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Essential Wolverine #5
Essential Wolverine, Vol. 5
Whether in Japan, Greece, Madripoor, or elsewhere, Wolverine doesn't have to go looking for trouble - it's always waiting for him! Against the likes of Cyber, Chimera, Genesis, and others, everyone's favorite feral fighter may need the support of not only the X-Men and Alpha Flight - but also of Landau, Luckman, and Lake, the most mysterious collection of extradimensional expediters ever to cash a villain's check for him! Ninjas, giant robots, murderous mutants, and more make for action hotter than a house afire (although we've got that, too)! Also featuring Elektra and Generation X! Collects Wolverine #91-110 and 1996 Annual, and Uncanny X-Men #332.
562 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1996
3 people are currently reading
85 people want to read
About the author
Larry Hama
1,971 books152 followersLarry Hama is an American writer, artist, actor and musician who has worked in the fields of entertainment and publishing since the 1960s.
During the 1970s, he was seen in minor roles on the TV shows M*A*S*H and Saturday Night Live, and appeared on Broadway in two roles in the original 1976 production of Stephen Sondheim's Pacific Overtures.
He is best known to American comic book readers as a writer and editor for Marvel Comics, where he wrote the licensed comic book series G.I. Joe, A Real American Hero, based on the Hasbro action figures. He has also written for the series Wolverine, Nth Man: the Ultimate Ninja, and Elektra. He created the character Bucky O'Hare, which was developed into a comic book, a toy line and television cartoon.
During the 1970s, he was seen in minor roles on the TV shows M*A*S*H and Saturday Night Live, and appeared on Broadway in two roles in the original 1976 production of Stephen Sondheim's Pacific Overtures.
He is best known to American comic book readers as a writer and editor for Marvel Comics, where he wrote the licensed comic book series G.I. Joe, A Real American Hero, based on the Hasbro action figures. He has also written for the series Wolverine, Nth Man: the Ultimate Ninja, and Elektra. He created the character Bucky O'Hare, which was developed into a comic book, a toy line and television cartoon.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 20, 2021
Larry Hana and Andy Kubert continue their superb work on the premier 'solo' mutant title. Issue 100 sees an outcome very few saw coming. We also have the rise to prominence of the agency, Landau, Luckman, and Lake; and fate of one of Wolverine's deadliest enemies! This is also the period in which Wolverine attempts to take down Sabretooth for good! 7 out of 12.
I read the comic books collected in this volume Wolverine #91-#110, the 1996 Wolverine Annual and The Uncanny X-Men #332
I read the comic books collected in this volume Wolverine #91-#110, the 1996 Wolverine Annual and The Uncanny X-Men #332
October 9, 2017
Well, not as bad as I'd feared it might be, but still not all that good. There is too much masculine posturing (at least Wolverine isn't saying he's the best there is at what he does every other page any more) and feminine posing (do these artist even have the most basic understanding of female anatomy or are they just stroking their adolescent fantasies?) to make this collection anything more than readable at the most basic level. The stories are as juvenile as the art and when compared to much of the stuff Marvel had published even a few years earlier, there is definitely a downward spiral in quality. With two more volumes in this series, I'm beginning to dread continuing to read them. But as I own them, I feel like I should finish the them.
March 14, 2009
Absolute mid-90's Marvel garbage. The book is a total mess, blank pages litter this book to make sure that all of the spreads are held together. The artwork is just weird as Wolverine is seems much shorter then usual yet so muscular it would be impossible for him to move.
Each archived issue is only about 18-19 pages well short of the standard 22 for a comic. Just Dreadful.
But my name is on the editorial credits and it's the first time my name has appeared in anything that people would read voluntarily. Therefore 5 stars.
Each archived issue is only about 18-19 pages well short of the standard 22 for a comic. Just Dreadful.
But my name is on the editorial credits and it's the first time my name has appeared in anything that people would read voluntarily. Therefore 5 stars.
July 22, 2020
The worst one yet. Read as single issues.
The current state of Wolverine is that he devolved to be an uncontrollable animal. The main problem with that is he can only grunt and slash so the book gets old fast. Hama realized this immediately and filled every issue with someone who can narrate for Wolverine.
This also gets old fast and it turns into an Elektra book more than a Wolverine book. So Hama drops the feral thing for the most part and Wolverine just looks very stupid while acting normal. Issue 103 is probably the worst rendering. He looks like a Gremlin crossed with E.T. and a bad hair day.
I guess that visage was too annoying to deal with too so Wolverine gets an image inducer and looks like his regular self and revisits his old Japanese plot points to see how they are doing. All pretense of this feral thing is completely gone for 3 issues, then it is back, maybe because an editor got wise to what Hama was doing.
Wolverine next has to fight a bear thing and a cartoonish hold up man, without going too wild, but that pretense is never really explored, and he handles everything fine.
Now, I do not want the grunting, background player Wolverine from the first issues for a whole collection, but if that is the intended premise, and we are constantly reminded of it, then this failed at delivering. It seemed pretty clear that Hama was not into this idea and did all he could to write around it or ignore it, but the resultant stories are run of the mill filler.
The current state of Wolverine is that he devolved to be an uncontrollable animal. The main problem with that is he can only grunt and slash so the book gets old fast. Hama realized this immediately and filled every issue with someone who can narrate for Wolverine.
This also gets old fast and it turns into an Elektra book more than a Wolverine book. So Hama drops the feral thing for the most part and Wolverine just looks very stupid while acting normal. Issue 103 is probably the worst rendering. He looks like a Gremlin crossed with E.T. and a bad hair day.
I guess that visage was too annoying to deal with too so Wolverine gets an image inducer and looks like his regular self and revisits his old Japanese plot points to see how they are doing. All pretense of this feral thing is completely gone for 3 issues, then it is back, maybe because an editor got wise to what Hama was doing.
Wolverine next has to fight a bear thing and a cartoonish hold up man, without going too wild, but that pretense is never really explored, and he handles everything fine.
Now, I do not want the grunting, background player Wolverine from the first issues for a whole collection, but if that is the intended premise, and we are constantly reminded of it, then this failed at delivering. It seemed pretty clear that Hama was not into this idea and did all he could to write around it or ignore it, but the resultant stories are run of the mill filler.
December 23, 2014
It's gotten to the point that an X-Men book (or in this case, X-Men adjacent) is good, and it's almost expected to the point of boredom.
Case in point. Larry Hama and some other writers do a really good job of mixing Wolverine's tendency towards action and dealing with his rage with stories about justice and spousal abuse, and other things that really pull on the readers interest. Each issue is interesting because the characters care and their emotional lives are on the line.
I didn't like the storyline throughout that Wolverine is devolving into a feral state, it sort of alienates from Wolverine's charm back in the heyday of the X-Men in the 70s/80s. But it does a good job of raising the stakes, to wonder what will happen to Wolverine. The ongoing cameos from the X-Men help this motivation very well.
So yeah, you want to read this if you read volumes 1-4 already and you liked those kind of too. 5/5
Case in point. Larry Hama and some other writers do a really good job of mixing Wolverine's tendency towards action and dealing with his rage with stories about justice and spousal abuse, and other things that really pull on the readers interest. Each issue is interesting because the characters care and their emotional lives are on the line.
I didn't like the storyline throughout that Wolverine is devolving into a feral state, it sort of alienates from Wolverine's charm back in the heyday of the X-Men in the 70s/80s. But it does a good job of raising the stakes, to wonder what will happen to Wolverine. The ongoing cameos from the X-Men help this motivation very well.
So yeah, you want to read this if you read volumes 1-4 already and you liked those kind of too. 5/5
May 4, 2015
It's a good series of Wolverine stories. There are some that are far better than others and its deeply rooted in the 90s style of exaggerated character art but still pretty great. The black and white print can be off putting on some pages but tends to not distract. For the price these essential volumes are fantastic. I keep them on a low shelf so my toddler can get them. A few have been a bit colored.
Plot wise this deals with the aftermath of the removal of Wolverine's Ademantium in Fatal Attractions and his transformation into a feral beast and his slow return. In context, Which the 22 issues included in the volume certainly provide, it's a great and slow story arc.
Plot wise this deals with the aftermath of the removal of Wolverine's Ademantium in Fatal Attractions and his transformation into a feral beast and his slow return. In context, Which the 22 issues included in the volume certainly provide, it's a great and slow story arc.
August 9, 2022
There’s been quite a few characters appearing that I didn’t know where related to the X-men and wolverine series. And some characters that I had no idea were even related to Marvel, such as the Ghost Rider. That was a little bit of a shock to see. But also kind of interesting. There were a few artists in this volume that I didn’t like but mostly the artwork was great. And comparatively I liked the first half of the book more than the second half, most likely due to the inner turmoil Logan was going through, rather than the normal hero fighting the bad guys. I have more on my desk to read.
January 17, 2011
Feral Wolfie? I dig! Plus, reading along with the Onslaught storyline was very neat.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews