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Wolverine (2010) (Collected Editions)
Wolverine: Rot
Dr. Rot is back! Discover the secret behind Rot's twisted family - and what Wolverine's connection is. Meanwhile, FBI Agent Wells is circling closer to the truth behind the brutal murders he's investigating. And Wolverine is his lead suspect! It's Wolverine vs Dr. Rot for control of Wolverine's brain, but can Wolverine destroy the last vestiges of Weapon X's programming? An untold tale of Wolverine as he takes former X-Force member Elixir under his wing. After M-Day, not all depowered mutants found their way in the world, and one of them comes back for Logan!
Wolverine (1988) 305-309
Wolverine (1988) 305-309
128 pages, Paperback
First published September 26, 2012
2 people are currently reading
91 people want to read
About the author
Cullen Bunn
2,106 books1,060 followersCullen grew up in rural North Carolina, but now lives in the St. Louis area with his wife Cindy and his son Jackson. His noir/horror comic (and first collaboration with Brian Hurtt), The Damned, was published in 2007 by Oni Press. The follow-up, The Damned: Prodigal Sons, was released in 2008. In addition to The Sixth Gun, his current projects include Crooked Hills, a middle reader horror prose series from Evileye Books; The Tooth, an original graphic novel from Oni Press; and various work for Marvel and DC. Somewhere along the way, Cullen founded Undaunted Press and edited the critically acclaimed small press horror magazine, Whispers from the Shattered Forum.
All writers must pay their dues, and Cullen has worked various odd jobs, including Alien Autopsy Specialist, Rodeo Clown, Professional Wrestler Manager, and Sasquatch Wrangler.
And, yes, he has fought for his life against mountain lions and he did perform on stage as the World's Youngest Hypnotist. Buy him a drink sometime, and he'll tell you all about it.
Visit his website at www.cullenbunn.com.
All writers must pay their dues, and Cullen has worked various odd jobs, including Alien Autopsy Specialist, Rodeo Clown, Professional Wrestler Manager, and Sasquatch Wrangler.
And, yes, he has fought for his life against mountain lions and he did perform on stage as the World's Youngest Hypnotist. Buy him a drink sometime, and he'll tell you all about it.
Visit his website at www.cullenbunn.com.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
October 29, 2012
Jason Aaron was never the right guy for Wolverine. Unfortunately, he had a stranglehold on the damn thing for what seemed like forever. But even he was a welcome respite from Jeph Loeb and Daniel Way's hijinx. In "Rot", Cullen Bunn, writer of the damn fine western series 'The Sixth Gun', comes to rescue us all from Aaron's too-big ideas.
I may be giving this five stars for the fact that it isn't an over-the-top arc, but instead, brings us something fairly simple. Bunn uses one of Aaron's creations and turns this into a "best there is at what he does" story line- he hunts and tracks, he kills, he drinks, he is surly.
Bunn writes it in a classic Western trope, and that does worry me a bit. I hpe he can wind up breaking free of the genre altogether, but if he doesn't, to hell with it. Westerns are bad@$$.
Don't expect big things here. Bunn takes from a lot of previous Wolverine stories, but he doesn't turn anyhting on it's head. And that's the best part. I don't need the character to change drastically or to have the history revised with every new arc. What we get here is brutal, fun and a great way to kick off Bunn's run.
As for the last few issues in this trade, Ivan Brandon writes a completely unconventional and surprising story that doesn't really d much, but brings some of us old-timers back to the Wolverine/Havok miniseries. Even the art of Jason Latour reminds me of JJ Muth in that series.
Art chores for Bunn's work wasn't any great shakes, but was good enough. More than just competent, Paul Pelletier has a real knack for the horror genre and is dead-on with the gore and the pacing.
The real gem of the book is Latour. Coupled with the always fabulous Rafael Albuquerque, the last few issues of the book are visually stunning.
Writing: B
Art: A+
I may be giving this five stars for the fact that it isn't an over-the-top arc, but instead, brings us something fairly simple. Bunn uses one of Aaron's creations and turns this into a "best there is at what he does" story line- he hunts and tracks, he kills, he drinks, he is surly.
Bunn writes it in a classic Western trope, and that does worry me a bit. I hpe he can wind up breaking free of the genre altogether, but if he doesn't, to hell with it. Westerns are bad@$$.
Don't expect big things here. Bunn takes from a lot of previous Wolverine stories, but he doesn't turn anyhting on it's head. And that's the best part. I don't need the character to change drastically or to have the history revised with every new arc. What we get here is brutal, fun and a great way to kick off Bunn's run.
As for the last few issues in this trade, Ivan Brandon writes a completely unconventional and surprising story that doesn't really d much, but brings some of us old-timers back to the Wolverine/Havok miniseries. Even the art of Jason Latour reminds me of JJ Muth in that series.
Art chores for Bunn's work wasn't any great shakes, but was good enough. More than just competent, Paul Pelletier has a real knack for the horror genre and is dead-on with the gore and the pacing.
The real gem of the book is Latour. Coupled with the always fabulous Rafael Albuquerque, the last few issues of the book are visually stunning.
Writing: B
Art: A+
August 23, 2013
Rot (305-308). I found the main story in this volume entirely mediocre. I'm not impressed by Rot or his over-the-top gothic family. I'm also confused by the references to his past with Logan. If they've met before, this volume didn't explain it well enough. Finally, the whole Logan-taken-over-by-something-he-can't-control-that-makes-him-kill is way, way too done. Just in the last 10 years or so both Aaron and Millar did it better. And, agh, I was sick to see the whole missing memories thing appear again. Apparently Bunn isn't fond of progress for characters; hopefully this twist will be ignored [5/10].
Underneath (309). I was even more conflicted by the one-off at the end. Josh seems really out-of-character in the way he's interacting with Logan in the first half of this story, and I was also annoyed by the way in which Bunn makes up new meaning for old X-Men terms, like Morlocks. On the other hand, the villain he reuses and the ending are both pretty cool [5/10].
On the whole: missable. Too much fighting, too sloppy of continuity, too little imagination.
Underneath (309). I was even more conflicted by the one-off at the end. Josh seems really out-of-character in the way he's interacting with Logan in the first half of this story, and I was also annoyed by the way in which Bunn makes up new meaning for old X-Men terms, like Morlocks. On the other hand, the villain he reuses and the ending are both pretty cool [5/10].
On the whole: missable. Too much fighting, too sloppy of continuity, too little imagination.
November 30, 2017
Wolverine is being sought out by the police because people have turned up murdered and it looks like Wolverine might have done it. Wolverine has started a mutant school in Jean Grey's name. He figures out that an old nemesis Dr. Rot might be trying to control him so he goes after him. Dr. Rot makes robots and manipulates peoples brains. Dr. Rot's goons say a particular phrase and it triggers a catatonic state in Wolverine. The Dr. pulls out Logan's brains through his nose and wants to see if he will heal. Because of the brainwashing, Logan attacks a friend that came looking for him, but then he remembers important parts of his life and it breaks the programming. He kills Dr. Rot and his accomplices. When he gets back home, Logan realizes that the parts of brain that were pulled out have caused him to lose certain memories.
There is a story about a kid mutant who can heal people and reverse heal people. He goes on a mission with Wolverine to a place that has a bunch of mutants that lost their powers and got sick. The guy, Meltdown, who is supposedly trying to heal the mutants is a mutant whose power is that he's a nuclear reactor. Logan discovers that Meltdown is actually causing the other mutants to get sick and he's lying to them and stealing their life energy. The kid uses his reverse healing powers to destroy Meltdown and save the day.
This one of a little too dark and bloody for my taste.
There is a story about a kid mutant who can heal people and reverse heal people. He goes on a mission with Wolverine to a place that has a bunch of mutants that lost their powers and got sick. The guy, Meltdown, who is supposedly trying to heal the mutants is a mutant whose power is that he's a nuclear reactor. Logan discovers that Meltdown is actually causing the other mutants to get sick and he's lying to them and stealing their life energy. The kid uses his reverse healing powers to destroy Meltdown and save the day.
This one of a little too dark and bloody for my taste.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 28, 2025
The Dr. Rot storyline is just a little too gross for me- changing Wolverine with the powers of brain goo is interesting as a concept but it just kind of feels like an Eli Roth movie where the whole plot takes a backseat to just the grossest gore you can imagine. This one wasn’t very enjoyable for me.
The issue tucked in the back with Meltdown was solid. I’d recommend that to anyone who likes the slightly more obscure X-villains and a little poetic Wolverine, “I fight every day with what I got inside. And every night I go to bed regretting all the things I’ve done wrong in this world. And when I wake up, I decide today to try and do things right.”
The issue tucked in the back with Meltdown was solid. I’d recommend that to anyone who likes the slightly more obscure X-villains and a little poetic Wolverine, “I fight every day with what I got inside. And every night I go to bed regretting all the things I’ve done wrong in this world. And when I wake up, I decide today to try and do things right.”
February 4, 2018
Cullen delivers a cliched and redundant Wolverine story involving mental manipulation and gore. Just because its been done a million times doesn't mean its because it works. Most of the time, it doesn't. Here is another time. Redneck super genius, Dr. Rot is back and as uninteresting as before. He is not a good creation. Let it go. An intriguing development here or there plus spectacular art by Paul Pelletier don't make up for the lackluster story. Overall, pointless.
August 4, 2023
Wolverine is one of the few gorey marvel comics and i like that. This one didnt have too much of a story but it was kinda cool to see the backwster redneck necromancer.
Not the best comic ive seen but the art was nice.
Not the best comic ive seen but the art was nice.
January 14, 2019
Wolverine faces Dr Rot. A gory story
May 6, 2020
This was okay. A very simple, kind of rushed main plot, but the art style was fine and Wolverine killed people so it was about what I expected.
September 26, 2025
Updated Review During 2025 X-Reread:
While the whole "all Americans from the South are Hillbillies" trope was a bit of a turno-off, I did enjoy the horror elements of the main story in this volume. Overly gory? Sure. But I enjoyed how it's vastly different from the other Wolverine stories from this era while still being grounded by scenes from the school at the heart of Wolverine and the X-Men, Vol. 1 and using the plot to seemingly wrap up Wolverine's relationship from the Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Utopia-era.
The second story, featuring the remnants of The Morlocks, Elixir from the X-Force, Vol. 2: Old Ghosts run, and a long-abandoned villain could have used more fleshing out but I loved Rafael Albuquerque's art.
I think this will appeal to horror enthusiasts and people who enjoy atypical Wolverine stories that still have ties to continuity.
***
Original 2024 Review:
After the seemingly unending Jason Aaron run, I was excited to see what direction this book would go in. While I thought the gore was a bit much, and I didn't really care for the hillbilly trope, I thought the Elixir/Morlock story was a step in the right direction.
I hope future volumes lean more towards the final story than the first part.
While the whole "all Americans from the South are Hillbillies" trope was a bit of a turno-off, I did enjoy the horror elements of the main story in this volume. Overly gory? Sure. But I enjoyed how it's vastly different from the other Wolverine stories from this era while still being grounded by scenes from the school at the heart of Wolverine and the X-Men, Vol. 1 and using the plot to seemingly wrap up Wolverine's relationship from the Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Utopia-era.
The second story, featuring the remnants of The Morlocks, Elixir from the X-Force, Vol. 2: Old Ghosts run, and a long-abandoned villain could have used more fleshing out but I loved Rafael Albuquerque's art.
I think this will appeal to horror enthusiasts and people who enjoy atypical Wolverine stories that still have ties to continuity.
***
Original 2024 Review:
After the seemingly unending Jason Aaron run, I was excited to see what direction this book would go in. While I thought the gore was a bit much, and I didn't really care for the hillbilly trope, I thought the Elixir/Morlock story was a step in the right direction.
I hope future volumes lean more towards the final story than the first part.
January 29, 2014
I use to think Wolverine was the most tortured hero in the Marvel universe. Having reading Rot, I now have to revise my earlier statement and call him the "dumbest". I can't begin to tell you how repetitive this type of storytelling is getting for Wolverine:
Big, dumb and immortal hero decides to go after uber villain who is noted for his freaky mind control techniques and sadistic kills. Problem is that the hero has a huge group of friends but rather than rely on friends or even tell them what he is doing, he keeps them in the dark and goes off to seek villain without a feasible plan or any backup. Hero eventually gets captured and forced to endure all kinds of mental anguish. Meanwhile, so-called friends are left lying about hero's whereabouts especially when it may look like hero has killed "innocent" people. Authorities catch up to villain and a climatic showdown between "good" and "evil" take place. Hero's "girlfriend" is introduced and somehow "love" sets hero's anguished mind free.
Okay, does this summary sound like any comic book you may read about Wolverine in the last little while?
My point is that while the story was enjoyable enough to finish reading, I want Wolverine to "smarten" up already. Enough of the mental, physical, psychological, and emotional torture of the guy. For a superhero who is over 100 years old, evolution is sure taking a long time to catch up with him.
Challenge me. Force me to look at Wolverine in a different way beyond the stereotypical tortured hero. Then maybe, I might stop thinking of him as the "dumbest" superhero around.
Big, dumb and immortal hero decides to go after uber villain who is noted for his freaky mind control techniques and sadistic kills. Problem is that the hero has a huge group of friends but rather than rely on friends or even tell them what he is doing, he keeps them in the dark and goes off to seek villain without a feasible plan or any backup. Hero eventually gets captured and forced to endure all kinds of mental anguish. Meanwhile, so-called friends are left lying about hero's whereabouts especially when it may look like hero has killed "innocent" people. Authorities catch up to villain and a climatic showdown between "good" and "evil" take place. Hero's "girlfriend" is introduced and somehow "love" sets hero's anguished mind free.
Okay, does this summary sound like any comic book you may read about Wolverine in the last little while?
My point is that while the story was enjoyable enough to finish reading, I want Wolverine to "smarten" up already. Enough of the mental, physical, psychological, and emotional torture of the guy. For a superhero who is over 100 years old, evolution is sure taking a long time to catch up with him.
Challenge me. Force me to look at Wolverine in a different way beyond the stereotypical tortured hero. Then maybe, I might stop thinking of him as the "dumbest" superhero around.
July 3, 2013
Wolverine: Rot is exactly what its title suggests. The mental manipulator Dr. Rot has found a way to tap into Logan's mind. In order to close the book on this psycho, our killer embarks on a trek to shut down Rot's brain factories for good. Naturally, Logan must battle his way through Rot's backwoods "family" and mind control to do so - making this just another in the long line of "messing with Wolverine's brain" stories. The volume concludes with a Logan/Elixir team-up against the classic villain Meltdown, which never really needed to be told. Overall, this volume continues to mystify readers as to how Wolverine continues to hold onto a solo title; this tome is just rotten.
August 7, 2013
I know Wolverine is pretty dark character - immortal with blades protruding from his knuckles is enough to scare anyone right :) - but this issue is .... I don't know, if this was TV series then this would be an episode aired for Halloweens night I guess.
Story is interesting - there is a lot of snikt-snikt but again that's the way Logan deals with problems right :) - but atmosphere is pretty dark and would be out of place if everything was placed in Warhammer 40k universe.
Recommended - but beware that this one is not for kids (lots of gore splashing around).
Story is interesting - there is a lot of snikt-snikt but again that's the way Logan deals with problems right :) - but atmosphere is pretty dark and would be out of place if everything was placed in Warhammer 40k universe.
Recommended - but beware that this one is not for kids (lots of gore splashing around).
January 25, 2016
Too violent for me right now. Brains and science are everywhere. Drawn to colours seeing the mood and they were effective in this. Wanting an easy read right now and can't find anything. Makes me want some hipster graphic novel about quiet, awkward people.
March 29, 2014
Individual issues on marvel unlimited
February 26, 2018
2/5
Wolverine Underneath, last issue in trade 4/5
Wolverine Underneath, last issue in trade 4/5
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews