Worst Wolverine / Captain Marvel story in the history of comics.
I have never read a more out of character story in my life.
Update:
A reread in 2025 and it's not that bad, it's just an ok story that takes place before the X-Men with Logan and Carol doing some work, searching for answers about mutants and whatnot. Logan is written out of character and the things that make him who he is are written like it's a joke. The whole plot is mediocre and the story reads like a chore. We get battle between Logan and Creed and that's it.
Set long before his involvement with the X-Men and before he even became Weapon X, this story follows Logan as he investigates the murder of a fellow Canadian agent with help from his American friend Carol Danvers. Logan soon discovers that the existence of a subculture of powered individuals is about to revealed to the world; individuals known as mutants.
Whilst I like the idea of giving us a story of Logan's days as a Canadian secret agent and I very much like the idea of setting it as the truth about mutants is about to be revealed to the world, there's a lot of issues with this book.
The main one is that because it's a prequel story, none of Logan's later character development is present and therefore here he feels a bit one-dimensional. Added to that is that because this was written before Logan's true backstory was revealed (in 'Wolverine: Origin'), Logan's claws are treated as an addition made later by the Weapon Plus Programme, rather than as a natural part of his mutation. The last thing anyone wants, surely, is a Wolverine story where he doesn't have claws.
It is nice to get a bit of exploration of Logan's partnership with Carol Danvers because that was an alluded-to aspect of the 70s and 80s X-Men comics that always intrigued me.
i dislike this mini-series in the way i dislike most solo carol-things that came out in the 90's-00's. i blame this story, and also her ben grimm/logan story on, on her ongoing militaristic characterization. like rather than continuous stories about her retconned time in the military, there are so many other interesting sides of her character to be explored (re: the life of captain marvel).
but, overall, this wasn't terrible and like i said before: LOGANCAROL.
"Logan: Shadow Society" is an exhilarating dive into the pre-history of Wolverine, before he became the gruff, clawed icon of the X-Men. Howard Mackie crafts a taut, espionage-flavored thriller set in the shadows of Cold War paranoia and secret government programs, pulling back the curtain on Logan’s murky origins as a Canadian agent involved in black-ops missions long before he ever met Charles Xavier. The cast is a dream for longtime Marvel fans: Sabretooth as a sinister mirror (and more...) of Logan; a pre-superpowered Carol Danvers; a very young and innocent Warren Worthington III; the Hellfire Club in an early incarnation; and the ever-intriguing Department H, the seedbed of so many future mutant operations. And yes—Senator Kelly makes a chilling, just named, appearance, foreshadowing the dark path he will later take in mutant affairs. Mackie fills the narrative with brilliant easter eggs—the most striking being a Department H operative who bears an uncanny resemblance to the Nazi doctor from "Raiders of the Lost Ark", a sly nod that made me grin. The writing is sharp and propulsive, with a noir undertone that suits this clandestine chapter of Logan’s life perfectly. This isn’t just a ‘before they were famous’ story—it’s a fully fleshed-out, gripping tale in its own right, one that deepens the mythos and paints Logan not just as a weapon, but as a man caught in a web of loyalty, betrayal, and identity. Highly recommended for fans of Wolverine, X-Men lore, and gritty spy fiction with a superpowered twist.
I got the impression with this that Howard Mackie’s original plot was probably better than the final script from Mark Jason. The idea here was good, but the Implementation was a little clunky. Claremont back in the day hinted at the previous relationship between Carol Danvers and Logan but left it largely a blank slate, so Specials like this have tried to mine that vein of Wolverine history. Although the plot concerning the beginnings of public awareness of mutants is interesting, the timeline just seems off. Logan and Carol already have history here, but yet she also jokes she couldn’t drink in some states, yet is supposed to be an agent in long standing? Warren Worthington is shown as a young boy, is Carol really that much older than him? At times this doesn’t even seem to be Carol Danvers, so out of character she is at times. Maybe someone should retcon it to be Mystique.
Logan never once makes reference to claws or anything beyond hints at his healing factor, as obviously the bone claws were yet to be retconned, so this jars in the context of this story. The art, by Tom Coker, Keith Aiken and Octavio Cariello, is nice enough and does suit the story, but can’t do enough to completely save it.
Better than a lot of the Wolverine cash in specials of the 90’s, but at times that was a low bar. For big Wolvie fans only.
Ok but ultimately pointless. Just another pre X-Men Wolverine story that does nothing to expand the character. Despite that I did not hate it, thus the (very generous) 3 Stars. I have read much worse.
The story was pretty fun. A pre-Wolverine Logan teams up with a pre-Captain Marvel Carol Danvers to uncover the mutant conspiracy years before the X-Men go public. But what I really liked was how unrepentantly ugly Tomm Coker draws Logan, especially when he's wearing those cute widdle nineties wraparound sunglasses. <3
It's actually a little embarrassing that Marvel printed this. Subjective opinions aside, there are several editing, art, and typo mistakes throughout this book. It feels so rushed and unnecessary.
Una historia pretérita con Logan sin adamántium. La portada en blanco, negro y azul muestra a Logan contra Victor Creed, y la contratapa tiene a los mismos personajes más Carol Danvers.
Interesting I would say prologue story not just about wolverine but x-men. Fast read. I did not particularly like visuals in this one but not bad also. Recommended.
Good! So this is before everything, Before Wolverine got his anamatuim claws, before he met The X-Men even. SO this is basically a spy espionage story. Same old same old, Logan is in to deep they try and kill him and his partner(Who is Carol Danvers, AKA Captain Marvel!). Spy stories seem to be the same lately but there always entertaining so this book is good. My only real complaint was the artwork, okay not really the artwork more just how the artist draws Wolverine, he looks weird! But overall an entertaining read!
¡Oh! Uno de los mejores cómics, una historia realmente corta, pero muy buena que te deja ver una pequeña (¡muy pequeña!) parte del pasado de Logan. Me encanto.
No recuerdo absolutamente nada de este especial más allá de que era en blanco y negro y el dibujo estaba muy bueno. Debería encontrarlo para poder releerlo alguna vez.