X-Men Legends gets a new number one this week with a story by comics legend Roy Thomas and Dave Wachter. Thomas talked about the new series a few months ago in X-Men Monday, which should have fans of Wolverine very excited. In X-Men Legends #1, Thomas and Wachter explore the delicate time Logan was still fighting for Canada and not yet an X-Men. We’re talking fighting Hulk and going on secret missions kind of storytelling.
If you’re unfamiliar, X-Men Legends has been letting classic comics creators a chance to tell new stories set during classic eras for the series. These tales are in canon, allowing fans to get a little more insight into classic tales.
X-Men Legends #1 opens with Wolverine tracking down the Hulk. Fans of Wolverine will delight in this opening action sequence as it adds a few more wrinkles to the classic showdown that introduced Wolverine to the world. Wachter and Edgar Delgado do Wolverine and Hulk right, bringing the old-school look of the characters with some great action. Wachter mixes things up a bit with a slashing diagonal panel layout. It’s a satisfying fight that ends abruptly due to Wolverine getting new orders.
This eventually leads to a sequence where we learn Wolverine follows orders, more or less. There are some politics involved with his role as a hero, and soon those politics lead to him being paired with Jack Winters. If the character is unfamiliar, that’s probably because he died in a story way back in 1968 and only lasted a few months in the comics. Created by Thomas and Werner Roth, it’s fun to see a super underused character get the spotlight by the end of the issue.
Get him Wolverine!
Credit: Marvel
One can see why the character didn’t last as Thomas shows off his obnoxious attitude and ego. He’s also a pretty overpowered mutant who has diamond skin and teleportation powers. A hardened soldier type, he works well as a partner to Wolverine, however badly they start things off in this issue.
Fans of this era of Wolverine will enjoy this story, especially since Thomas gets the voice and attitude right for the character. Plot-wise, this issue is all over the place, jumping from the Hulk and Wolverine fight seemingly to hook readers and then diving into some slow exposition to set up the rest of the story. There isn’t enough here for casual readers to dive into if they weren’t already huge Wolverine fans, but considering his popularity, most X-Men fans should find something to enjoy here. The cover is certainly misleading regarding how many X-Men you’ll see, but the cliffhanger teases there could be more to come if you have the patience.
Wolverine fans rejoice – X-Men Legends #1 offers an entertaining look at the character’s earlier days at Marvel Comics. Thomas is an exciting creator to revisit a classic era, and the story here has enough going on to warrant exploring a lost chapter in Wolverine’s history.
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