JEPH LOEB TALKS WOLVERINE #55

With the final Wolverine vs. Sabretooth fight promised by Marvel Comics for Wolverine #55 on July 25, the publisher staged a telephone press conference with writer Jeph Loeb and a handful of reporters on Friday.

"I always wanted to tell the story of how they met and what was behind the hatred, "Loeb said. "And to do it with a lot of cool action sequences because when they fight, it's really great."

Loeb said he wanted the story to serve four purposes:

1.) An ending to the Sabretooth/Wolverine relationship.

2.) The creation of a new "uber villain" in Romulus.

3.) The redesigning of Wild Child into an important character.

4.) An explanation of why all the feral mutants, including Wolverine, Sabretooth, Wild Child, Feral, Thorn and Wolfsbane, exist in the Marvel universe.

Marvel released images from the issue, leading to speculation Sabretooth was going to die.

Loeb wouldn't spoil the issue, but noted that Wolverine has a sword that could kill him -- and also Sabretooth.

"Creed has stepped beyond anything he has ever done before," Loeb said, "and Logan has decided enough is enough.

"I think the question is if he doesn't kill him, why didn't he?"

Wolverine #55 will include a mature readers variant cover that Marvel couldn't reveal due to its spoiler nature. Loeb said the cover was inspired by EC Comics covers and was "very shocking."

Loeb praised the work and enthusiasm of artist Simone Bianchi.

"I've seen the (final) scene and I think it's something people are going to be talking about for a long long time," Loeb said.