Introduction
Wolverine's transition from an obscure villain for the Incredible Hulk to superstardom was begun when he joined the X-Men, but it wasn't until Chris Claremont and Frank Millers 1982 mini-series Wolverine that Logan turned from team player into solo star and a franchise builder.
Wolverine - Chris Claremont And Frank Miller
This solo series took place in the heart of Japan. It is the defining backstory of the character and the source for the new movie, The Wolverine. It was born from the creativity of X-Men icon writer Chris Claremont and Frank Miller, as one would expect. It is a unique story, it is a slow story but it is a great story. Miller changed the character and the direction of the handling of Logan; he was no longer a wild beast, or a guy in a silly costume he was now a real man. The team built on Wolverine's established mysterious Japanese history, and expanded the image of Wolverine as a man of honour and a fighter, and in a sense they were the first to really paint him as a tragic hero. It is a slow story, and the movie doesn't really follow it, but when the action kicks in you get lots of ninjas and some good one liners. There is nowhere else to start.
Wolverine: Weapon X - Barry Windsor-Smith
This storyline is at the root of most people's knowledge of Wolverine. Windsor-Smith created the well that so many have drawn from and it now defines the character. This storyline basically depicts the events of how Logan became one of the worlds biggest killers. He was bred to be an assassin, not a super soldier. It taps into every area that was expanded upon in the later films like X-Men 2 and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. This story was tasked to reveal Wolverine's ordeal in the Weapon X program. We all know the story: Logan is subjected to the horrific and lengthy medical procedure that grafted adamantium to his skeleton. In the process, his memories are wiped clean and Logan is left as nothing more than a wild beast. It is often consider to be the best Wolverine story...I tend to agree, but that is beyond the point of this article. It is outstanding, but very dark. The story ends with a lengthy and all out assault on the Weapon X facility. The game X-Men: Origins Wolverine showcases a lot of material from this book. If you enjoyed X2 then buy this book.