It's been awhile since I did a blog. About a year ago, I did a Top 5 favorite Cyclops costumes in honor of my favorite character. Since I did that and had some odd fun doing it, I've been wanting to do one for my other favorite in Wolverine but never got around to it. Welp, I find myself with a day off and some time to kill and decided why not? So lets slice on into it. Small disclaimer, this is strictly 616 Wolverine. I do actually enjoy some of his other costumes in different media such as both outfits from X-Men Evolution, the orange and black and the eventual dark blue short t-shirt like costume, or Ultimate Wolverine's outfit, which is just awesome. I'd throw in Days of Future Past and Old Man Logan in there as great outfits as well.

5. Patch

Never has a secret identity been as convincing as Clark Kent and his glasses until Patch happened. Going to a dive bar, dressing up Casablanca style and throwing on an eyepatch while the rest of your distinguishing features sat out was a brilliant idea, almost as great as the fishnet mask. Created by Chris Claremont and John Buscema for Wolverine's first ongoing ever. I'm completely joking with this as a top 5, but I feel an honorable mention needed to be made since the actual story itself was a big deal for the character and quite a fun read.

5. Ablation Armor

I might be a bit of a hypocrite for this one since my disdain for Paul Cornell's take on Wolverine is quite known and still haunts me to this day as arguably the worst long term run on Wolverine ever. I could pull up some one shots or minis that were worse, but Cornell did one hell of a job at dismantling everything that made Wolverine, well, Wolverine. But...I will give credit where it is due, I really liked the Ablation Armor. Created by Kris Anka in 2014, this armor was for Wolverine when he was powerless. It is a suit of armor that could protect him from a nuclear reactor while he also carried a gun and with built in claws so he didn't have to cut himself. The design itself is rather simple, as it breaks away from the general blue and yellow costume Logan is known for. The costume itself tends to rotate between an orange or gold color with black X on it depending on the artist, but Stegman really took the outfit to a new level.

4. Secret War

A very brief and I feel slightly underrated costume, the Secret War costume designed by Gabriele Dell 'Otto in Brian Michael Bendis' Secret War. To me, this costume is very similar in why I like Cyclops' Eve of Destruction costume in that it seems to fly by so quick, yet this one is even more under the radar. This outfit was meant to be more stealthy and sleek, with the darker shade of blue, almost a navy color, with the streaks of yellow being splashed in. It is very similar to the Ultimate Wolverine outfit, one I'm a very big fan of. This one in particular I got my first introduction to it back years and years ago when I was in high school and this was an alternate costume for Wolverine in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2.

3. Tan and Brown

A long time fan favorite costume for Wolverine is the tan and brown costume, originally created by John Byrne in X-Men 139, 40 years ago. I felt this costume works for Wolverine a little bit better than the yellow and blue, being of a slightly darker yet more...wild and animal like in color scheme. It's made some pop-ups in stories over the years, but recently made more of a comeback, being brought to light again during Rosenberg's Uncanny X-Men run, with art done by Salvador Larroca, who made the outfit look beautiful. It is also currently being used by Wolverine in Hickman and Percy's X-Men books. I'm glad to see it has made a comeback and is so far here to stay.

2. X-Force

For a 5'3 or slightly taller, depending on who is drawing, assassin/soldier/ninja/samurai/animal unkillable, unbreakable, death machine, I think the X-Force outfit is the perfect representation of Wolverine. I give Wolverine props for being stealthy and killy(?) in the colors of the Swedeish flag, but this one does the trick. This costume debuted in X-Force Volume 3 issue 1, written by Chris Yost, Craig Kyle, and drawn by Clayton Crain, holy alliteration, Batman. The silver/grey and black are so simple in terms of color scheme, but in execution standout enough to make it bold. The red eyes also add another unique level to it. If it were up to me, this would be Wolverine's quintessential costume. I think as far as how he is a character, as a fighter, and what he is capable of, this captures him and suits him best as far as superhero outfits go. But I will say I'm also kind of glad it is a special occasion or "X-Force" only costume so the novelty of it doesn't wear off.

1. Civilian

Wolverine himself is a loner at heart. His best stories, IMO, have been told when he's off on his doing his own thing, maybe killing some ninjas, sipping some whiskey, riding his motorcycle, that sort of thing. I think he is also great on a team because of his conflicting nature with a lot of his teammates and his own self. But, the bright blue and yellow to me is a nostalgic costume, but also very heavily influenced by who is actually drawing it. If I had to pick, Cassaday from Astonishing nailed a great modern take and so does someone like Dell'Otto, Deodato, Immonen, Bianchi, but they themselves are good artists. But there is something with Logan being in a tank top, some jeans, leather jacket and maybe a cowboy hat and dog tags that feel right. It's simple and it works.

Welp, there you have it. My top 5 Wolverine costumes. Depending on how this one goes, I might make a part 2 but featuring other costumes from alternate universes or picking up some from 616. Like I said, I do not hate the blue and yellow, I think it's very dependent, so if I do it, it would be like a specific incarnation or volume. We'll see.

@god_spawn Not sure if it's a me thing, but the spoiler block for Patch isn't opening

Interesting list and yeah, the spoiler block for Patch isn't working for some reason.

Really solid list. Personally I have the Brown & Tan at #1 but otherwise pretty much the same rankings.

I know Marvel officially calls him 5'3" but I always feel the need to point out that in his first appearance in Hulk 181 they actually state his height as 5'5". It's a kind of weird oddity.

@vertigo-: I fixed it. Thanks for letting me know.

Good list. Kinda glad classic (nostalgia is great, but yellow/blue was not great XD) isn't on here and instead we see the far superior Tan and Brown. The White/Black X-Force suit was also amazing, so I'm glad to see that high on the list.

Good list.

The only suit I might have put on the list that isn't here, and I totally understand why, was classic Death from Apocalypse. The sword, and middle eastern style wardrobe was really, really badass IMO. Arguably my favorite, though short lived, Wolvie costume. I think it only lasted like 10 issues, so it might not have been worth putting on the list.

Thanks for reading,

Floopay

@irishx: I do think it is weird. Personally, I always felt like 5'5-5'7 felt more appropriate. Wolverine is rarely ever scaled at about 5'3 by most artists, but when he's in room full of characters guys that are at least 6 foot and the women are approaching 5'10, 5'3 always felt...off. Just my 2 cents.

The last 3 were pretty difficult to put into a standing, tbh. I really like the brown and tan, especially going back to like MacFarlane's take on it. And since Logan came back and the modern takes on it are done so well, so it's cool it seeing some long term limelight for the time being. I feel it's his best "superhero" outfit. But I felt like the X-Force costume suits him just a little better when you take into consideration his abilities and personality and history being in all these black-op and assassination groups. You take those things and kind of flip his abilities and focus on the personality and his character, I think his tank top and jeans is the best. Basically it goes, Wolverine on a team, brown and tan. When something needs to die? Black and grey. Logan as Logan? Casual. I do think it would be off seeing him in the X-Force outfit if everyone else is in standard gear, the bright colors, the big splash pages. It would even sillier to see all that and then Logan is just in jeans and a tank top lol.

@god_spawn: That's one of the coolest things about his character. He can really rock all those outfits in fitting times and they all just really look awesome. This is a great blog, well done.

@floopay: Yeah, the blue and yellow I know is his main, but I also think it's his weakest costume. I do think there are a few artists and runs where it could be a top 5, Enemy of the State, Astonishing X-Men, all great stories, good takes on Wolverine, and his costume was done well. Certain artists like I listed in the casual section like Dell'Otto or Bianchi can make it great, but is that saying much though about the outfit itself lol?

I was actually considering the Death costume on here, but I decided to save it for a possible part 2. It's Logan....but it's not. I kind of put it in the category of alternate costumes, even though it's 616. It's like Hellverine. I think there were some really cool pages of Logan being on fire, vomiting fire from his mouth while his claws are also on fire, so over the top but cool. It's more of an iteration than an outfit itself. The lack of time under the outfit isn't a problem. I put Secret War Logan as 4, and that mini was...4-5 issues I think? And the outfit didn't even show up in all the issues. it's been a minute since I read it. But I do really like the Death outfit and the sword.

@irishx: 100% agreed. And thank you.

Totally agree with all of this.

Thanks for reading,

Floopay

100% agree with you that there’s just something both timeless and quintessential about the Logan’s “civilian” look. It just fits the character so well, partially because Logan’s attitude doesn’t come off as a guy who would “dress up” and partially because of them Midget gains 😂😂. I think a lot of that influence is owed to Jackman’s Logan as well, since he spent the majority of his outings sporting a civilian look apart from a minor all black suit here or there.

Apart from the X-Force look, I think the Ultimate Wolverine suit is my favourite “costume” Logan’s ever had. As much as I love the Orange/Tan or Yellow/Blue, I find the dark and muted colours of X-Force and Ultimate fit him better, but the mask less aspect of the Ultimates has always appealed to me. I just like seein that ugly mug.

Great list mate 🤙🏻🤙🏻 (I’ve also always viewed Logan as more of a 5’8-5’9 height range myself like his 1610 counterpart. I never liked the 5’3 height he was given in the 616 uni, it’s just ridiculous.)

No love for the classic blue/yellow. V_V

Great list though.

@theincrediblesuperhulk8642: I wouldn’t doubt Jackman having some influence over it. I fully believe the New X-Men outfits were connected to the movie of everyone just being in leather lol. But also, Wolverine has had his share of more casual clothes over the years. Funny how a white tank top, some jeans and a jacket would just catch fire like that for a superhero.

I really like ultimate costume too, which is why I love the secret war costume. It’s about as close to it as we got in 616, and I’ll probably throw it on another list soon. Like I said, I’ll probably do a part 2.

@indomitableregal: Early incarnation blue and yellow just don’t do it for me. I think the smaller eye pieces, bigger tiger like stripes and the robin egg blue on the shoulder pads just throw it off for me. I don’t hate it, but I definitely like the more modernized looks on the outfit.

Honestly I don't like any of the costumes. Patch and his civilian look are the best. And apart from the dumb duster, Old Man Logan works well too.

Jackman's look in Origins was great, and so was the black suit in The Wolverine. I also really liked the future look in DoFP with the armour and coloured sleeves.

@god_spawn: Well I didn't necessarily mean the OG design (though I like most of the blue/yellow variants -- sans that awful first appearance in Hulk), but I hoped some variation of the color combo would've been here (I don't count the armor lol).

@indomitableregal: To me the yellow and blue is really artist dependent which is why it didn’t make the cut. I mentioned some artists that absolutely kill it though.

Nice read. Feels like forever since I saw someone do a blog here. Also, love the honorable mentions, lol (Eric the Red and Patch).

@theinsufferable: Thanks, bro.

I also liked him in his civilian cloths. His solo comics from the early 00's by Teri and Ruka was him at his best.

I also wasn't a big fan of the yellow. I thought the classic suit was only good depending on the artist. Lee made it look great, but under Cockrum and many other artists it was ugly.

Brown and tan was great, but I'm not a big fan of the current updated version. I think it would of been better if they just removed the trunks, akin to his look in Evolution.

I was actually a big fan of the look he had in the early/mid 00's, that he used across all titles, but is probably most remembered for being his second Ultimate suit.