Summary
The iconicWolverineis one of the load-bearing mutants of the X-Men, and even Marvel as a whole. However, he wasn’t part of the original team, andwasn’t even first introduced in anX-Mencomic. Logan has had a long, curious life on the page and beyond. Read on for a deep dive into Wolverine’s creation, his first story, and how he’s changed in the fifty years since his introduction.
The Bronze Age of Comicskicked off in the 1970s, featuringdarker stories and darker characters.Green Lantern teamed up with Green Arrow to tackle poverty and drug use. Spider-Man suffered the death of his girlfriend, Gwen Stacy.Jack Kirby signed on at DC Comics, and Stan Lee stepped down as Marvel Comics' Editor-in-Chief, ending the creative driving force at the publisher. Though Marvel heroes were never as squeaky-clean as their DC counterparts, the audience was ready for characters who lived in gray morality: antiheroes, villain protagonists, and more. Enter an unassuming, two-issue villain to face down the Hulk in Canada:The Wolverine.
Wolverine’s First Words in Marvel Continuity Still Define Him Today
Wolverine made his debut fighting the Hulk, and while the first words he ever said were a challenge, they have grown into something that defines him.
Wolverine’s First Comic Appearance: ‘The Incredible Hulk #180’ (1974)
“And Now…The Wolverine!” by Len Wein and Herb Trimpe
Wolverine is the best at what he does, and that’s because he had a best-in-class creative team behind his invention. Marvel Editor-in-Chief Roy Thomas (Vision co-creator) askedIncredible Hulkwriter Len Wein (Storm co-creator) to come up with a Canadian antihero character named “Wolverine.” Wein passed along the note to artist John Romita Sr. (Punisher co-creator), and the two got to work. Their office encyclopedia said a wolverine was a “small, ferocious creature with catlike features and claws,” so Romita designed him to be a short, aggressive man. Theadamantium clawswere retractable, butoriginally were only on Wolverine’s gloves.
Because wolverines are small animals, Wolverine was designed to only be about 5'4" tall. Though he’s acclaimed for the role, Hugh Jackman is almost a foot taller than Logan is supposed to be.
Wolverine’s mutant lineage and product of government experimentation are on the pagefrom his first story, however. When the Hulk makes his way into Quebec,the Canadian government unleashes “Weapon X”to deal with him. The agents mention they’ve spent a lot of time and money on training this mutant to be an unstoppable powerhouse. As he’s meant to be a foil for the Hulk, who hits hard, but is large and slow, Wolverine is called out for his claw strikes, but also his smaller stature and speed in evading Hulk.
The Incredible Hulk#181 by Len Wein and Herb Trimpe
The Hulk is not back in Canada by coincidence; he’s being summoned by Marie Cartier, the witchy sister of the Wendigo. She wants to transfer her brother’s curse onto the Hulk, believing him to just be a violent monster already, so it’s okay if he also gainsthe power of Wendigo. To transfer the curse, she needs both men in the same place, so Hulk and Wendigo fight a path through the Canadian wilderness until interrupted, in the final panel ofThe Incredible Hulk#180, by Weapon X.
“It was just one of those secondary or tertiary characters, actually, that we were using in that particular book with no particular notion of it going anywhere.” - Artist Herb Trimpe
Wolverine isn’t interested in letting the two cause more destruction - he has six hours to take out or capture the Hulk before the Canadian military brings out bigger guns. He goes after the Hulk, but finds his claws aren’t doing much damage, so he takes on Wendigo. Hulk, seeing the “little man” fight his enemy, figures that means Wolverine must be his new friend, and the two easily knock out Wendigo. With the big white monster out of the way,Wolverine turns back to take down the big green monster, who now also feels betrayal that his “friend” has turned on him.
Wolverine’s Original Design Was Recycled for Another Iconic Character
John Byrne is a highly regarded artist in the comic industry, and when designing Wolverine’s look, his art was eventually used for another character!
Return of the Short King
Other than later tweaks about his powers, backstory, and mask,Wolverine is practically fully formed right out of the gate. He has a snarky attitude, is a strong enough fighter to take on the Hulk, and is a product of Canadian government experimentation on mutants.One of the biggest discrepancies would be this first appearance’s focus on his speed of movement. MostX-Menfans likely wouldn’t say “speed” is one ofWolverine’s greatest abilities. While the comic says he has a lot of stamina, his speed at evading Hulk is repeatedly called out by both the narrator and Wolverine himself.
Wolverine next appeared inGiant Size X-Men #1in 1975, looking much more like his current iteration.Cover artist Gil Kane drew the “wings” on his mask too big, but artist Dave Cockrum liked the look and kept it. Len Wein had pictured the man under the maskbeing a young adult,closer in age to Spider-Man, but when artist Dave Cockrum drew him as a middle-aged, hairy man, Wein realized it worked better for the character. Wolverine quickly became a popular member of the X-Men, sealing his status as a top Marvel character with the Frank Miller-penned 1982 miniseriesWolverine.
Chris Claremont gave Wolverine the name Logan, after Canada’s Mount Logan, saying, “The idea was the tallest mountain being the name of the shortest character.”His 1970s origin painted him as a lone wolf, who didn’t get along with the X-Men, but a collection ofyoung mutants who saw Wolverine as a father figurewould prove otherwise. His amnesia meant writers could insert him into a variety ofhistorical events like World War IIwithout making an alternate canon, spreading his popularity further. It seems the only thingWolverineisn’t good at is being a one-note Hulk villain.
The Incredible Hulk (1968) #180-181are collected inThe Incredible Hulk Epic Collection: And Now…The Wolverinefrom Marvel Comics.
Wolverine
The human mutant Wolverine (a.k.a. Logan) was born James Howlett, blessed with a superhuman healing factor, senses, and physiology. Subjecting himself to experimentation to augment his skeleton and claws with adamantium, Logan is as deadly as he is reckless, impulsive, and short-tempered. Making him the X-Men’s wildest and deadliest member, and one of Marvel Comics' biggest stars. He’s played in Fox and Marvel’s movie franchises by Hugh Jackman.
