Book Review: Untamed: The Psychology of Marvel’s Wolverine by Suzana E. Flores

About:

Untamed: The Psychology of Marvel’s Wolverine by Suzana E. Flores is a non-fiction analysis and exploration of the titled fictional anti-hero. Dr. Flores, a fan of comic books, is a social media expert and commentator.

• 205 pages
• Publisher: McFarland
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1476674426

My rating for Untamed: The Psychology of Marvel’s Wolverine  – 4
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More Books by Suzana E. Flores

Thoughts:
I stumbled across Untamed: The Psychology of Marvel’s Wolverine by Suzana E. Flores accidentally and couldn’t let it pass by. I have read several books in the same vein (either “The Science of…”, “The Psychology of…”, or “The Philosophy of…”) and enjoyed many of them, as well as learned a thing or two along the way.
Always a good thing.

Dr. Flores uses her knowledge, schooling and just plain logic to analyze Wolverine. The author obviously has done research beyond just watching the X-Men movies, but she also read the comic books and interviewed the creators themselves for more insights.

Before starting the analysis, the author writes a thorough examination of the anti-hero himself, what makes him who he is, past events which shaped him, major milestones and relationships.  Wolverine’s wonderful / disturbing quote of “I’m the best there is at what I do … but what I do isn’t very nice” is featured prominently throughout the book – and I can’t blame her, it’s a brilliantly descriptive quote which captures the essence of the character.

I enjoyed learning how the writers and artists came to create Wolverine, mainly as a Canadian hero to capture a readership segment. I was also surprised that much of the history of Wolverine came from the author’s personal life, which is why it hit so many chords with readers all around the world.

This book is short, but very well organized, so well organized in fact that I noticed how organized it is. The themes, events, and theories all have their own place, as well as dedicated chapters to portions of Wolverine’s life and battles (with others, himself and romantic ones as well).

If you like the comic books, the character, the X-Men team, or just the Marvel Universe this book will certainly be right up your alley. The author makes connections to the story-lines and themes to today’s world, explaining the role comic books, or as I like to refer to them as American Mythology, have on our society and the future.

Buy Untamed: The Psychology of Marvel’s Wolverine from Amazon.com*
More Books by Suzana E. Flores

Zohar — Man of la Book
Dis­claimer: I got this book for free.
*Ama­zon links point to an affil­i­ate account