Wolverine - from hero to mug.

For as long as I can remember I've loved Wolverine. The first comic I ever picked up was a Wolverine issue set in Japan he battled The Hand with a sword, speaking fluent Japanese and not even using his claws. I was hooked.

Over the years I've collected as many Wolvie episodes I can get my hands on, (why oh why are they always the most expensive ones!) I loved the mystery of this man. He was short, hairy, sweary, angry and an aggressive loner who was always pushing his powers and his body to the limits. As you delve deeper you find a man who could be over a hundred years old and with no memory of where he has come from or who he is and is lacking some serious direction in his life. I could relate to that one!

I watched excitedly as we learnt about his Japanese love and that he was more than just a brute but an intelligent (he could speak about three languages for a start), beloved husband and hero to the needy, always rooting for the underdog as he seemingly had been one his whole life.
I was gripped as he punched well above his weight against enemies seemingly always stronger than him and women clearly way out of his league and managed in the end to scrape his way through, triumphant or not. I loved him! Mystery, ninja's, attitude and blood and guts with a healthy slice of attitude. What boy wouldn't like him!
My anti hero to the boring as hell (it's only my opinion) mr perfect Superman.. I can't relate to that.
The problem I've got now is that Wolverine has become a joke. He's basically the whipping boy of the Marvel universe and I think it's because he's near on impossible to kill making him an essential team member for many of Marvel's big titles. So instead of being the hunter/tracker/ninja/beast he is he just gets tossed around like a rag doll as often as possible.
I'm not taking about the old days when Creed, Omega Red or Cyber used to batter him, these where worthwhile and necessary in the stories. As was when Magneto ripped the Adamantium from his body creating an epic ending to a long running and clearly outmatched feud.

I'm talking about the new and improved "brutal" Superior Spiderman giving him a pasting in his new series, now I know Wolvie didn't fight back and just took the beating but that's not the Wolverine we all know and love. This is just shameless promotion for the new Spiderman, I can almost see it in speech bubbles now "I whipped Wolverine's hide last week and now it's your turn" ARGH!

I'm also talking about The Hulk ripping him in half with no explanation as to how he managed to break the unbreakable metal that laces his bones  other than "err he's the Hulk!" ok, to be fair this one was from the Ultimate's so i'm not entirely sure if it follows the same rules but it's still ridiculous.

In the New Avengers when his main role in the team is making hilarious little quips about drinking beer, then when it comes to the battle he runs in Rambo style looking like he's going to kick some serious arse and The Wrecker (or skrull queen or anyone else for that matter) knocks him into the sky, comedy style. Next he'll be buying Acne products and chasing Roadrunner.
He's a massive character, either use him well or don't bother putting him in The Avengers in the first place. The Wolvie fans that bought this comic to see their favourite hero are going to be annoyed.

Yeah when Nitro completely burnt him down to just the Adamantium bones during the Civil War arc was pretty epic but when he comes back he's fine, no memory loss and just a touch of the old feral instinct he had.. Back when Genesis (Cable's son) stuck the Adamantium back into him he went so feral as to slaughter him and turn into a bandana wearing maniac that could barely talk for a long time. (yes, i agree the bandana was a massive fashion disaster, but its not his first. Remember his disguise as patch?)

That's not character development that's just plain lazy on writers, who to be fair are also struggling to know how to write a character that's had so many inconsistencies over the years (Origin.. Yeah thanks for that one) that he's a mess.
I know I know it's a comic and it's meant to be fun. It just annoys me to see my favourite character dragged down into a mix of confusion, inconsistencies and jokes.. He's running an X-Force murder squad and he's the head of the Jean Grey School of higher learning and that's just fine, erm ok.
Maybe it's time to give him a rest for a while, or for someone to give him a real storyline. I haven't been excited about anything Wolverine since Mark Miller.
Marvel have a history of destroying characters and revamping them.. Maybe it's Logan's turn.. Or James Howlett.
PAH! Will the real Wolverine please stand up?