Wolverine Classic, Vol. 2

Wolverine Classic #2

by Chris Claremont, John Buscema (Artist)

The feral X-Man goes toe-to-toe with the gamma-spawned gray-skinned Goliath known as the Incredible Hulk! Wolverine recalls a promise from his past, and remembers the death of Silver Fox and his first fight with Sabretooth.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, X Men, Fiction, Comic Book

120 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2005

About the author

Chris Claremont is a writer of American comic books, best known for his 16-year (1975-1991) stint on Uncanny X-Men, during which the series became one of the comic book industry's most successful properties.

Claremont has written many stories for other publishers including the Star Trek Debt of Honor graphic novel, his creator-owned Sovereign Seven for DC Comics and Aliens vs Predator for Dark Horse Comics. He also wrote a few issues of the series WildC.A.T.s (volume 1, issues #10-13) at Image Comics, which introduced his creator-owned character, Huntsman.

Outside of comics, Claremont co-wrote the Chronicles of the Shadow War trilogy, Shadow Moon (1995), Shadow Dawn (1996), and Shadow Star (1999), with George Lucas. This trilogy continues the story of Elora Danan from the movie Willow. In the 1980s, he also wrote a science fiction trilogy about female starship pilot Nicole Shea, consisting of First Flight (1987), Grounded! (1991), and Sundowner (1994). Claremont was also a contributor to the Wild Cards anthology series.

Reviews

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 to 3.0 stars. This volume includes issues 6-10 of the first ongoing monthly solo title for Wolverine. Slightly better than the first 5 issues on the strength of an appears by "Grey" Hulk and a pretty good Sabretooth story.

[James DeSantis · Rating 2 out of 5]

BORING.

Chris Claremont is just not my cup of tea. The wolverine dialogue comes across so forced. Not scary, not interesting, just dull and cheesy. I know I'm not in the majority here and people love his voice for Wolverine probably but not me. The hulk issues are particularly boring as hell. The one Peter David issue was atleast more humor and had some cool fights. Rest? I wasn't feeling much at all.

[Frédéric · Rating 3 out of 5]

The crimelords war concludes on a somewhat light note thanks to a certain Joe Fixit. Wolvie takes perverse pleasure in making him angry. And you don’t wanna see him angry, do you?
Buscema+Williamson on the artboard for your viewing pleasure.

A standalone story follows suit. The story is so-so and Gene Colan’s art-not his best I’m afraid- is sadly butchered by atrocious colors.

The next one is another standalone. It includes the first mention of Silver Fox and the beginning of the never ending blood feud with Sabretooth.
Here Bill Sienkiewicz inks John Buscema and it rocks. Sienkiewicz inks can easily stifle the penciler’s style but Buscema’s is so distinctive they make a great and original combination.

[William Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peter David took over the book halfway through this volume, and I couldn't be happier. Not that I didn't love what Claremont was doing (see my review of vol. 1), but Peter David always seemed like a writer who knew not to force a ton of expository dialogue into the book. And that was a much appreciated change. He keeps the story going in Madripoor, thankfully, and even inserts a well-known Marvel character who has a history with Wolverine.

Much less appreciated is the change in artist. Absolutely too sloppy for the book's plotting.

Writing: A
Art: C

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

More like a 3.5 but I’ll round up simply for the Hulk stuff. Issue 5 picks up where the last volume left off. Wolverine is on a rescue mission to get McCabe and Jessica Drew. The next 2 issues feature Joe Fixit/Hulk. The practical joke Wolverine plays on Hulk was hilarious!! Plus wolverine stays a step in front of Hulk tricking him along the way. The book closes out with Wolverine doing his thing in Madripoor and a cool flashback fight with Sabretooth.

[Du4 · Rating 1 out of 5]

Gene Colan guest art = FAIL.

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was fine. Not outstanding, but average.

[Adam Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid template for much of what the Wolverine series will be for decades: Logan works with a few B and C level Marvel heroes against some sort of organized crime ring: the mob, the mafia, yakuza, The Hand, the Marauders, etc. During the mission he runs into someone he has a deep, personal history with; The Hulk, Sabretooth, his son, his ex-girlfriend who's know a cybernetic monster, etc. He cleverly uses his understanding of his friend, his acquaintance, his ex, his sworn enemy, to overthrow the crime ring.

In this case, we get more adventures with Spider-Woman and friends, a really fun visit from the Grey Hulk (aka Mr. Fixit), and a forgettable run-in with Sabretooth.

Apart from the Hulk issues, I don't think this is the book that's going to sell a non-Wolverine fan on reading Wolverine but it's also not going to turn off many Wolverine fans.

[Adam McPhee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wolverine hiding out in Madripoor under the alias Patch. Teams-up/fights with Hulk/Mr. Fix-it. Plus a flashback issue to his time in Weapon X where he does a take on the Iranian hostage crisis (because he's Canadian, and there were Canadians involved in the rescue, right?), except in this version, it's in Iraq and the hostage takers employ American mercenaries.

[Ramón S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The quality of the whole thing decreased and the rush in the art is more clear. Despite of all is a good comic book with interesting adventures and action.
Patch/ Wolverine is a good character in the hands of Chris Claremont and John Buscema.
The episode with Peter David and Gene Colan is not bad but Gene could made more effort being such a good artist

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume somewhat inexplicably starts up mid-tale. You'll want volume 1 to make any sense of it. However, issue #6 is the best issue of the three-issue Gang Wars arc that sets up the criminal background of Mardipoor and provides some nice action along the way.

Joe Fixit (7-8). This is a direct continuation of the previous storyline, but it slowly transitions into a story about the modern Wolverine and the modern Hulk (Joe Fixit) and it turns out to be a somewhat delightful story, showing how much the two have changed as Wolverine joyfully plays tricks on the Hulk! [7/10]

Promises to Keep (9). Though Peter David's filler story is mainly a long hunt, it shows some depth that hasn't been present in Claremont's stories in this new Wolverine series. It really goes to the heart of Logan's character, both in the past and the present [7+/10].

24 Hours (10). Claremont's last Wolverine story is his best, in part because it's got more appropriate art than the clean superhero art that ran through issues #1-8, but in part because it's a better story. By now Claremont has done a good job of creating the situation and characters in Mardipoor, so he can simply use them. This is also a wonderfully iconic story of Sabretooth [7+/10].

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

So this volume is a mixed bag. Fans of the Hulk (and in particular his Joe Fixit incarnation) won't be very happy but it's a fun story, if a bit silly. The real gems though are the chapter written by Peter David and drawn by Gene Colan (very nice change of pace) and the final chapter which confirms, as had previously been long established, that Wolverine did not have bone claws before he was given the adamantium coating on his skeleton (the claws were bionic implants - it wasn't until bad writers and editors got ahold of character that the bone claws got retroactively introduced - some people just don't know how to do research), this story actually hints at the origins of the long feud between Wolverine & Sabretooth. I would imagine that had Claremont continued on this title, this might have been developed more. This volume also starts in the middle of a story begun in the previous volume, so reading it alone could be frustrating. Like I said a mixed bag.

[Cai · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second volume of Wolverine Classic begins with a rescue mission where we discover that people believe the X-Men and Wolverine are dead. Going under the name of Patch this set of comics explores his relationship with Madripoor, Mr. Joe Fix-It (the Hulk’s alter ego) and Sabretooth.

I loved this volume. I loved the story lines and the artwork. I loved the classic KAPOWs and KRAKKKs. I loved everything about this. This volume cleared a few things up for me in comparison to the movies. I found this one more interesting than the Deadpool that I had read.

My recommendation: read this before watching the Wolverine movies.

I brewed this graphic novel from my local library.

[Pamela · Rating 2 out of 5]

Between Chris Claremont's Asian fetish and the complete incoherence of most of the storylines, it's safe to say that this isn't my favorite Wolverine collection.

[Tri · Rating 2 out of 5]

5