Volume 55 of Marvel's Mightiest Heroes from Hachette focuses on Wolverine and presents two stories: Wolverine's introduction in "The Incredible Hulk” issue 181 (November 1974) in the story "And Now...The Wolverine" by Len Wein and Herb Trimpe and the "Get Mystique", four-issue arc from "Wolverine" issues 62 – 65 (March – July 2008) by Jason Aaron and Ron Garney. Wolverine is possibly the most popular and instantly recognisable of all The X-Men and a character that gone through a long and complex evolution since his initial introduction. His creation was, however, a straight-forward and mundane affair and a simple response to the increasing popularity of Marvel Comics in Canada. That popularity led Marvel's then Editor-in-Chief, Roy Thomas to ask writer Len Wein to create a Canadian character to put in the Hulk comic. The pair developed the main characteristics of the new hero and brought in John Romita to design the character, using the eponymous animal as the basis for the design. Wolverine was first drawn for publication, however, by the regular Hulk artist of the time, Herb Trimpe. The story in Hulk 181 is interesting simply for being the introduction of Wolverine; the tale itself is a slightly boring extended fight sequence in which Wolverine appears out of nowhere and sets about the Hulk and another character called Wendigo. The three pummel each other until the beginning of issue 182, where it transpires that Wolverine is a Canadian government agent who’s quickly recalled to base after failing in his mission of destroying the Hulk. Not much of a tale but it was enough to introduce the character and for him to spark something in the imagination of the creators and readers. By 2008 and the "Get Mystique" arc, Wolverine had grown into one of Marvel's most popular characters with instant pop-culture recognition. "Get Mystique" follows on from the "Messiah CompleX" crossover and deals with the aftermath of that event, which had ended with the betrayal of the X-Men by Mystique. Cyclops and Wolverine agree the need for retaliation and Wolverine sets out to hunt down and kill Mystique. The story follows Wolverine on his hunt into the mountains of Afghanistan and into war-torn Iraq as he hunts the dangerous and elusive shape-changer. This is told against a flashback background where the initial meetings between Wolverine and Mystique are revealed as is the first betrayal between the pair. Jason Aaron writes a clever tale that pits Mystique's shape-shifting ability against Wolverine's tracking ability. He paints Mystique as absolutely scruple free, manipulating others to provide her with cover and to do battle on her behalf – the sequence where she takes on the guise of a nun and surrounds herself with war orphans is particularly effective. Aaron cleverly uses this approach to squeeze plenty of action and drama out of the tale. Ron Garney provides solid artwork, with good story-telling technique and the right amount of expressive exaggeration to create plenty of dynamism, while never losing the well-developed realism. His transitions between the modern day war zone action and the historical flashback sequences are also well handled. Aaron and Garney combine to create both an exciting and clever Wolverine story, which isn't without the occasional touch of poignancy. The book itself follows the pattern for the series: hardcovers, 144 glossy pages and a number of special features – on this occasion: a "Behind the Scenes" featurette about the creation of Wolverine; the Top 5 Wolverine stories; a "Claws and Costumes" featurette outlining the different depictions of Wolverine over the years and an eight-page "History of Wolverine". A good package of special features and a very good central story make this a very worthwhile overall package. ( )