"Wolverine: Roar" one-shot on sale September 24

Certainly, Wolverine is one of the more well traveled mutants in the Marvel Universe. During his many years, Logan has seen both the grandest cities and the smallest towns. On September 24, Wolverine wanders into one of the smallest of the latter, a place where innocent people are being robbed of their hearing, and then their lives. "Wolverine: Roar" is a one-shot special by writer Duane Swierczynski ("Cable," "Immortal Iron Fist") and artist Mike Deodato ("Thunderbolts," "Wolverine: Origins"). CBR News spoke with Swierczynski about the project.

One of the reasons Wolverine has proven to be one of superhero comics' more enduring characters is because the writers who tackle him usually find several compelling character traits to zero-in on, and Swierczynski was no exception. "It's his love of beer. His crankiness. But most of all, the idea that he's a loner, and somehow always finds himself mixed up in other people's affairs," the writer told CBR News.

When "Roar" begins, it's that love for beer that's weighing heavily on Wolverine's mind. "It's so hot out, he'd even settle for [name of universally-loathed light beer redacted]," Swierczynski remarked.

Pages from "Wolverine: Roar"

It's so hot out because Wolverine is wandering through the scorched and arid landscape of New Mexico. His quest for a cold one takes Logan into the town of Roamer. "I have a friend who lives in a town very much like Roamer. There's one bookstore, but it doesn't stock anything good," Swierczynski said. "There are no decent Italian restaurants. It's hot most of the time. And some mornings, you can find scorpions in your shower. The people who live there are the hardy type who don't mind that--and even find it charming."

Roamer's residents may come from a hardy stock, but even they aren't ready for the nightmare that plagues their town in "Roar." "Logan rolls into town and finds a kid in a convenience store bleeding from his ears. He thinks, damn, violent robbery," Swierczynski explained. "Then he finds a mother and her kid, trapped in a car, also bleeding from the ears. Soon it becomes clear that everybody's bleeding from their ears--and then the creature pounces. Enter chaos. Bugs. Destruction. Gore. Celine Dion."

Swierczynski couldn't reveal much about the creature in "Roar" except to say it's motivated by more than mindless savagery. "The creature does want something, but I can't spoil it for you. And things are definitely not so black and white."

Wolverine's healing factor means the creature in "Roar" will have a difficult time putting him down for the count, but dealing with the eardrum shattering monstrosity won't be a cakewalk for Wolverine either. "It's tough to kill him, sure, but that doesn't mean you can't hurt him in interesting ways," Swierczynski explained. "And his recovery time isn't instantaneous."

Pages from "Wolverine: Roar"

To complicate matters further, Wolverine's quest to save Roamer brings him face to face with some of the town's more "colorful" residents. For example, "there is a seriously cranky old lady who plays with bugs and is not afraid to gut-shoot a man," Swierczynski remarked.

With his crime novels like "The Blonde" and "Severance Package," Swierczynski showed his affinity for noir-tinged action, and his work on Marvel's "Cable" demonstrates the writer is equally at home with science fiction stories. With "Wolverine: Roar," Swierczynski tackles another genre, one that he's a long time fan of. "I've had this idea for years, and for a while, thought I might write it as a horror novel," the writer said. "But it seemed so perfectly suited for Logan, I had to let him at it."

Swierczynski also feels that artist Mike Deodato was the perfect artist to bring "Wolverine: Roar" to life. "Mike's fantastic--so cool to work with, and he took the admittedly lame images I had in my head and brought them to an insanely intense level," the writer said. "I'd gut-shoot a man to work with him again on something. Anything."

Swierczynski is also eager to work with Wolverine again, and Logan and his X-Force compatriots appear in next month's "Cable" #7. "I had a blast writing this," he said. "And I've got other Logan stories in me."