Wolverine, Volume 2: Wolverine vs. the X-Men

Wolverine (2010) (Collected Editions)

by Jason Aaron (Writer), Daniel Acuña (Artist), Jefte Palo (Artist)

Once again, a mindless Wolverine is raging out of control, a danger to everyone around him. But this time, Cyclops is ready. He's always feared this day would come again, and he's willing to do whatever it takes to end Wolverine's rampage once and for all. He's even brought along a few friends to help him: Magneto and Namor. Plus: Celebrate the most dangerous birthday in the Marvel Universe when Wolverine's new girlfriend invites X-Men and Avengers alike to a surprise party for everyone's favorite mutant. Logan's birthday has never been his favorite time of the year, but not even he could anticipate just how bad it could get. One thing is for sure: One way or another, blood will be drawn!

Collecting: Wolverine 5.1, 6-9

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, X Men, Graphic Novels Comics, Superheroes, Fiction

168 pages, Hardcover

First published August 3, 2011

About the author

Jason Aaron grew up in a small town in Alabama. His cousin, Gustav Hasford, who wrote the semi-autobiographical novel The Short-Timers, on which the feature film Full Metal Jacket was based, was a large influence on Aaron. Aaron decided he wanted to write comics as a child, and though his father was skeptical when Aaron informed him of this aspiration, his mother took Aaron to drug stores, where he would purchase books from spinner racks, some of which he still owns today.

Aaron's career in comics began in 2001 when he won a Marvel Comics talent search contest with an eight-page Wolverine back-up story script. The story, which was published in Wolverine #175 (June 2002), gave him the opportunity to pitch subsequent ideas to editors.

In 2006, Aaron made a blind submission to DC/Vertigo, who published his first major work, the Vietnam War story The Other Side which was nominated for an Eisner Award for Best Miniseries, and which Aaron regards as the "second time" he broke into the industry.

Following this, Vertigo asked him to pitch other ideas, which led to the series Scalped, a creator-owned series set on the fictional Prairie Rose Indian Reservation and published by DC/Vertigo.

In 2007, Aaron wrote Ripclaw: Pilot Season for Top Cow Productions. Later that year, Marvel editor Axel Alonso, who was impressed by The Other Side and Scalped, hired Aaron to write issues of Wolverine, Black Panther and eventually, an extended run on Ghost Rider that began in April 2008. His continued work on Black Panther also included a tie-in to the company-wide crossover storyline along with a "Secret Invasion" with David Lapham in 2009.

In January 2008, he signed an exclusive contract with Marvel, though it would not affect his work on Scalped. Later that July, he wrote the Penguin issue of The Joker's Asylum.

After a 4-issue stint on Wolverine in 2007, Aaron returned to the character with the ongoing series Wolverine: Weapon X, launched to coincide with the feature film X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Aaron commented, "With Wolverine: Weapon X we'll be trying to mix things up like that from arc to arc, so the first arc is a typical sort of black ops story but the second arc will jump right into the middle of a completely different genre," In 2010, the series was relaunched once again as simply Wolverine. He followed this with his current run on Thor: God of Thunder.

Reviews

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Happy Birthday, Wolverine!!

Due to your healing factor, you’re a hundred and (coughs) something years old. You’re girlfriend has a surprise birthday party all set up for you. She invited everyone, except Spider-Man. And Deadpool.



Quiet! Here he comes!



Um....Happy Birthday, Canucklehead!

Surprise!!

Did anyone notice anything odd about Wolverine? Did he stop off somewhere before the party and get loaded? Is he being mind-controlled by the Brood? Is he in a berserker rage because he dropped his house keys? Did his claws pop out when he was scratching a groin itch?

Is there any cake left?

Wolverine’s possessed by demons and he needs an intervention. He needs help.



Marvel’s Exorcist Squad, led by Hellfire and a couple of Ghost Riders, takes first crack.



Fish Face! Ghostrider II, you are now my new favorite super hero.

That strategy doesn’t work out to well, so let’s just pop a few (hundred) caps in him.



Dudes, doesn't Wolverine have a healing factor?

Uh, yeah...

Plan C, D, E is to insert a few of his lady friends, via Emma Frost, into his sub-conscious mind and have them help Wolverine do battle from the inside. Be careful which doors you open, ladies. Heh!



Bonus content: Mystique has a bad day!



Bottom line: I used to have a strong dislike for Aaron because of his goofy run on the Hulk, but I’ve since come around and appreciate some of his X-Men (and Thor) work. If you like Wolverine on full-tilt killer berserker rage (who doesn't?), with some laughs thrown in, check this one out.

A note on the review: I deliberately re-arranged the storyline contained in this volume to suit my own purposes, so if you read this and are confused and get upset…bite me, Bub!

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wolverine is controlled by demons and the X-Men are at their wit's end in stopping him.

Artwork is hit or miss. Emma Frost has some amusing scenes/comments.

OVERALL GRADE: B minus to B.

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid follow-up to the last volume.

This time Logan has to take on the X-Men. This works well this time as they have a plan to kill one of the most dangerous mutants on the face of this earth. After losing his mind to a demon and still fighting for his mind, Cyclops unleashes all hell on the mutant, but it is actually his friends Kitty, Jublie, and more who decide to help get through him in his mind. But Logan's mind is a bit scary to travel through.


This was a fun one. I really enjoyed the moments when the girls went into Logan's mind. It's filled with some real terrifying moments but also some funny shit like Logan's crazy sex fantasies. I also really enjoyed how Cyclops had a plan to kill Logan but also waited till the very last second to attack his friend. All that worked well.

This heated up in a badass fight. I can't wait to see how this one goes next volume. A 4 out of 5.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wolverine vs. the X-Men (6-8). Oh, hey. Wolverine is still possessed, and so we get three issues of pointless fighting against the X-Men, that has none of the depth and interest of the previous arc. This story is saved by two things: the great team of Utopia X-Men, when that comic was really at its height; and the hilarious look into Logan's mind. Otherwise, this didn't add much to the plotline that seemed to be done back in issue #5 [3+/5].

Get Mystique II (9). Aaron really does like having Wolverine track down Mystique and stab her. This is more of the same, and though it's tempting to think that he offered up the inevitable conclusion here that he couldn't in the original Get Mystique ... we know that's not true, because this is Marvel Comics. Still, this is a quick fun story [4/5]

Happy Birthday (5.1). This is a sweet story about Melita and Logan's friends. Logan is actually the least part of it [5/5].

[Sam Quixote · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book picks up where previously Wolverine was possessed with demons from hell and had become evil and his fellow heroes have had a devil of a time trying to exorcise them from his body. The Wolverine-becomes-bad storyline has been done several times before, most recently in Mark Millar's excellent "Enemy of the State" run and that's probably why, despite Jason Aaron penning the book, the story feels a little stale. Long-time fans of Logan will have seen a lot of this before and are likely to have a so-so attitude to hearing that Wolverine's gotta be stopped or else.

Not that there aren't things to like - the fight is taken inside Logan's head where there's a number of doors with various markings on them. Doors like "Reasons to hate myself" with "Doctor Rot was here" (a call back to Aaron's other Wolverine series, Weapon X - highly recommended by the by), "X-Men I've had sex with" and "how I cheat at cards". The light tone lifts the story up from the sober we-have-to-kill-wolverine-oh-no-we-don't storyline you expect. I also liked Fantomex and Dr Nemesis's back and forth when facing Wolverine: "Now the shooting!" "I got the head, you take everything else", "I suppose that's all the eulogy you're going to get. Au revoir, James"

The best part of the book was the one shot birthday issue at the back where it's Logan's birthday and all his superhero buddies show up for a surprise birthday thrown by his current girlfriend, Melita. It's very much like a sitcom with comedic touches like Deadpool singing "Sweet Caroline", and Melita announcing "Alright is everyone Logan cares about here?" and a cutaway to an empty Avengers Mansion with Spiderman wandering around saying "Guys? Man, where is everybody tonight?"

Anyway, it's little moments like that that saved the book for me and the ending of that issue sets up the next Wolverine storyline nicely. This is a decent Wolverine book that has some nice touches by Aaron but it's not the best Wolverine book he's written - I highly recommend the first couple of volumes of "Weapon X" for that.

[Subham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was so cool! It starts with him and his birthday party and his GF Melita trying to organize a surprise one for him and that turns out wrong while in the present time he is still under the control of the demons and so he has to battle the X-Men and they are stuck between killing him or letting it take time to exorcise him but when he starts attacking people its upto them to stop it and all his female X-Men friends start going in his mind and the psychic battles there meanwhile Cyclops, Magneto and Namor battle him in the real world and its epic and will they be able to save him or will something else happen?

Also I loved the last issue with Mystique and next up Revenge! Great storyline and it just increases the violence and action in the book and just shows Wolverine is a one man army and his deepest secret and his love which creates some drama. Plus his enemies keep targeting him from all direction which just shows the massive history he had and I loved that quite a lot! Overall a great read and the art was really good too and is easy on the eyes.

[Sonic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome fun!
This is the same Jason Aaron who gave us the hellish "Wolverine Goes To Hell"?
I remember hating the art in that one, just as I hated the story.
This one has awesome art, and I totally enjoyed the story.

Is there a connection, I wonder?

The birthday party story at the end cracked me up! Hilarious dialogue with great characterizations ...
this book was a good read.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Best part is the Birthday one-shot.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wolverine's soul may be free from Hell, but the demons occupying his body aren't about to give up without a fight. With his allies in the X-Men and his girlfriend fighting to save him on the outside, a new war wages inside Wolverine's mind...

This volume picks up literally right where the last one left off, and the first three issues take place over the course of about 2 hours, if that. The battle between Wolverine's body and the X-Men plays out as you'd expect, spilling out across San Francisco and beyond. Meanwhile, the dual narrative continues as Wolverine's mind fights against the demons inside him. Like the first volume, one of these plot lines is a bit more compelling than the other, but the gap is definitely narrowing. This volume is also surprisingly funny, despite the high stakes. Emma Frost has more than a few laugh out loud moments, and the sequences set inside Logan's mind are hilarious - it's a bad place to be.

The final issue is a Get Mystique redux, as Logan charges across the city to find the woman who put him in this situation in the first place. It acts as a bit of a palette cleanse between the bigger arcs, but it does have a few nice developments of its own in terms of the villains of the piece.

Also included is issue #5.1, which is a one-and-done about Wolverine's birthday, which was amusing. I'm not sure how well it would work as a jump-on point as the Point Ones were meant to be, but it's a nice little story; it's refreshing to see Wolverine's more emotional side rather than just having him stab people (although he does that too).

The art on the first four issues is by Daniel Acuna, whose paints are an oddly good fit for this story. He manages to create a good separation between the real world/mindscape sequences, and his X-Men really pop, although they can lose some detail as they fade into the background. The Point One issue is pencilled by Jefte Palo, who is...fine, but a little too angular and sketchy for my tastes. His splash pages are great, but the more cramped panels can descend into chaos quite quickly.

A grand follow-up to the first volume, Wolverine Vs. The X-Men manages to have a similar set-up without retreading the same ground, and injects an unexpected amount of humour into an otherwise dire situation.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not one of those hypermasculine Wolverine fans who thinks that the character is infallible to a T. I am also not one of those comic book fans who poops on everything that Jason Aaron writes for reasons. I've met him, shaken his hand, gave him a book about headhunters as a gift, and continue to approach his material as a critical reader. So, Wolverine vs. The X-Men. Having not read Volume 1 or 3, this story is slightly out of context for me, but I bought this HC from a sale for $1. On its own merits, I gave it a 4. Here's why in reverse:

5. Lord Deathstrike. If John Woo directed a Marvel movie, I hope that Lord Deathstrike would be the villain. Silent and enigmatic as well as deadly, he does not appear to be interested in killing anyone but his assigned target, though he does do something very opportunistic toward the end of Issue # 9 that I cannot say is in or out of character, so it just comes off as pragmatic.
4. Massive guest appearances. This is distracting for me. Ghost Riders don't fare real well and Jubilee the vampire is in sunlight and various super-women traipsing through Wolverine's sexual fantasies pulled me out of narrative a bit making me ask questions that pulled focus from the main conflict. This is one of the reasons why I didn't go five stars.
3. Massive guest appearances. HOWEVER, I loved seeing Acuna's panel homage to Dave Cockrum's Nightcrawler # 1 cover and was grateful for the perspectives of various X-characters gleaning insights into Wolverine's extremely sordid psyche. Also, Son of Satan instead of an almost cliched Dr. Strange appearance? Yes, please. Plus, it would have been a sh** Wolverine vs. X-Men story if there had been no or few X-Men.
2. I have not read enough Jason Aaron Wolvie books to say he should or should not write the character, but he absolutely, 100% wrote a wonderfully engaging, witty, catty Emma Frost. I lol'd several times at her dialogue.
1. Wolverine. I might not be one of "those" fan bros who is all about the "kick-@$$" but Logan is still part of my comic reading youth, and I liked this book. I thought that, because I picked it up so inexpensively, I would read it and recycle it back into circulation via my trade pile. Nope. Keeping it and will return to it in the future if I should grab other volumes of this run with n regrets.

[Valentin Derevlean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Povestea lui Wolverine continuă. A evadat din Iad, însă demonii nu-l părăsesc. A evadat din Iadul fizic pentru a lupta în iadul din mintea sa. În jurul său însă trupul controlat de demoni face ravagii. Și e datoria și menirea colegilor și prietenilor X-Men să încerce să-l oprească, chit că asta poate însemna uciderea lui. Amuzant pe alocuri, destul de dinamic și cu câteva idei faine. Un plus mare e numărul dedicat aniversării lui Wolverine cu toată gașca așteptându-l la petrecerea surpriză și el rătăcit la vânătoare de canibali, cu desenele lui Jefte Palo, mai simple și caricaturale, dar potrivite numărului.

Arta lui Daniel Acuña din cele 3 numere dedicate „exorcizării” lui Wolverine e bună, chit că de multe ori alege să deseneze doar contururi, pe care le ghicești. Expresiile chipurilor din depărtare sunt inexistente. Însă dinamismul, monștrii din mintea lui Wolverine etc. compensează „lenea” din desenarea altor cadre. Coverurile excelente, așa cum m-am așteptat.

Per total un volum bun. Poate nu la fel de bun ca precedentul, dar e pe acolo. Nu dezamăgește nicio secundă.

[Emmett Spain · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second trade in his ongoing Wolverine run, after his Weapon X work, Jason Aaron brings his brand of over-the-top, violent, darkly funny hijinks to bear with a tightly focused story that forces Wolverine to fight demons from Hell in his mind, hick Cannibals in the snow, and a cadre of people trying to shoot and kill him, including Mystique, Lord Deathstrike, and more. It's fast-paced, well plotted, and importantly, deep on character for Wolverine. Aaron really knows how to get into the ol' canucklehead's psychology, and it shows. Gritty, dark, and often fun, this will well worth a read for X-Men and Wolverine fans who like their comics a little more adult.

[Jeff Lanter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been reading Jason Aaron's entire run on Wolverine and really enjoyed it. The book is not a must-read, but it is entertaining. This volume took it to a different level though. I nearly gave it five stars I had so much fun reading it. One potential criticism of the series thus far is that there isn't an obvious larger conflict driving the story forward. Not only does that threat become clearer in this story arc, but the events were just a lot of fun. I wouldn't say this story was as good as Astonishing X-Men, but it does remind me a lot of what makes that book a classic X-Men story. There are many great lines of banter and interesting relationships too. I also loved Lord Deathstrike's appearance. That is one way to make an entrance. The art deserves a special shout out as well. The style is very different from the rest of the artists, but I really enjoyed the more impressionistic style. Also, some of the panels were as good or better than recent action movies which is saying something.

[Eskana · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this volume at random, and as usual, had to piece together what was happening and when this was happening. It seems to be during the Utopia phase of the X-men, and the first three issues deal with Wolverine, who apparently is possessed, trying to defeat his literal inner demons while several groups of his friends try to help.
This includes:
- 2 ghost riders, Mystique, Hellstorm, and Wolverine's girlfriend, Melita Garner
- X-men: Cyclops, Emma Frost, Magneto, and Namor (is he on the team??)
- Back-up X-men: Rogue, Kitty Pryde, Storm, and Jubilee

We get some sections where multiple people try to defeat Wolverine from the outside, but the creatures possessing him are too strong. Faced with an out-of-control Weapon X, Cyclops is prepared to do what he has to, but Emma, Melita, and the back-up X-men are able to get into Logan's mind to help him fight.
There were some good moments in the fight, especially as the different "teams" interact. I appreciated that Cyclops was willing to take the shot to get kill Wolverine, but still held out, hoping he wouldn't have to, even against his better judgement. The inner mind scenes can be entertaining as well... don't go TOO deep into Logan's mind, as several of the girls found out. I also liked that every past version of Wolverine was visualized as fighting there, as well as his memories of friends who have died.

The other two issues were:
- Wolverine trying to chase down the Red Right Hand, a secret organization set on taking him out (it seems) and who Mystique has been helping
- Melita trying to plan a surprise party for Logan (she invited most of the Avengers and some X-men), but Logan is distracted trying to help a trucker who has been kidnapped by cannibals in the Canadian wilderness... yup, you know, that kind of thing.


Overall, the art was solid, and it was a good enough story even though apparently there had been a lot going on before. I guess I could recommend it if you just wanted a short story where Logan was fighting against the X-men, but I'm not into the magic/supernatural side of Marvel... and there are probably better Logan v. his friends stories that don't involve him being brainwashed or possessed.

[Alex E · Rating 4 out of 5]

After the events of the last volume, Wolverine is now out of hell... but now he has to deal with the (literal) demons in his mind.

As silly as the last volume was, Jason Aaron grounds the story just a bit by having Wolverine fight the X-Men in the middle of San Francisco. The demons do not want to let go of Logan's body, so physically, he is confronted by the rest of the X-Men - who at this point have a plan on how to take him down permanently. However, inside of Logan's mind, there is another type of battle happening, with Wolverine fighting the demons that inhabit his body. I think this was a great way of still showcasing just how dangerous Wolverine can be (even if he does have some new, hellish abilities) and how efficiently he fights against... well, pretty much everyone.

But the most entertaining part of the fight is the fight inside Logan's mind, where an assortment of X-women, all who have a connection to Logan in some way, infiltrate and help Logan fight the demons. There are some very amusing revelations as to Logan's secret thoughts and fears.

Overall, Jason Aaron made a kind of silly premise and makes it really entertaining in this volume. Along with Daniel Acuna, who provides some awesome artwork for the book, Aaron makes a memorable chapter into the book of Wolverine. I would definitely recommend this for fans of the character.

[Nicole Westen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This kinda reminded me of that part in the Justice League where Batman came up with a plan to take down everyone in the League in case they went dark side. Also, Wolverine has a lot of questionable doors in his mind. And the ultimate thing that bugged me, in the middle of that fight with demon Wolverine, Magneto gets taken down by the demon forcing a flashback. And apparently everyone leaves him curled in the fetal position in the middle of the street. One of the most powerful mutants in all the world is having a mental break down in the middle of a highly populated area, and no one thinks that might be a bad thing...

[Travis Duke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Suppose I should have read vol.1 oops, library cataloged it incorrectly. Anyways I always liked the Jason Aaron x-men years. This is a cool wolverine vs. the rest of the x-men book. Lots of action but mainly a mental battle. We see Wolverine battle some demons in his mind while they control his body. Daniel Acuna on Art is good as well. I had to laugh at all the mental doors Wolverine had, very adult but very appropriate for old Wolvy.

[Adam Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wolverine is possessed, brainwashed, forced to do actions he doesn't want to do, cloned, impersonated, whatever. He's eeeeeeeeeeevil, And eeeeeeeeeeeevil Wolverine must be stopped. Again.

It's not an exciting premise, nor is it spectacularly executed from a narrative standpoint, but Acuna's art is beautiful.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

While it was interesting to see Logan's view while his body was taken over by Hell Demons, this volume didn't really add a whole lot (imo). And then it switched to a birthday party while there are weirdo cannibal brothers trying to eat a trucker and his dog...shrug.

[Diamond Feit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of misleading: Wolverine fights a few X-Men but he's being possessed so he's got weird new powers. Plus the battle ends and then the rest of the book changes topics. But yes, strictly speaking, you can see Wolverine vs The X-Men in these pages.

[Ginger Wolverine · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s a fund read, it think I need to go back and read the story before it for more context. But it’s decent, nothing special. But if you want to see Wolverine go all out Berzerk then by all means, read it!

[Sebastian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wolverine being possessed by demons had a lot of potential, but this story just doesn't live up to the hype.

[Amory · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my type of comic between the drawing style and overboard amount of characters

[jewelruby ☆˚.⋆ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this a lot. Only note is I wish to see more of the rooms in Wolverine’s mind. Other than that everything was great. 5/5 stars!

[Roman Ramos · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art in this is funky but the way this story dwells into Logan's mind makes this worth a read. Likewise I always appreciate when you see characters that have opposing goals working together.

[Lili · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy shit that was an ACTUAL ROLLERCOASTER.😭

[Jedhua]

My Brief Bookshelf Overview: exciting-premise, gave-up-before-finishing, grim, hell-of-a-ride, mature, story-not-intriguing-enough


Acuña probably has a place in comic book illustration, but I'm pretty sure this isn't quite it; something was just a bit off with that. As for Aaron, I'm thinking I now need to consider the possibility that I've overestimated him somewhat, considering the quality of Wolverine: Weapon X, Vol. 3: Tomorrow Dies Today (which I read just before this). I mean this wasn't too bad or anything – and maybe it's just because I can't get Wolverine: Weapon X, Vol. 2: Insane in the Brain out of my head – but it just didn't do much for me.

[Maja Kron · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5 stars

Wolverine is back from hell but now demons have entered his head and our dear x-man have to fight himself with the help of his friends. There's also a short story about Wolverine's new girlfriend setting up a surprise party for his birthday, but things don't really turn out as planned.

I have very mixed feelings about this. I enjoyed the part where they were inside his head and they saw all those little rooms and stuff, but the rest of it was just meh. The humour in this one wasn't always on top either, sometimes it was funny but sometimes it just felt unnatural.

I didn't really like the art most of the time... It felt kind of sloppy and not very well done so that was a shame.

It wasn't horrible though and some parts were quite enjoyable so that's why I rated it 2,5 stars

[Corey Pung · Rating 4 out of 5]

To read my full review, go to: http://paneldiscussions.wordpress.com...
Wow, Wolverine sure went to hell after Jason Aaron took over the series… literally. In 2010, it was decided to restart Wolverine’s long-running solo series at issue one, and thankfully the folks at Marvel had the good sense not to retell his origins yet again. The whole Weapon X storyline is convoluted enough as it is. Instead, Logan is given a “this is your life” moment, except from a seat in hell. The Wolverine Goes to Hell five-part series definitely had shock value, and that alone brought in a huge amount of sales, but it was the follow-up story, Wolverine Vs. The X-Men, that proved the new take on Wolvie was fresh and exciting.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Demons are evil. Demon possession is bad. Wolverine is the best at what he does, and what he does is not good. Wolverine possessed by demons, this can't be good. Jason Aaron takes us on a magical journey through Wolverine's mind as he battles demons out to possess his body. Then we see the X-Men fight a possessed Wolverine. A Wolverine with Demon powers. A Wolverine that is evil.

The comic was a fun read. My favorite part of the book was the birthday issue. See Wolverine's girlfriend get all the X-Men and Avengers together to celebrate Wolverine's birthday, while Wolverine is out saving lives. The demon possession was fun too.

If you like Wolverine comics check this out.