Writers Chris Claremont and Matthew K. Manning talk Wolverine

Tonight was a nice little event at the MoCCA museum – that’s the museum of comics and cartoon art in Soho – where comics legend Chris[t] Claremont and author of the new book, WOLVERINE: Inside the World of the Living Weapon, Matthew K. Manning, had a great discussion about everything Logan, James Howlett (well, not really), Patch, Wolvie, the ol’ kanuck, and whatever else you want to call him. Moderating this discussion was Marvel and DC Comics historian and author, Peter Sanderson. [1st photo is of Chris Claremont]

They had a pleasant discussion about how Wolverine has become an icon, the stand out character from the X-Men that wasn’t the intention at the onset. But there was something about the scrappy little guy as he kept getting back up when he was knocked down – and people liked it. [Note for the uninitiated: Claremont wrote the Uncanny: X-Men for something like 16 years, from 1975 - 1991, longer than any other writer. His "Dark Phoenix Saga" is the thing of legends.]

Author of DK Publishing's, WOLVERINE: Inside the World of the Living Weapon, Matthew K. Manning, chimmed in with some great points and was well versed on all thing Wolverine. When I went to get my copy signed after the panel, and mentioned how much I liked his book and how much I was surprised I didn't know about the events in the last several years of Wolverine's life in the comics, he nodded, saying he read about 400 comics to get caught up across the board. Impressive. [2nd photo is of Matthew K. Manning.]

Claremont brought up, more than once, the new book he’s writing for Marvel, X-MEN: Forever. It sounds very exciting, he explained it that he has pushed to the side many of the things about the last few years that didn’t fit into his version of the hero, and will introduce elements in Wolverine’s life the way he sees them, including a new father [and mother] that obviously differs from the Wolverine: Origin story of a few years ago, which seems mixed in to the new X-Men Origins film which releases tomorrow. This book sounds exciting, with Jim Lee on artist duties for the arc anyway, and promises to leave fans wanting more – looks to be out in about 5 weeks too.

It was interesting to hear Claremont talk about the savage/samurai connection, something that I loved about his limited series book with Frank Miller from the 1980s and the Uncanny X-Men I read growing up. Logan was a little, hairy, indestructible tough guy – and I loved him.

Peter Sanderson did a decent job steering the conversation, asking questions of the panel, making historic points, and referencing the cultural impact Wolverine has had on us all. [3rd picture is of Peter Sanderson.]

The crowd even chimed in with a few questions at the very end, but the panel ran over, there still needed to be a bit of time for a signing [which both writers happily signed my copy of the new book, sweet!] Although I'm sure he felt he went on and on, I could listen to Claremont talk about Wolverine all night, as he is clearly one of the talented few writers who understands all that is Wolverine. I think I'll be picking up that new X-Men: Forever book. And if you haven't grabbed a copy of the new DK book - I highly recommend it, and it makes a great gift for any fan.