X-Mutants ( The "all -things- X" topic)

[Rollo Tomassi]

I have no regard or care for the "young troubled" mutants who have been around the x-books in the last few years. They do deal with those issues however.

Some of them are fun. Like Rockslide and Anole. Hellion's a douche, but has potential. I don't care for any of the GenHope kids.
I think the problem was they introduced way too many at once in the pages of Academy X, and then started using them as cannon fodder in stories before they had developed.

[Rollo Tomassi]

As part of my Back Issue marathon, I've begun the daunting task of reading all the Wolverine books I missed since I dropped the book back in 1995, right before issue 100 hit. I started with issue 101 and read up to 144. (I'm missing 145-148 which is when he got his metal claws back.) Here's a brief roundup of some of the goofier stuff in those 44 issues.

Issues 101-116 were be Larry Hama. After issue 100, Logan had no nose for awhile! Elektra came in and retrained him as a samurai, until his nose grew back. Onslaught and Zero Tolerance also happened during his run. Hama also introduced this Maguffin Box from Landau, Luckman, and Lake. It was this HUGE subplot that ran through almost all of Hama's entire run. And then it was NEVER mentioned again.
Then creative teams switched up like whack-a-moles for awhile. Warren Ellis had a four issue run. DeFalco did a couple issues. Claremont had a goofy arc where Logan had to marry Viper to save Madripoor from Hydra and AIM. Yes! Wolverine is Married to Madame Hydra!!! He also gave Sabretooth Adamantium during this arc. I don't know if that ever stuck.
Todd DeZago wrote a couple, and Nicieza wrote one.
Then Erik Larsen took over as writer. His first big arc sent Wolvie into Space and eventually fought Galactus! One of the issues had Hardcase and the Harriers in it, do it was cool to find out what happened to them.(Hardcase opened a bar, most of the rest retired to various places.) He also brought Solo and Cardiac back to fight Wolvie and Nightcrawler. So that was cool.
Also, in the letter column of one book they said the difference in weight between Wolverine with and without Adamantium in his skeleton is 195 lbs(with) and 190(without). Because Adamantium is an extremely lightweight metal. Yeahhhh....No. Especially since its been established that Wolvie sinking to the bottom of the ocean because of the weight is the one thing that can kill him, but everybody seems to forget it.

[Rollo Tomassi]

Wolverine is an asshole. This little girl's mother's dying wish is for him to protect her daughter. He agrees, but frankly raising a kid is a real drag. So he dumps the kid off on the only Japanese woman he knows. An assassin chick. Then he only shows up like once year, because he's y'know busy and stuff. Then during each visit, he bangs the chick he duped into raising some brat because he can't be bothered to fulfill his obligations. Also, pretty much every time he visits, both the girl and the woman end up being put in harms way because Wolverine has pissed off half the planet and his enemies see the girls as leverage against him. Asshole.

[Rollo Tomassi]

Finished the end of Wolverine's first series 149-189
(minus a couple issues, again. Fuck you, Deadpool. You are the bane of my collecting existence)
149 was Erik Larsen's last ish. He had Nova guest star, presumably because he was doing Nov's ongoing at the time.
150-153 was another Japanese epic by Steve Skroce. Amiko gets kidnapped...again.
154-158 were by Liefeld(writing only) and Ian Churchill. Two of which I don't have because of FUCKING DEADPOOL. After DP, Logan teams up with Spidey to fight MoleMan. Kinda random, Rob, but okay.
161-176. Frank Tieri's run on the book was pretty good. He introduced Mr. X during this run, and the new Weapon X Program which eventually spun off into its own 28 issue ongoing. Logan and Viper get divorced. Alpha Flight guest stars for a couple issues. And Wolverine dies at the end. But he's back alive by the end of the next issue.
Jason Aaron's very first work for Marvel is a back up story in 175. He won some writing contest.
177-180. Matt Nixon (who?) takes over for a few issues. One 2-parter actually hints that the entire Catholic Church is Corrupt! But then they never follow up on it. It was pretty bad. Then a couple weak Alpha Flight-centric issues.
181-187. Tieri comes back for a totally bitchin' story arc of Logan taking on the Mob. It semi crosses over with Ennis' Punisher (you may have heard about the "steamroller" incident). 181 is one of the best single issue Wolverine stories I've ever read.
188-189. Daniel Way finishes out the series with a story about cops, that Logan barely makes more than a cameo in.

Next up, I'm starting the 2003 relaunch by Greg Rucka.

[Rollo Tomassi]

Finished the Greg Rucka run 1-19.
1-6 had Logan following the trail of some guys who killed a 17 year old runaway girl. Eventually, he tracks them back to their militia cult compound and slaughters the lot of them. He also picked up a new love interest, an undercover ATF agent named Cassie Lathrop.
7-12 had Logan dealing with people smugglers on the Mexican border. He and Cassie hook up.
13-19 had Logan and Sabretooth chasing down the "Native" who is a female Weapon X who is feral in the Canadian wilderness. The Weapon X guys want to harvest her eggs. Wolverine gets her pregnant(WTF?) and then Sabretooth kills her as an act of kindness so she won't be hunted for the rest of her life. Victor is a softie like that.
That brings us up to the Mark Millar/JRJr run when I started collecting again 10 years ago. So I'm all caught up on the Wolverine series between issue 1 and 300. Yay! If I had to sum up the entire series, I would say Amiko gets in trouble as a way to get her absent foster father to notice her. That and having Weapon X constantly getting in his shit are the cyclical themes of this entire series.

Now I'm off to read the 20-30 oneshots and Annuals left in the Wolvie pile.

[jjreason]

So much Wolverine. I know I have 1-189 complete as well as a chunk of the 2nd volume - but no idea where I left off (and certainly no interest in picking up at issue 300 and trying to fill in the blanks). Thanks for the synopsesises.

[Rollo Tomassi]

Well, in issue 300, he's rescuing Amiko from the Yakuza and Hand Ninjas, so yeahhhhhh...you haven't much to "catch up" on.

Just read 10 Wolvie books. I wonder how they decided which books were 'worthy' of being higher priced Prestige Format issues. Because, for the most part, the writing and art didn't justify $6 back in the late 90s. Anyway, here's what I read.

Global Jeopardy. Proceeds of this book went to WWF. Wolvie, Namor, KaZar, and Shanna track missing endangered species. Every other page had a fact sheet about a different endangered species.
Annual '96. Some guys try to steal the giant Red Ronin robot. In a back up story, Amiko runs away. Seriously, this is a dysfunctional "foster" family.
Annual 2000. An alien bounty hunter asks Logan for help hunting Brood.
Annual 2001. Bloodscream is killing homeless people.
Wolverine/Cable: Guts and Glory. Prestige book drawn by Stephen Platt. I think this is the story of Cable's first arrival in our time, and his first meeting with Wolvie. It's rubbish.
Black Rio. Prestige book. Logan visits an old friend in Rio and fights some kind of vampire guy. Meh. Reads like an inventory issue.
Doombringer. Another Prestige book. Told while Mariko was still alive. Not bad. By Doug Moench.
Logan:Path of the Warlord. Prestige. Some of these books that tell Logan's pre-Weapon X life are quite humorous because obviously there's no mention of bone claws and his age is vague. In this one he's fighting an inter dimensional warlord.
Logan: Secret Society. Yet another Prestige book. Canadian Agent Logan teams up with American Agent Carol Danvers. This One's even crazier. Since it takes place before Weapon (but apparently after Team X, since Sabretooth shows up in his 'lions mane' costume). Angel makes a cameo as young boy in short pants. The timeline of this book is making my head spin. More on that later.
Wolverine/Shi. Some contrived reason for Wolverine and Shi to fight. I was distracted by Shi's boobs changing size from page to page. Billy Tucci is a crappy artist.

[Rollo Tomassi]

10 more Wolvie oneshots. This batch was much better overall.

Wolverine Annual 2 from 2008. W fights a werewolf Indian demon who deafens people with its scream in a New Mexico town. Deodato art is great. Pretty good story by Swierczynski.
Savage! W helps a sushi chef find her missing father in the belly of a mythical sea monster. Any comic that has 'Louganis!' as a sound effect when Logan dives into stomach acid gets a thumbs up from me.
Switchback. W takes on a corrupt Sheriff who crashes out of towners on a dangerous curve for fun.
Under the Boardwalk. W reminisces about good old times in Atlantic City and a 50 year old murder.
Mr X. W rematches with his old adversary. Not awful, but not terrific either.
Revolver. W in a game of Russian Roulette in a high stakes Las Vegas back room. Great issue. Awesome last panel. I laughed.
Wendigo! An Unsolved Mystery type show is attacked by a Wendigo. Logan doesn't have much more than a cameo. Also reprints a Digital Comic of Thor vs Wolverine
Amazing Immortal Man and Other Bloody Tales Three short stories of Logan's past. Decent.
Rampaging Wolverine. B/W comic with a couple really good stories, and a couple mediocre ones. Worth it if you see it cheap.
Flies to a Spider. W takes on a motorcycle gang who killed a little girl in a crossfire. It's one of those issues where Logan isn't all mopey emo and shit. He just shows up and fucks up some fuckers. Best comic of the bunch. Highly recommend this if you find it.

[Rollo Tomassi]

I sent a Suggestion for Comic Book Easter Eggs into Brian Cronin and he put it in today's column.

[anarky]

I'd be ashamed to have recognized them.

[Rollo Tomassi]

Justin Timberlake is funny as hell. He's on SNL so much, he's like an unofficial cast member, showing up randomly in sketches. And I have yet to see him in a film where I wasn't impressed. Granted, I haven't seen his more recent stuff like Fuckbuddies or In Time but overall he's a cool cat. No shame.

[anarky]

I have no problem with them as individuals. But as a group... ick.

[Rollo Tomassi]

Eh. I chalk that up to the douchiness of youth.

[RoIIo Tomassi]

Ohmigod. Ghey.

[anarky]

Didn't they do that already?