One of the biggest challenges when reading comics is that the characters have often been around for decades. That means lots of backstory. Even a regular reader might miss some details as characters crossover from one title to the next. A few years back, DK Publishing produced a great set of Ultimate Guide books to various Marvel and DC comic characters and teams. One major omission is with Wolverine.

With Marvel's most popular dangerous hero getting his own film this summer, it should not be surprising that he is finally getting his own chance to be covered, though, it is by a different publisher. The book is presented in the form of a file produced by request of Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. Throughout the chapters, readers learn about Wolverine's origins, history, allies, the teams he has been a member of, history, time travel, and even how he was in alternate realities.

The book is full of great graphics, mostly pulled from comic book covers or content. The graphics tie in perfectly with the informational content, which is very comprehensive. There is no reason why interested folks should be at all confused about anything Wolvierine when they are done running through these files.

Besides helping me fill in the blanks of what happened to Wolverine during the course of my college years (undergrad and grad), it really helped explain the complex drama and family tree relating to Logan. I have always joked that Marvel is really just a soap opera hidden among the action, and this really shows how true that really is.

The resulting reference source ends up being great information. What is even better is it the format makes it interesting in its own right. Kudos to Barr for his work.