, with baked-in roughness feels far more Logan-like in the long run.
Oh, whatâs that? We get that in the third (unconnected) story of the issue? Sweet!
Yeah, the positive note of this issue for sure is the samurai Wolverine story from Daniel Warren Johnson, Mike Spicer and Petit.
Logan on the warpath to avenge someone close to him who died (Akihiro? Itsu?). Rugged, rough, dynamic artwork that gets right to the heart of what Logan stories can be. Johnson is just something else as a writer-artist. He understands the medium, the characters and the mission at the same time.
Is Wolverine on a warpath anything new? Not in the slightest. When the story is intriguing and the artwork shines, I donât really care. All my words about mining nostalgia and nothing new go out the window. Because in a way, the presentation feels new and compelling.
Thatâs all weâre asking for when it comes to Wolverine: something that feels right for the character that is actually super interesting to follow. Not just nostalgia for the sake of nostalgia.
Letâs hope that the next 400 issues (canât wait for that Wolverine #800 in like 2065!) can turn it back around. My hopes arenât high, but thatâs the case for the world as a whole right now.
X-traneous Thoughts
- This era sure loves to both strip mine and dispute Krakoa at the same time. Logan shared a hot tub and hooked up regularly with his âgood friendâ Jean, no matter what the man with the hat says.
- Weâre eight issues in, and there is still no clue where or how this book works with Logan living with the Louisiana X-Men.
- Logan and Laura together makes anything better, even if itâs just marginally.
- I guess dealing with mommy issues will be a new thing after decades of father/brother issues for Logan.
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Scott Redmond
Scott Redmond is a freelance writer and educator fueled by coffee, sarcasm, his love for comic books and more "geeky" things than you can shake a lightsaber at. Probably seen around social media and remembered as "Oh yeah, that guy." An avid gamer, reader, photographer, amateur cook and solid human being. Follow him @scottredmond.bsky.social.
