Marvel has announced that Daredevil writer Saladin Ahmed and “Stormbreakers” artist Martín Cóccolo will helm the new Wolverine title that will launch in September as a part of the X-Men: From the Ashes initiative.
According to Marvel.com, Wolverine will “turn his back on humanity, mutantkind and the X-Men” in the new series following the end of Krakoa and the “Sabretooth War” storyline that will finish out his current title. Which seems counter to the fact that he’s one of the characters in Gail Simone and David Marquez’s Uncanny X-Men title.
In any event, the new series finds Logan in the Canadian wilderness, where he’s back with his wolfpack and being attacked by his most hated foes, one by one, at the bequest of some ancient villain that “has been bubbling under the surface of the Marvel Universe since the days of myth.”
“Logan is simultaneously a mythic hero, an abused animal, and a man of flesh, blood, and adamantium,” Ahmed said. “Our story is about what happens when these parts of him all pull in opposite directions – and threaten to rip Logan to pieces that won’t come back together again.”
Marvel notes that the first issue of the new series will bring “a key first appearance and a major addition to the lore of Wolverine”:
There’s a killer in the woods – and as Wolverine’s attempt at peace is shattered, an old enemy will re-emerge as a new villain rises that will bring Logan to the brink of his berserker rage. But Nightcrawler knows his old friend is capable of doing what’s right, and before long, Logan will have to unleash his claws, push his healing factor to the limit and demonstrate he’s the best there is at what he does once and for all – nice be damned!
“I could talk for hours about why I decided to take this relaunch, but you want my real answer? It’s Wolverine. That’s it,” Cóccolo said. “It’s a dream come true for me, and I can’t believe I get to tell my younger self every day that I’m drawing Wolverine. Saladin’s exploration of the character and the story is incredibly exciting as a concept as well as visually engaging, and I can’t wait for people to finally see it!”
The duo follow the long run on the title by Benjamin Percy, who wrote Wolverine and X-Force for the duration of the Krakoa era. His final issue comes at the end of the month in Wolverine #50, which will end Logan’s big battle with Sabretooth and celebrate Wolverine’s 50th anniversary with additional stories by Larry Hama, Victor Lavalle, newly anointed Wolverine co-creator Roy Thomas and more.
Wolverine #50 arrives in stores May 29, and the first issue of the relaunch comes out Sept. 11.