Beyond The Panels #5- He's The Best There Is At What He Does Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love Wolverine
So, in this weird little fan community of ours, we all have our favorite characters and there's a lot of reasons for why they are our favorites. A lot of those reasons are personal- the character speaks to a part of us. A lot of them are simple- we just like how bad ass the character is. There's a whole spectrum of reasons, much like with anything else in life. The things we love, the things are fans of them, speak to us on multiple levels. If they didn't they wouldn't be our favorite. So, I'm going to talk about my favorite Marvel character, a character who was my favorite comic character of them all for a long time and probably still is.
Wolverine.
So, it' s little hard to remember everything about why I gravitated towards Wolverine, although I can remember some definite reasons- he was super violent and would kill people if he had to. He was a ninja. He was gruff and sarcastic. He had claws. I think that was it. I was a weird little kid who liked violent movies, ninjas, and sarcastic asshole loners with a heart of gold. Wolverine was all of those things at the time and to my 11 year old mind, that was all he was. I didn't have the time or the money to go back and read all of the fantastic character development that Chris Claremont put into the character. All I knew was that when I saw him, motherfuckers were gonna get cut, he was gonna smoke cigars and say hardass shit, and it was going to be super cool. That's all I needed.
As I grew up and read more comics, I gained more knowledge of the character and I saw more of what he really was- he was a wandering ronin, righting wrongs, broken hearted yet always doing the right thing. He was a hero, a crusader for the weak. He was a teacher and father figure. So yeah, while he was a bad ass warrior and all that, he was so much more.
One of the things about comic characters, especially the super popular ones, is that the characters aren't always very multi faceted. Sure, Batman is awesome, but I can describe him and why I like him in one sentence. Same with Superman. Same with Spider-Man or Captain America. It's sort of part of the appeal. The more simple a character is, the more people can get into that character. It's easier to see yourself in a broadly sketched out character, which is what we all want- to see ourselves in our favorites. Wolverine, on the surface, seems rather simple- the violent, hairy little dude with claws. However, that's the lie of the whole thing- Wolverine is easily one of the most complex characters in comics.
See, as much as you may love any of those characters I named, you know they're simple. The most interesting thing about Batman isn't Batman, it's his villains and how he interacts with them. The most interesting thing about Superman or Cap is how they interact with the world and what they mean. The most interesting thing about Spider-Man is..... well, I'm sure there are some interesting things about Spider-Man. He's... funny? I don't know. Something. The most interesting about Wolverine isn't the claws or the healing factor or the adamantium skeleton. It's not the secret agent stuff or the ninja stuff. It isn't the memory implants or the super-soldier program. All of those things are interesting, but the real interesting stuff is the character. It's who he is and how he became that way. Peter Parker is not an interesting person. Peter Parker is a bundle of neuroses that would become insufferable. Peter Parker would have been reduced to a gibbering wreck after his first year of being Spider-Man.
Parker stagnates. Logan survives.
Captain America came to us fully formed. Steve Rogers may have been physically weak, but from the moment he was given the super soldier serum, he became Captain America. A myth given flesh. The perfect leader. The perfect soldier. Logan has grown. When he first appeared, he was just a bruiser for the Canadian government, a lone wolf. He brought that same attitude to the X-Men, but as the years went by, he became so much more. He became a part of something. He became a mentor, a teacher, and eventually a leader. He became the connective tissue between the world of mutants and the other superheroes.
Captain America was always the best. Wolverine worked for it.
Batman wins. That's what he does. The odds don't matter. Batman is never defeated- he just has setbacks. Wolverine loses. A lot. Wolverine is the guy who volunteers for the rear guard, even though he can't win. Wolverine is the guy who jumps in when fighting gods and monsters. He may heal, but it doesn't hurt any less. To him, if anyone has to suffer, it should be him. You may win the fight against Wolverine, but you'll know you were in a fight and he's always there, ready to go for round two.
Batman wins. Wolverine survives.
Superman is the ideal. Everyone looks up to him. He's the one who all the heroes turn to. He's the guy who inspires because of who he is and what he can do. He's the noblest of them all. Wolverine killed people. He did horrible things. He shirked responsibility and laughed at authority. As time went on, though, he became the gold standard. As I pointed out earlier, he went from lone wolf to team leader. He became the ideal X-Man. Now, heroes look up to him. When they have problems, they go to him. And yes, he is noble, like a venerable samurai. He can't move planets or move at the speed of light, but he's still on the front lines, in the thick of it.
Superman was always an inspiration. Wolverine became one.
And if your favorite character is Iron Man, well, Wolverine is sooooo much better than mister inferiority complex alcoholic.
I'm someone who has kind of had a hard life. I've done a lot of bad things. When I look at Wolverine, I see someone like me- someone who has done bad things, but is trying to be the best he can be. I feel a kinship with the character for that reason and a lot of other reasons- his humor, his honor, his dedication to the things he believes in, his love for his friends, his perseverance. In fact, reading Wolverine stories has made into a better person. I watched him go through his struggles and it taught me how to get through my own. Wolverine taught me that we can change- he taught me that we all get knocked down, we all get torn up, but we also heal. No matter what the odds, we can always keep fighting. Wolverine taught me that just because we start one way, it doesn't mean we always have to be that way. We don't have to be one thing forever. Wolverine taught me that we can all be the best at what we do- living.
Now, of course, maybe your favorite character taught you those things, too, but that's the beauty of comics- the best characters speak to us in so many different ways, teach us so many different things. They make us better people. They allow us to see our lives differently. I honestly don't know where I'd be in my life without Wolverine. I'm not saying that Wolverine made me stronger or anything like that, but Wolverine taught me things about living. As the years have gone by, I've learned to love other characters, but they don't mean the same thing to me as Wolverine does. Very few fictional characters do or ever will.
Snikt, bub.
Before I go, I'm going to give you a few Wolverine recommendations- pretty much any of the Claremont Uncanny X-Men issues, but especially #213, which has one of the best Wolverine/Sabretooth fights ever. The four issue Chris Claremont and Frank Miller Wolverine mini series, which highlighted Wolverine's connection to Japan and his ronin nature. Wolverine #10 is about Wolverine and Sabretooth's first fight years ago, before the adamantium, the claws, and Weapon X- just two men beating on each other on the Canadian Frontier. X-Men #25 is the issue where Magneto pulls Wolverine's adamantium out and is a must read. Wolverine #90-100 are the issues where Wolverine finds out he's devolving and him dealing with it (I'd also recommend the Age of Apocalypse four issue Weapon X series, but it's not crucial, it's just fucking amazing and really any issue of Wolverine written by Larry Hama). Wolverine (vol. 3) #20-32 are Mark Millar's "Enemy of the State" and "Agent of SHIELD" arcs and they're amazing. Drawn by John Romita Jr, they're probably some of the best action comics, with Wolverine being killed and resurrected by the Hand clan of ninjas and his breaking away and revenge on them. That's not the only Mark Millar Wolverine story you should get, though- his "Old Man Logan" story with Steve McNiven is a must read- set in a future where the villains won, Wolverine and Hawkeye go on one last mission to get money to pay for Wolverine's farm and save his family. It's amazing and is the foundation for what is probably the best Wolverine story ever- Jeff Lemire's Old Man Logan #1-24. Old Man Logan comes over to the regular Marvel Universe's present and has to deal with a world that's not like his... and he wants to keep it that way. It's Wolverine at his best.
So, that's that. Come back next time for more.....
Beyond The Panels!
Next Issue- Neil Gaiman's The Sandman is one of the greatest pieces of fiction ever. We might talk about it. It's possible. Probable.
Okay, that's what we're gonna talk about. Come on back, then.
Wolverine.
So, it' s little hard to remember everything about why I gravitated towards Wolverine, although I can remember some definite reasons- he was super violent and would kill people if he had to. He was a ninja. He was gruff and sarcastic. He had claws. I think that was it. I was a weird little kid who liked violent movies, ninjas, and sarcastic asshole loners with a heart of gold. Wolverine was all of those things at the time and to my 11 year old mind, that was all he was. I didn't have the time or the money to go back and read all of the fantastic character development that Chris Claremont put into the character. All I knew was that when I saw him, motherfuckers were gonna get cut, he was gonna smoke cigars and say hardass shit, and it was going to be super cool. That's all I needed.
As I grew up and read more comics, I gained more knowledge of the character and I saw more of what he really was- he was a wandering ronin, righting wrongs, broken hearted yet always doing the right thing. He was a hero, a crusader for the weak. He was a teacher and father figure. So yeah, while he was a bad ass warrior and all that, he was so much more.
One of the things about comic characters, especially the super popular ones, is that the characters aren't always very multi faceted. Sure, Batman is awesome, but I can describe him and why I like him in one sentence. Same with Superman. Same with Spider-Man or Captain America. It's sort of part of the appeal. The more simple a character is, the more people can get into that character. It's easier to see yourself in a broadly sketched out character, which is what we all want- to see ourselves in our favorites. Wolverine, on the surface, seems rather simple- the violent, hairy little dude with claws. However, that's the lie of the whole thing- Wolverine is easily one of the most complex characters in comics.
See, as much as you may love any of those characters I named, you know they're simple. The most interesting thing about Batman isn't Batman, it's his villains and how he interacts with them. The most interesting thing about Superman or Cap is how they interact with the world and what they mean. The most interesting thing about Spider-Man is..... well, I'm sure there are some interesting things about Spider-Man. He's... funny? I don't know. Something. The most interesting about Wolverine isn't the claws or the healing factor or the adamantium skeleton. It's not the secret agent stuff or the ninja stuff. It isn't the memory implants or the super-soldier program. All of those things are interesting, but the real interesting stuff is the character. It's who he is and how he became that way. Peter Parker is not an interesting person. Peter Parker is a bundle of neuroses that would become insufferable. Peter Parker would have been reduced to a gibbering wreck after his first year of being Spider-Man.
Parker stagnates. Logan survives.
Captain America came to us fully formed. Steve Rogers may have been physically weak, but from the moment he was given the super soldier serum, he became Captain America. A myth given flesh. The perfect leader. The perfect soldier. Logan has grown. When he first appeared, he was just a bruiser for the Canadian government, a lone wolf. He brought that same attitude to the X-Men, but as the years went by, he became so much more. He became a part of something. He became a mentor, a teacher, and eventually a leader. He became the connective tissue between the world of mutants and the other superheroes.
Captain America was always the best. Wolverine worked for it.
Batman wins. That's what he does. The odds don't matter. Batman is never defeated- he just has setbacks. Wolverine loses. A lot. Wolverine is the guy who volunteers for the rear guard, even though he can't win. Wolverine is the guy who jumps in when fighting gods and monsters. He may heal, but it doesn't hurt any less. To him, if anyone has to suffer, it should be him. You may win the fight against Wolverine, but you'll know you were in a fight and he's always there, ready to go for round two.
Batman wins. Wolverine survives.
Superman is the ideal. Everyone looks up to him. He's the one who all the heroes turn to. He's the guy who inspires because of who he is and what he can do. He's the noblest of them all. Wolverine killed people. He did horrible things. He shirked responsibility and laughed at authority. As time went on, though, he became the gold standard. As I pointed out earlier, he went from lone wolf to team leader. He became the ideal X-Man. Now, heroes look up to him. When they have problems, they go to him. And yes, he is noble, like a venerable samurai. He can't move planets or move at the speed of light, but he's still on the front lines, in the thick of it.
Superman was always an inspiration. Wolverine became one.
And if your favorite character is Iron Man, well, Wolverine is sooooo much better than mister inferiority complex alcoholic.
I'm someone who has kind of had a hard life. I've done a lot of bad things. When I look at Wolverine, I see someone like me- someone who has done bad things, but is trying to be the best he can be. I feel a kinship with the character for that reason and a lot of other reasons- his humor, his honor, his dedication to the things he believes in, his love for his friends, his perseverance. In fact, reading Wolverine stories has made into a better person. I watched him go through his struggles and it taught me how to get through my own. Wolverine taught me that we can change- he taught me that we all get knocked down, we all get torn up, but we also heal. No matter what the odds, we can always keep fighting. Wolverine taught me that just because we start one way, it doesn't mean we always have to be that way. We don't have to be one thing forever. Wolverine taught me that we can all be the best at what we do- living.
Now, of course, maybe your favorite character taught you those things, too, but that's the beauty of comics- the best characters speak to us in so many different ways, teach us so many different things. They make us better people. They allow us to see our lives differently. I honestly don't know where I'd be in my life without Wolverine. I'm not saying that Wolverine made me stronger or anything like that, but Wolverine taught me things about living. As the years have gone by, I've learned to love other characters, but they don't mean the same thing to me as Wolverine does. Very few fictional characters do or ever will.
Snikt, bub.
Before I go, I'm going to give you a few Wolverine recommendations- pretty much any of the Claremont Uncanny X-Men issues, but especially #213, which has one of the best Wolverine/Sabretooth fights ever. The four issue Chris Claremont and Frank Miller Wolverine mini series, which highlighted Wolverine's connection to Japan and his ronin nature. Wolverine #10 is about Wolverine and Sabretooth's first fight years ago, before the adamantium, the claws, and Weapon X- just two men beating on each other on the Canadian Frontier. X-Men #25 is the issue where Magneto pulls Wolverine's adamantium out and is a must read. Wolverine #90-100 are the issues where Wolverine finds out he's devolving and him dealing with it (I'd also recommend the Age of Apocalypse four issue Weapon X series, but it's not crucial, it's just fucking amazing and really any issue of Wolverine written by Larry Hama). Wolverine (vol. 3) #20-32 are Mark Millar's "Enemy of the State" and "Agent of SHIELD" arcs and they're amazing. Drawn by John Romita Jr, they're probably some of the best action comics, with Wolverine being killed and resurrected by the Hand clan of ninjas and his breaking away and revenge on them. That's not the only Mark Millar Wolverine story you should get, though- his "Old Man Logan" story with Steve McNiven is a must read- set in a future where the villains won, Wolverine and Hawkeye go on one last mission to get money to pay for Wolverine's farm and save his family. It's amazing and is the foundation for what is probably the best Wolverine story ever- Jeff Lemire's Old Man Logan #1-24. Old Man Logan comes over to the regular Marvel Universe's present and has to deal with a world that's not like his... and he wants to keep it that way. It's Wolverine at his best.
So, that's that. Come back next time for more.....
Beyond The Panels!
Next Issue- Neil Gaiman's The Sandman is one of the greatest pieces of fiction ever. We might talk about it. It's possible. Probable.
Okay, that's what we're gonna talk about. Come on back, then.
Comments
Post a Comment