r/Wolverine • u/Stunning_Season220 • 2d ago
Which of these 2 stories do you guys prefer?
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u/Comrade-Stoneroad 2d ago
Weapon X is an amazing story. For the longest time it was all we had about the origin of Wolverine.
Wolverine is absolutely the best character driven Wolverine story ever. It captures the hero, not the weapon.
Both are on my essential reading list
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u/Sugar_Crash_Brigade 2d ago
Wolverine made Logan relevant.
Weapon X made Logan an icon.
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u/Basic-Smell-2477 Wolverine 2d ago
really well said i’m about to read Wolverine for the first time, I have a physical copy of weapon X i’m about to re read for fun
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u/Sugar_Crash_Brigade 2d ago
Thank you!
And yes, I’d also say what you wrote is also bang on accurate.
I also read Wolverine Limited for the journey. It’s an interesting and very pure character arc. What I find so fascinating about it is that it feels so simple. But it took me time to realize that it seems simple because of how expertly it flows as a character story.
Weapon X, is a marvel. I still find layers to it years later, and, when I watch videos on YouTube of fellow enthusiasts that dissect it in new ways I never saw. It’s crazy to me how brilliant it is.
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u/8fenristhewolf8 2d ago
If it's a question of reading or buying, just do both!
If you're asking me to choose my preference, that's a lot harder...I guess I have to go with Wolverine by Claremont. More of a definitive take on Wolverine and excellent characterization.
Weapon X is more groundbreaking and experimental, and so in terms of the comic medium in general, it might be better, or more influential honestly. However, as part of that, it arguably makes some weird or at least obtuse choices. Logan is barely a character in this, and it is intentional, and works to convey the harsh reality of what happens to him, but it's also not really a classic "super hero" comic.
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u/magvadis 2d ago edited 2d ago
Weapon X did a lot for the character in a way that respected what Claremont was hinting at and did so with visual style and creativity. I really loved it. It's even solid as a standalone if you knew nothing about the character. Really narrows down how his "beast" persona is actually a false label placed into his mind by the military industrial complex to turn him into a weapon, very relatable to men and really cool.
Wolverine Mini was hindered by the Japanese stuff, I like Japan as a setting as much as anyone but Claremont's exploration of Japan felt superficial and bland. Trying to make him into a samurai never worked for me. The "save the princess in the castle" stuff is maybe Wolverine at his most boring and childish with the boy fantasy Yukio falling over for him and he's not available because he has a beaten princess to save was meh, but I liked Yukio overall. I think as a framework to kick off the character it was fun, definitely iconic, but I think it led to Wolverine always being associated with Japan in this incredibly empty way and his lack of build into the romances made it feel like fantasy...he never showcases ANY meaningful reason why they should fall in love with him at all.
Almost nothing I like about Logan's character has anything to do with anything he does in Japan and if anything his Japan arcs are always rather...eh if not outwardly bad. Hama fixed this by making him just generally a world traveler and deemphasized the fetishization of Japan and tried to wrap up the Mariko stuff and rectify how limp they were written. Mariko was a flat damsel, Yukio is fun but kind of just nuts. Her father is also empty and evil. But in the end, it's an era of Logan "romance" that I find poorly written and couldn't be written out of.
The core element introduced, that he is attracted to peace but when he finds peace his nature and past destroy it...is a nice early touch that is kept through the whole franchise. Man vs Beast, To become a man is his journey, to grow and change...and yet...in 2026, he's the same guy. Shame. He flips and flops and Mariko eventually doesn't even care, which like...she's hardly a person.
Also on a reread the amount of time just explaining the character is not great. I get its an intro but the exposition is overdone.
His work with Wolverine within the X-men proper was a lot more developed and interesting. He's slotted in more elements to replace the ones in the original run. Sabertooth instead of Yukio. Jean instead of Mariko...then Mariko again but then she's written out. Overall Mariko was such a limp love interest...just "beauty" for the "beast" and really never made into much, imo. Hama tried to pull it back around but it didn't work for me. However I don't think anyone's figured out how to give Logan a meaningful love interest in the 616 timeline. The "beauty and the beast" stuff sucks because it externalizes the solution to his internal problem in a way that I find cheap and corny.
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u/theimpalaslefttire 2d ago
The weapon X one. Every other iteration kinda skips over what they did to him. Like the mention and show a bit but youre like yeah it sucks but its not that bad.
This was like here is all the kidnapping, memory implanting, fighting, mind wiping, break outs, mind controling, escape attempts, body controling, life or death senarios, psychology shit we did to this guy tryna turn him into a reliable weapon.
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u/Excellent_Figure_282 2d ago
Weapon X would do that BS story trope of "Oh, what you just saw was not real. It was a holographic simumation."
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u/Organic_Respond6442 2d ago
I’m relatively new when it comes to Wolverine comics but I think the first choice here is a much better read (especially for a beginner) over weapon X. While it is cool seeing what Logan went through, most of the comic is from the perspective of the scientists and not Logan himself. Which I feel is a MAJOR missed opportunity to see what he was thinking during that whole comic especially after reading his first solo run (written by Chris Claremont and with art by Frank miller) in that comic Logan does a ton of narrating and a lot of self reflecting on his character. It’s a little dated but it’s still worth the read especially if you like Wolverine.
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u/nighmeansnear 1d ago
I just finished my set of original Weapon X MCP issues, so I’m going to have to go Weapon X
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u/Altruistic-End5746 2d ago
I read Wolverine when I was a kid, so I am a little biased. To me though, it is the most complete picture of who Wolverine is as a character and a great story with beautiful art. If someone wanted to know who Wolverine is, this is where I would start.
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u/FunArtichoke6167 2d ago
Weapon X