5 Comics to Get You Ready for Marvel's Wolverine

Have you already read our review of Marvel's Wolverine? Insomniac's game about the clawed mutant pleased us, even if some design limitations emerged that prevent it from being more than just a good game. As for the plot, however, we revealed the bare minimum, nothing more than what was already shown in promotional materials. While maintaining our no-spoiler approach, we have decided to select a few stories from which the game's writers might have drawn inspiration for the game's events. For each recommendation, we will also point out the different Italian editions available, so you can pick them up to be prepared for the adventure Insomniac has prepared for Wolverine and the various characters that populate this alternative mutant universe.

House of X / Power of X

Forget everything you think you know about mutants. Not only because Marvel's Wolverine is set in the Marvel Games universe, where the X-Men don't exist, but also because the pairing of House of X and Power of X will shatter all your beliefs about mutant history. These two stories laid the groundwork for the greatest mutant revolution in recent times: prepare to see and reunite with villains you know in a new light. Just like in Marvel's Wolverine. If the volume ends up captivating you, know that the entire Krakoa saga that begins in these pages has already fully concluded and has been collected in volumes by Panini in multiple editions, including a recent reprint in the pocket-sized (and economical!) format.

Knights of Madripoor

Madripoor is one of Marvel's most fascinating fictional locations. Thanks, in part, to a classic '90s story drawn by Jim Lee also remembered for one of those covers that was impossible not to notice on newsstand shelves, with the sculptural depictions of Cap, Black Widow, and Wolvie on the city's rooftops. That single story, which sees the three heroes collaborate to thwart a spy thriller plot, became so ingrained in the imagination that it earned a sequel in 2024, also written by the original screenwriter Chris Claremont, the man credited with the X-Men's comic book success. You can find all the stories just mentioned in the volume Knights of Madripoor which collects both, or just the classic story told in X-Men Integrale #67.

Wolverine's First Stories

Much of the Canadian clawed hero's current appeal still rests on the mythology built by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller in Wolverine's first solo series. The undefined age, the past in Japan, the history as a government secret agent. Everything that made Wolverine one of the most famous and beloved superheroes in the world is already within those early stories, collected in Italy by Panini in a voluminous Omnibus. As a bonus track, within this volume, there is also the famous story where Logan meets Gray Hulk (under the identity of Mr. Fixit) in Atlantic City, sporting a look destined to become iconic for the occasion.

E is for Extinction

The first cycle of stories written by Scottish screenwriter Grant Morrison that shaped the X-Men of the 2000s, including the cinematic ones (look at those jackets with the yellow X!). Also Scottish are the pencils of Frank Quitely who reinvented the look of the entire team: a cooler Logan, wrapped in black leather open on his hairy chest, has not been seen since. And we are not the only ones to say it; reading this cycle of stories, you might discover that a certain redhead is not immune to this Logan's animal charm either. We suggest the Must Have edition which collects the first cycle of stories; subsequent ones can be retrieved through collections in various formats.

The Death of Wolverine

As mentioned in the review, Insomniac's Wolverine is a tough nut to crack, thanks to a regenerating factor that allows him to take hits far beyond human limits and recover even when on the brink of darkness. Sooner or later, however, game over will come: to prepare for this eventuality, there's no better way than to read the miniseries in which a Logan deprived of his healing factor must defend himself from someone who seems intent on hunting him down to collect his scalp. Although it is a recent story, this lethal adventure has already become part of the character's canon (also thanks to Steve McNiven's excellent drawings). You can find it in a convenient hardcover volume.