Wolverine: The Best There Is - The Complete Series

Wolverine: The Best There Is #1-12

by Charlie Huston, Juan José Ryp (Artist), Andres Mossa (Colorist)

With his Adamantium-laced bones and seemingly limitless recuperative powers, Wolverine is virtually unkillable. But it's that same healing factor that makes him a target for crazed virologist Winsor, a walking disease factory who employs a small army of healers and immortals. To test the limits of Wolverine's healing abilities, these vampires, demigods and madmen will push Logan to the limits of his endurance in ways more gruesome than he's ever encountered. But with the aid of the X-Men and the timely intervention of a pair of space pirates, the down-but-not-out Wolverine sets out on an intergalactic road to revenge!
COLLECTING:Wolverine: The Best There Is #1-12

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

288 pages, Paperback

First published February 14, 2011

About the author

Charlie Huston is an American novelist, screenwriter, and comic book writer known for his genre-blending storytelling and character-driven narratives. His twelve novels span crime, horror, and science fiction, and have been published by Ballantine, Del Rey, Mulholland, and Orion, with translations in nine languages. He is the creator of the Henry Thompson trilogy, beginning with Caught Stealing, which was announced in 2024 as a forthcoming film adaptation directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Austin Butler. Huston’s stand-alone novels include The Shotgun Rule, The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death, Sleepless, and Skinner. He also authored the vampire noir series Joe Pitt Casebooks while living in Manhattan and later California. Huston has written pilots for FX, FOX, Sony, and Tomorrow Studios, served as a writer and producer on FOX’s Gotham, and developed original projects such as Arcadia. In comics, he rebooted Moon Knight for Marvel, contributed to Ultimates Annual, and penned the Wolverine: The Best There Is series.

Reviews

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

In fairness I think there was enough great concepts, art, and banter to fill an 8 or maybe even 9 issue limited run here but stretching it out to 12 was a bit much. The arrival of the flamboyant intergalactic (or dimensional?) bounty hunters, for example, really didn't help the story.


He really committed to the splatter.

Ryp's art, however, is a real highlight as long as you have a strong gag reflex, and I'm a bit sad that the notion of a relationship between Logan and Dazzler was never, to my knowledge, really explored after this.

[Asciigod · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow, what a s###er this is! But in a way, I’m guess I’m OK with it.

At least this dredged offal has the courtesy to barf all over the reader in the first few pages. It saved me a couple hours of reading, and thankfully the book was a free rental (shout out to the wifey on the surprise gift, I owe you one!). It’s just garbage man. The publishers could have discovered a 1980’s preteen metal head’s collection of peachy-folder artwork and classroom doodles and released them interchangeably. This stuff reminds me of when a lot of comics were just DUMB stuff produced to fill slots on metal grocery racks and nothing more. I’ve had a better time reading the backs of straight to VHS horror film boxes than this. Check out some photos:

REDACTED - see profile blog if you want :)

My back issues of Deadworld and Gore Shreik are ashamed for me.

[Chris Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

Juan Jose Ryp providing career-best illustration for what might be no-bullshit the most obnoxious script I have ever read in a mainstream comic book

[Krzysztof Grabowski · Rating 2 out of 5]

Komiks to medium, które nieustannie mnie zaskakuje. Raz na plus, raz na minus. Tutaj jest raczej pod kreskę...

Rosomak nie trafia najlepiej, bowiem zaczyna od przyjęcia pewnej dawki przemocy na twarz, upokorzenia i upodlenia tylko przez to, że jest X-menem. Zaczyna jako osobnik walczący na arenie, ku uciesze pewnych zwyrodnialców. Udaje mu się uciec, po czym za pomocą stopu, poznaje całkiem miłą dziewczynę. Ta namawia go na imprezę, która dla Wolverine'a nie kończy się dobrze. Trafia on w ręce różnobarwnych sadystów, na czele z niejakim Winsorem, istną wylęgarnią epidemii.

Pragnie on sprawdzić granice wytrzymałości czynnika regeneracyjnego Logana, poddając go wszelakiej maści torturom. Zarówno psychicznym, jak i fizycznym. Co tylko chora dusza zapragnie. Szaleńcowi towarzyszy grupa degeneratów, wampir czy inni nieśmiertelni. Wiedziony kodeksem moralnym, aby ocalić dziecko szaleńca. Ten jest gotów poświęcić własne dziecko w imię swoich chorych racji, więc Logan przystaje dobrowolnie na serię największych okropieństw, jakie dane mi było oglądać na łamach komiksu do tej pory.

W skutek zbiegu wydarzeń nasz bohater ucieka jednak z zastawionej pułapki, wracając do posiadłości X-menów, gdzie Beast próbuje pomóc mu wrócić do normalności. Miałem wrażenie, że w rezydencji jest ograniczona liczba mutantów i nie wiem z jakiego powodu. Jest Emma, jest Scott, jest Dazzler i wspomniany Beast. Budżet się nie dopiął czy jak? Potem przyjdzie nam jeszcze poznać gwiezdnych "#$#%#" piratów z innego wymiaru, aby stoczyć potyczkę z dziwnym, cybernetycznym pająkiem.

W kulminacji Loganowi, przy wsparciu znajomych, znów przyjdzie się zmierzyć z Winsorem. (no i zaliczyć Dazzler, ale to... sza). Skąd ta niska ocena?

Bo interesującej fabuły tu za grosz. Makabra, flaki, cięcie kończyn i dekapitacje. Dobrze, że Rosomak jest tak brutalny, ale niczemu to nie służy. Naprawdę. Makabra dla samej makabry może i bawi, ale po całej gamie takich widoków, już mi się autentycznie odwidziało (przejadło, ble). Chory przeciwnik z głupią motywacji. Odrażający poplecznicy. Czemu to ma służyć? Zaszokowaniu czytelnika? Może, ale no nie wyszło.

W kwestii rysunków nie wiem jak się odnieść. Plansze potrafią być bardzo szczegółowe w drobiazgi, przez co wygląda to całkiem fajnie, ale już modele postaci, w tym samego Wolverine'a to już jakaś kpina. To bardziej karykatury niż postacie z normalnymi proporcjami zwłaszcza twarze.

Reasumując. Przemoc. Tak, jak najbardziej, tyle że ma ona czemuś służyć. Festiwal okropieństw jest tutaj naprawdę pomysłowy, ale co z tego? A zaczynało się to naprawdę fajnie. Odradzam.

[Светослав Богданов · Rating 5 out of 5]

Накратко историята. Върколакът е пленен от висок, слабоват мъж на име Уинсър който обича да колекционира неубиваеми създания за да може да прави експерименти с тях. Той използва смъртоносни вируси, унищожителни чуми и най-различни разновидности на рак, които поради собствената му мутантска същност живеят в него.

Уинстър разказва на Върколака, че целта му е да използва наученото за да открие лек за изродения си син, продукт на сексуален акт между близки родственици (сещате се за какво говоря).

В желанието си да помогне лечението на детето, Върколакът се съгласява доброволно върху него да бъдат извършени кошмарни експерименти. Мутантската способност на Логан за самолечение е подложена на максимума си от Уинстър който извършва всякакви садистични експерименти върху него.

След седмици на безмилостни мъчения, хлапето споделя на Върколака, че всъщност изобщо няма нужда от лечение, а всички експерименти са единствено за собствените облаги на Уинстър, да открие лек за себе си и всички зарази, които тялото му възпроизвежда.
Разбирайки, че е измамен, Върколакът отприщва цялата си ярост срещу Уинстър и подчинените му в една кървава саморазправа в която хвърчат какви ли не части от тела (буквално).

Горещо препоръчвам всичките 12 броя, защото историята е много силна, а артът е страхотен.

[AviChaim Snyder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow—what a story. This is exactly the kind of narrative that reminds me why Wolverine remains one of my favorite characters to follow. While it took a moment to adjust to the writing style and pacing, once the plot took off, I was completely hooked.

The villain in this volume is both inventive and compelling. Rather than pitting Logan against another brute force opponent, the story takes a more creative turn by introducing an antagonist whose power involves creating viruses. It was refreshing to see Wolverine adapt to a threat that required more than just his claws—this shift added a layer of strategy and unpredictability to the conflict.

Logan can easily become overused or one-dimensional if handled poorly, but this volume strikes the right balance, using him with purpose and depth. The artwork by Juan Jose Ryp is intense, detailed, and wonderfully grotesque in the best way—it amplifies the emotional weight and visceral tone of the story.

Writer Charlie Huston also delivers a strong narrative, though the dialogue occasionally drags. The villain's extended monologues, while thematically relevant, can feel excessive—mirroring the same frustration Wolverine likely felt during those scenes.

Despite that minor flaw, this is a standout volume. I’ve recommended it repeatedly and will continue to do so.
Grade: B+

[C · Rating 2 out of 5]

Continuing the x-book megafest of '17...

Well, this one was pretty disappointing. While the basic underlying plot holds some interesting moments, most of the meandering story exists as a way to splash as much gore onto the page as possible. Add in some very odd character moments and this seems like it would have been a very good book for me to skip in the chronology.

(Also, the reading chronology I am using lists this in the wrong place as some of the X-Men characters that appear are in vastly different personal situations than when I last saw them so that was a bit jarring but not the fault of this book's writer and artist...)

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Possibly the most violent and gross Wolverine comic you'll ever read. I don't get us Americans. People can get ripped in half (and do) but actually say shit instead of bleeping it out, that's a crime against humanity. Wolverine gets abducted and experimented on by a bunch of folks with healing factors that have been around for centuries. This book is filled with nonstop technobabble. Too much to make this really good. I'd rather it be more straight forward and not bore me to death in the process.

Juan Jose Ryp's art is where this book really shines. His art is so detailed, so detailed sometimes that things get gross but hey, you get what you asked for.

[Sean · Rating 1 out of 5]

This might have been the worst Wolverine story I've ever read. It was a slog to get through. So boring, pointless, mindless, and unlikable. Charlie Huston got super excited to bring out all the characters no on ever wanted to see again but upped it by creating his own terrible character. Ryp's art was almost as bad. Overall, don't read this unless you hate yourself.

[Jon Marquez · Rating 1 out of 5]

So bad I couldn’t finish it. The plot was boring, the characters were bland and outright annoying at times with how one dimensional they were. The fights were okay but repetitive. The main villain was the opposite of interesting, every time he had a monologue or any sort of focus I somehow became less interested in him. Maybe the book gets better past the 180 page mark, but I will never know.

[Dony Grayman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tomo que recopila la totalidad de la serie, originalmente publicada como 12 issues individuales y luego en dos TPs.

[Kenny · Rating 1 out of 5]

Gory, yes, but not in an aesthetically pleasing way (vs. Punisher Max series is gory but looks better doing it). The gore didn't help make this series shine. This series was hard to follow and as a Wolverine lover, I was highly disappointed with the all over the place plot. And wtf is with the ##### censoring. Trudged through the book so that I could finish it. Couldn't be happier when I flipped the last page.

[Timothy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yeah wolverine can heal after nearly anything and its fun to see him survive the most crazy scenarios but this is pretty sadistic. I wouldn't ever let Juan Hose Rys draw birthday cards for kids. he makes everything look gross, sick and twisted. It's mind boggling why marvel censored the language in this comic, its so messed up already, seeing **** all over the speech bubbles feels pretty silly.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the worst Wolverine book I've ever read and by far not the best. The story line was potentially interesting but too repeated. Artist tried a more punkish look for Wolverine which didn't work well for me.
For something with "best" in the title, it's most definitely not.

[Lara Lacombe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dark and gritty. Main story has an interesting premise.

[Catfish Dogfight · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the most goriest gorefests that ever gored.

[Jacob · Rating 2 out of 5]

Public library copy.

A disappointing tale considering the talent involved, I thought it was heavily padded and could have wrapped up succinctly in half as many pages.

[Bertrand · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poussif et desservi par un dessin pas toujours inspiré. Je n'ai pas réussi à aller au bout.

[Stefan Mullinax · Rating 1 out of 5]

WTF did I just read? Avoid.

[Jeffrey Jelmeland]

Who let the 12 year old write a graphic novel? Garbage!

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow, ok. Didn't think this was *quite* as bad as most people. Lots of gratuitous violence and only a semblance of a coherent plot. The art was just ok, the characters weren't very interesting, and the ending was just ridiculous. I don't regret reading this though so hey, bonus star.

[Ruthie]

As Wolverine's powers are completely put to the test, you find out just how much he can take before he's had enough. Truly an epic, albeit gory graphic novel, but still exciting. If you love to see the Wolverine 'doing what he does best', this definitely a book to pick up.
The artwork is awesome too, depicting very graphic details. Not for the feint hearted.