Marvel Comics: 50 best Marvel comic books of the 2000s

46. All New Wolverine

Writer: Tom Taylor

Marvel Comics started making it a point to make more generational heroes. Among them is Laura Kinney becoming Wolverine. She isn’t “female” or “she” Wolverine. Just, Wolverine. Tom Taylor’s series started Laura on this journey.

The stories before this were good, but this is where Laura became a new and improved character. This writer’s favorite part proved that. It happened in All-New Wolverine No. 1. Laura said, “I want them to see the Wolverine coming.” It was her way of showing the world and readers that she embraced her name. This is the perfect place to start reading Laura as Wolverine. You’ll understand why she’s continued to have the mantle close to a decade later.

45. Immortal Iron Fist

Writer: Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction

This writer didn’t know much about Iron Fist going into this series. After reading this series, it’s obvious that no one knew much about them. That’s including Danny Rand who was actually Iron Fist. Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction show major skills showing how creative the power of the Iron Fist truly is.

This story doesn’t just follow the current Iron Fist. Readers learn stories about the ones who held the title in the past. For example, Orson Randell shot bullets of chi from a gun and Wu Ao-Shi (The Pirate Queen of Pinghai Bay) propelled it from a bow. We also learn that the fighters could do more than use their powers as weapons. They used it to heal themselves quicker than normal, enhance their intelligence, and more.

Warning, reading this may make you wonder how Netflix got Iron Fist even more wrong than you realized. Especially since the blueprint is right there. Hopefully, the next show will highlight these things.