The Best Wolverine Comics and The Order To Read Them In

Even the most casual audience is well acquainted with the broad strokes of Wolverine’s origins. Hugh Jackman’s portrayal in various X-Men films brought about one of Marvel’s most accurately adapted characters to the screen, save for the Aussie’s height. Yet, given Logan’s rich history in the comics and his being an ensemble player in most movies, Wolverine’s existence on-screen only scratches the character’s surface.

With Deadpool & Wolverine finally delivering long-awaited comic book-accurate elements— yellow suits and fights with The Incredible Hulk just the tip of the iceberg—the desire to dive deep into Wolverine’s lore and explore what’s what is at a fever pitch. Whether searching for a better understanding or investigating potential MCU plot lines, exploring Wolverine’s essential comic books is a must—and this is the order to do it in.

Chris Claremont and Frank Miller’s Wolverine Is The Perfect Starting Point

A Pivotal Arc By Two All-Time Comic Book Creators

1982’s Wolverine limited series by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller delivered the character’s quintessential story. Delving into the title character’s experience in Japan, long before his X-Men days, Wolverine‘s samurai surroundings are ideal for exploring Logan’s internal struggle between his honorable and untamed, animalistic sides. The Miller/Claremont classic is also one of Wolverine’s most iconic love stories, establishing his complicated romance with Mariko as Marvel canon.

The Miller/Claremont classic is one of Wolverine’s most iconic love stories, establishing his complicated romance with Mariko as Marvel canon. Mariko, an aristocrat, represents everything Logan could never have—honor, peace, respect. His conflicting instincts as a protector and berserker are a chip on his shoulder throughout Wolverine, which pits the burdened brute in a conspiratorial battle against The Hand.

Barry Windsor-Smith’s Weapon X Reveals Wolverine’s Haunting Transformation

The Trauma Dump That Turned Logan Steely

Logan’s backstory as the Weapon X program’s favorite test subject is relatively well-explored on screen. Yet, from X-2 to Wolverine: Origins, nothing hits quite like the origin’s source material, 1991’s Weapon X by Barry Windsor-Smith. Serialized in Marvel Comics Presents #72–84, the arc delves into the brutal experimentation that turned the previously bone-clawed Logan into the adamantium-infused mutant he’s known as today.

Set post-Japan but before Logan’s time with the X-Men, Weapon X is foundational in myriad ways: Wolverine’s cynicism towards the government, his constant struggle with his humanity—or lack thereof—and his fractured memories are all at play in the series. Windsor-Smith’s storytelling and artwork achieve equally visceral effects; the experiment’s grotesque and dehumanizing nature is visually and thematically impactful in ways few Wolverine stories have since.

Wolverine: Origins (2006) Is What X-Men Origins: Wolverine Should Have Been

A Detailed Depiction Of Logan’s Long Life In Marvel Comics

Wolverine: Origins takes place in the aftermath of House of M, following Logan’s memories returning for the first time in decades and his subsequent confrontation with the skeletons in his closet. From clandestine missions with Captain America and Bucky to tragic family entanglements with his son Daken, the 50-issue series provides a robust cannonball dive into Logan’s personal and professional life.

The series is a great double-feature to Weapon X, addressing the memory gaps it created. Origins delivers an in-depth examination of Logan, his roles as soldier, spy, and father becoming dynamic story-telling lenses for the saga. For readers, this exploration serves as a crucial introduction to Wolverine’s overall timeline.

Kitty Pryde and Wolverine Perfects Logan’s Role as a Mentor

A Grounded, Compassionate Wolverine in a Coming-of-Age Story

Logan is usually the first to arrive at the conflict, claws bared and brooding. But in Kitty Pryde and Wolverine, Chris Claremont redefined the character by perfecting what is now a quintessential trait, showing that Logan could be more a teacher than a lone wolf. This time, Logan stood as a steady, guiding hand to the young Kitty Pryde.

Appropriately, Logan didn’t coddle Kitty; he pushed her with tough warmth. He was a mentor and a protector, not just a killer. Claremont’s arc gave Logan a chance for redemption, not by saving the world, but by offering something more valuable—guidance to a precocious teen. Kitty’s being fresh on the heels of a breakup with Colussus added additional light-hearted teenage drama and, in turn, an unexpectedly fantastic foil for Logan.

Following his chaotic and globe-trotting origins, Kitty Pryde and Wolverine gave readers an ideal deviation, delivering a grounded, big-brother-style Loganse, fully embracing his role as a mentor. This dynamic established a blueprint for Wolverine’s relationships with young mutants, influencing his role in stories like Jason Aaron’s Wolverine and the X-Men and film portrayals, such as his bond with Anna Paquin’s Rogue in the X-Men franchise and Daphne Keene’s X-23 in Logan.

Wolverine and the X-Men Spotlights a Lighter, Leading Logan

A Surprising Look at Wolverine’s Softer Side From One Of Marvel’s Most Influential Modern Writers

Instead of focusing on Wolverine’s typical portrayal as the brooding anti-hero, Jason Aaron’s Wolverine and the X-Men shifts the spotlight to Logan’s unexpected role as headmaster of the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning. The series delved deeper into his evolution into a more dependable, trustworthy figure, first explored in Kitty Pryde and Wolverine.

What sets Aaron’s spin on Wolvey apart is how the series balances his grizzled, no-nonsense persona with the lighter, more humorous side of his character, offering a refreshing update without undermining his haunted past. The result is a Wolverine who is still dangerous and road-weary but now responsible for guiding a classroom full of young mutants through coming-of-age perils.

Logan’s headmaster role in Wolverine and the X-Men is a natural fit. Aaron never lets the character lose his edge but instead uses the clawed mutant’s new position to showcase Wolverine’s emotional complexity in exciting, often delightful, new ways. The series has become an essential part of Wolverine’s journey and a perfect example of Marvel’s ability to reinvent even the toughest, most tenured characters.

Old Man Logan Deviates From The Norm Before Deep-Diving Into Krakoa

A Multiversal Side Quest Before X-Men’s Game-Changing Era

One doesn’t simply walk into the Krakoa era’s high-stakes, conspiratorial sci-fi—but Old Man Logan is a perfect detour before doing so. Set in an alternate timeline without the X-Men—all, save for Logan, killed— Old Man Logan finds its title character weary, grey-haired, and living a life as bleak as the dystopian setting the story’s set in. Like the best Marvel multiverse stories, it pulls the trigger on all the refreshing, sometimes jaw-dropping twists on characters and canon that comics more beholden to canon can’t.

A quiet albeit violent meditation on aging, loss, and legacy, Old Man Logan is one of the best stories ever told about the character. The comic inspired much of James Mangold’s Logan, Wolvey’s best film outing. Though the Old Man Logan iteration of the character would go on to feature in other variant-filled stories, his debut tale is self-contained, theoretically able to be read at any time. Still, it’s a welcome side-quest before going into the more bombastic, world-changing arcs that follow in Marvel Comics’ main continuity.

Wolverine Vol. 6 & 7 Are Logan’s Krakoa Age Must-Reads

Beast’s Villainous Turn Pits Wolverine Against The Mutant Nation

Beast’s hubris coming to the fore is a huge element of the Krakoan Age of Marvel’s mutant saga, ultimately prompting Logan’s exit from Krakoa entirely. Beast made countless clones, including Wolverine dupes, in a mutants-first, morals-second move. When Logan discovered as much, it led to the kind of “I told you so” moment that only a loner like him could pull off, walking away from the so-called “paradise” and turning his back on the nation.

As Beast spiraled into a morally questionable mad scientist, Logan’s exit made way for some classic Wolverine team-ups, including brushes with The Hulk, Captain America, and Spider-Man. Writer Benjamin Percy nails the Wolverine character and is among the best Krokoa-era creatives, best known for tying together the morally questionable loose ends the initiative presented. Volumes 6 and 7 of Wolverine are the ultimate Krakoa distillation, using the Beast and Wolverine collision course as a crash course in the mutant utopia’s ethical decay.

X Lives/X Deaths Is A Course Correction For The Krakoa Age

A Canon-Clean Up Buzzer Beater

In its wind-down, the Krakoa Age needed a course correction—something to clarify the muddied leftovers of Hickman’s ambitious mutant era. X Lives of Wolverine and X Deaths of Wolverine did just that. Hickman’s visionin House of X and Powers of X set the stage for Krakoa’s resurrection-centric stories, including Moira MacTaggert’s related abilities. Still, Benjamin Percy’s X Lives/X Deaths tighten loose ends, clarifying the stakes and refocusing on Wolverine’s central position in Krakoa politics and mutant canon.

In the wake of Krakoa’s sprawling storylines, X Lives of Wolverine and X Deaths of Wolverine trims fat and focuses on Wolverine’s personal experience in the mutant experiment, using his long-spanning participation in mutantkind as its backdrop. His repeated deaths across timelines force Wolverine to confront his identity, his place in Krakoa, and the costs of mutant immortality—all with the contemplative and conflicted ferocity that defines him.

Wolverine’s Essential Reads Speak To His Staying Power

The Best of The Bub

Wolverine’s essential comics are emblematic of his far-reaching influences on the Marvel mythos. From his days as a nearly mindless, ferocious force of nature to his more nuanced leadership roles—whether with Kitty Pryde or entire X-Men teams— journeying through Wolverine’s must-reads—particularly in this order—provides a detailed look into the antihero’s evolution.

These multidimensional portrayals show Wolverine’s ability—thanks largely to his steady stream of brilliant creatives on his beat—to remain relevant with generations of readers. Whether confronting mortality in X Lives/X Deaths or mentoring in Wolverine and the X-Men, Wolverine remains one of Marvel’s most beloved and multifaceted characters.