[[{“value”:”
Summary
Marvel
titles, an exhaustive use of the character that he even called out in one early 2000s issue of
X-Men
.
In addition to his iconic role in the
X-Men
franchise, and his solo adventures, Wolverine has teamed up with all the major characters in the Marvel Universe.
Wolverine’s best use is when he is directly necessary to the plot, meaning at times he can feel jammed into a book, rather than used deliberately.
Marvel puts Wolverine in so many stories that even he had to call them out on it at one point. The character’s popularity has understandably led to his proliferation across Marvel titles, from the X-Men franchise to beyond. One early 2000s X-Men story featured a moment where an exasperated Wolverine himself vented about his central role in the franchise.
X-Men #157 – written by Chuck Austen, with art by Salvador Larroca, ink by Danny Miki, color by Udon, and lettering by Rus Wooten – featured a clever, and playful, jab at the number of titles featuring Wolverine at the time.
In the issue, Scott Summers, adjusting to his new role as headmaster of Xaviers‘, faces a deluge of complaints about team assignments. One argument in particular stands out, as Wolverine shouts at Scott: “Listen bub, I appreciate the faith in me, but I can’t be on all the teams.“
This Surprising Young Mutant Was “Fast Tracked” For X-Men Membership – Until Tragedy Struck
One of the most devastating deaths from early-2000s era X-Men cut short an unexpected mutant’s potential heroic career, & changed Juggernaut forever.
Wolverine Has Been On More Teams Than Anyone Else
X-Men #157 by Chuck Austen, Salvador Larroca, Danny Miki, Udon, and Rus Wooton.
In addition to becoming one of the core X-Men, and his own solo stories, Wolverine has appeared in
Avengers
,
Fantastic Four
, and countless other Marvel titles, as the publisher sought to leverage his enduring appeal.
Wolverine has been one of Marvel’s most popular character almost since his inception. Something about a gruff loner who’s willing to use brutal force seems to always capture the hearts of readers, especially when that loner has an inner soft-spot. In addition to becoming one of the core X-Men, and his own solo stories, Wolverine has appeared in Avengers, Fantastic Four, and countless other Marvel titles, as the publisher sought to leverage his enduring appeal. DC does the same with Batman – and at a certain point, these characters’ ubiquity is as apparent in-universe as it is to readers.
Wolverine’s habit of joining every single team he possibly can have been joked about before, with Wolverine not remembering he was on the Defenders at one point. Wolverine is best used when he is directly necessary to the plot. While Wolverine protested being on the teams Scott assigned him, he did show up on those teams. Notably, in the next several issues of X-Men, Wolverine joins Havoc’s X-squad on a mission to China. Though he was involved in the story, he was far from central to it – adding emphasis to his line in X-Men #157.
Wolverine Is The Best At What He Does, & That Keeps Him Busy
X-Men #157 was part of 2004’s “X-Men ReLoad” event, which also saw the debut of Joss Whendon’s Astonishing X-Men, a book Wolverine featured prominently in. At points in his publication history, Wolverine has been on four or more different X-Men teams at the same time. As capable a hero as Logan is, the guy still needs time to breathe occasionally. At the same time, being the best there is at what one does means they’re always going to be busy. Still, there are limits to what Wolverine can do, as he rightfully tried to explain to Cyclops in X-Men #157.
“}]] Wolverine was everywhere in the early aughts. Read More