Daken: Dark Wolverine Omnibus

Background. Daken Akihiro was introduced in Daniel Way's Wolverine as the son Logan never knew he had — born to his wife Itsu, who was killed by the Winter Soldier while pregnant, with the child subsequently raised by the secret organization Romulus to be a weapon against his father. Daken has Wolverine's healing factor, bone claws coated in adamantium, and a pheromone manipulation power that makes him uniquely dangerous. He is everything Wolverine might have been without Professor Xavier's influence.

What's inside. This omnibus collects the complete Dark Wolverine and Daken: Dark Wolverine series — Daken's time impersonating Wolverine in Norman Osborn's Dark Avengers, his subsequent solo series written primarily by Marjorie Liu (with Way), covering his attempts to build a criminal empire in Los Angeles, his complex relationship with his father, and the psychological excavation of his traumatic origins. Giuseppe Camuncoli and others provide distinctive artwork.

Why it's worth it. Marjorie Liu's work on Daken is significantly underappreciated — her issues explore the character's sexuality, his manipulation of everyone around him, and his genuine incapacity for redemption in ways that typical Marvel villain writing never attempts. It's the most psychologically sophisticated Wolverine family story in the character's extended mythology, and the omnibus format makes Liu's complete Daken run accessible for the first time.

Edition details. Hardcover omnibus. US edition published by Marvel Comics. ISBN 9781302966621.