Essential Wolverine Volume 5

I love the Marvel Essential series which is a collection of reprints of their whole run of comic titles at a reasonable price. Printed on newsprint in black and white, I can read them in the toilet and in my bathtub without fear of them being ruined by water. I am more careful with my mint collector single issues.

Wolverine volume five which collects Wolverine #91-110 & Annual 96 and Uncanny X-men #332 is my favourite among the 5 volumes on Wolverine issued so far.

Wolverine is James Howlett also commonly known as Logan, a mutant with fantastic healing power, and with unbreakable adamantium bonded to his bones. He is strong, a savage fighter and have adamantium claws coming out of his fists. He is also short and hairy, something that Hugh Jackson is not. Anyway, I am still looking forward to Hugh Jackson's Wolverine movie later this year.

Everyone always assumed that adamantium was bonded to Logan in the weapon X project to make him stronger. However to every one's surprise, when the adamantium was drawn out of him by Magneto (is adamantium magnetic?), Logan not only survived but revealed that his claws are made of bones. This led to the revelation that the adamantium was essential to Logan to help him keep his animal-side at bay. Without the adamantium, Logan degenerates into an animal - an animal with human cunning, animal strength and bloodlust. This volume documents how Logan was helped by his friends to seek the path back to his humanity.

Wolverine/Logan story lines always fascinate me. He is like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (H.G.Wells) or if you are a Pauline scholar, our old and new natures. Like all of us, Logan has a dark side, a bestial animal side. Like all of us, Logan is always aware that there is a better side, a more human side, and he is always struggling to become that better person. He often fails and gives in to his berserker self but he was contrite after and seeks to better himself. One thing I like about Logan is that he never gives up, that he always believes that he can be better than he is.

'nuff said!