Wolverine's life story is told chronologically for the first time in a new weekly comic

Life of Wolverine #1 cover (Image credit: Marvel Comics)

Wolverine has one of the longest, most mysterious life stories in the Marvel Universe, with a life that spans hundreds of years, dozens of locales, and even a heaping helping of false memories to complicate the narrative of Wolverine's life even further. But now, for the first time, Marvel Comics is telling the story of Wolverine's whole life, in chronological order.

It's being done in a new Marvel Unlimited Infinity Comic digital release titled The Life of Wolverine, from writer Jim Zub and artists Ramon Bachs and Java Tartaglia.

The Life of Wolverine's announcement/debut coincides with the release of X Lives of Wolverine #1, the first issue of a 10-issue even to bounce between it and a dark twin version of the book, X Deaths of Wolverine. This X Lives/Deaths of Wolverine event tells a time-traveling tale including numerous incarnations of Wolverine over the years,

The Life of Wolverine is intended to complement and inform X Lives/Deaths of Wolverine, offering readers a clean jumping-on point to start reading about the so-called 'best there is at what he does.'

What's more, Marvel has also released X Lives of Wolverine #1 on Marvel Unlimited on the same day as its physical release, January 19. This is a rare move for the publisher, signaling the weight and interest they're placing on the two Wolverine limited series.

Wolverine's life story has been addressed in other comic stories in the past, notably Wolverine: Origin, which told a supposedly definitive version of the character's origin for the first time after decades of mysterious hints at Wolverine's past.

X Lives of Wolverine and X Deaths of Wolverine will be released on a weekly basis, alternating between the two titles each week. Meanwhile, the 10-part Life of Wolverine Infinity Comic will release digitally every Thursday.

These three Wolverine stories are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Marvel's monthly X-Men offerings, which is why we've put together this handy listing of all Marvel's new X-Men comics planned for release in 2022 and beyond.

I've been Newsarama's resident Marvel Comics expert and general comic book historian since 2011, and now I'm the Entertainment Writer at GamesRadar+. I've also been the on-site reporter at most major comic conventions such as Comic-Con International: San Diego, New York Comic Con, and C2E2. Outside of comic journalism, I am the artist of many weird pictures, and the guitarist of many heavy riffs. (They/Them)