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Wolverine (Comics)Wolverine (a.k.a. Logan; birth name James Howlett) is a Marvel Comics superhero, best known as a member of the X-Men. He first appeared in Incredible Hulk #181 (1974). Since the 1990s, he has been the most popular Marvel character other than Spider-Man. A mutant, Wolverine possesses enhanced senses and the ability to heal rapidly. But his most impressive features are likely his six retractable claws, which extend from the back of each hand. The foot-long claws are laced in an unbreakable metal alloy adamantium, a metal bonded to his entire skeleton. A gruff and often vicious character, Wolverine helped forge the mold for comic book anti-heroes. His willingness to kill, his efforts to come to terms with his shady past and his angst-filled inner conflicts have become standard for anti-heroes. Wolverine was created by Len Wein and John Romita Sr., although Chris Claremont and John Byrne, the creative team behind the heyday of Uncanny X-Men, are more responsible for developing his character. Wolverine has been a part of the X-Men since 1975 and has been featured in his own solo series since 1988. He has also been a central part of X-Men animated series and films. Publication history Wolverine first appeared in Incredible Hulk #180 (October 1974), albeit only in the final panel of the issue, which was written by Len Wein and illustrated by Herb Trimpe. His full appearance in the next issue, #181 (November 1974), is considered by some to be his true first appearance. Wolverine wore a yellow-and-blue costume, which didn't particularly resemble a true wolverine, and was designed by John Romita, Sr., and sported foot-long metal claws. His first story left his nature somewhat ambiguous: he was an agent of the Canadian government with superhuman powers, but later basic facts about the character - his lack of knowledge about his personal history, or his claws being a part of his body rather than part of his gloves - had not been established. Wolverine next appeared in Giant-Sized X-Men #1 (1975), a special in which he joined the "All-New, All-Different" X-Men. Written by Wein and drawn by Dave Cockrum (who changed the headgear in Wolverine's costume somewhat), the issue was successful enough to revive the then-defunct X-Men comic book series, starting with #94 (August 1975), drawn by Cockrum but written by Chris Claremont. Although a part of the team from the start, Wolverine was initially overshadowed by the other characters, and Claremont considered dropping the character later early in the series. Cockrum's departure from X-Men and replacement by John Byrne resulted in Wolverine's character being better fleshed-out. Himself a Canadian, Byrne balked at the suggestion of dropping a Canadian character from the book and instead offered various story ideas that took advantage of this character. One of them involved creating Alpha Flight, a group of Canadian superheroes, who tried to recapture Wolverine due to the expense the Canadian government incurred in training him. Wolverine's murky past was gradually fleshed out, as was his essentially unstable nature, which he tried to keep in check. He and team leader Cyclops often clashed, and Wolverine had a crush on Cyclops' true love, Jean Grey. Byrne also designed a new, brown-and-tan costume for Wolverine, though keeping the distinctive Cockrum-designed headgear. These elements were successful and the readers' interest in the character began to climb significantly. Following Byrne's departure, Wolverine remained a member of the X-Men, his destiny controlled by Claremont. By this point he was becoming one of the most popular characters in comics, and appeared in his own mini-series Wolverine (#1-4 by Claremont and Frank Miller, September - December 1982) and in Kitty Pryde and Wolverine (#1-6 by Claremont and Al Milgrom, November 1984 - April 1985). Wolverine finally graduated to his own ongoing series with Wolverine #1 (by Claremont and John Buscema, November 1988). Since then he has remained an active member of the X-Men, has appeared in his own series, and in several side series. Most notable of the side stories are Weapon X (by Barry Windsor-Smith in Marvel Comics Presents #72-84, 1991), and Origin #1-6 (by Bill Jemas, Joe Quesada, Paul Jenkins and Adam Kubert, 2002), both of which filled in significant portions of his past. Many Wolverine stories - with and without the X-Men - have been collected as standalone graphic novels. Character biography Wolverine first appeared as a Canadian superhero fighting the monsters The Incredible Hulk and the Wendigo, as an agent of the government attempting to stop the rampage of both creatures. Small, strong, and vicious, Wolverine was able to fight both creatures to a standstill. Soon after that adventure he was recruited by Professor X to join the second incarnation of the X-Men, resigning from his position in Canada over his superiors' objections. Over the following year Wolverine was revealed to be a mutant whose skeleton had been laced with the unbreakable metal adamantium. With his strong, passionate, and volatile personality, Wolverine often clashed with the X-Men's leader Cyclops. Given to berserker rages in combat, he slowly learned how to control his animalistic tendencies. He is, however, more willing to kill his enemies than the other X-Men. Wolverine was gradually revealed as a man who had forgotten his past: He had been transformed by a project called Weapon X, which had added the adamantium to his body. He had then been adopted by James and Heather Hudson into their project which eventually became Alpha Flight. Intended to eventually lead that team, when he departed to join the X-Men he precipitated James Hudson's adoption of the identity of Weapon Alpha (later Vindicator and then Guardian), and a lengthy and often hostile effort where Alpha Flight tried to bring Wolverine back to Canada, while Wolverine attempted to retain his freedom. Wolverine would eventually make peace with Hudson and Alpha Flight, while remaining a member of the X-Men. Bits of Wolverine's nature surfaced over time: He could read and speak Japanese, he had a strong sense of personal honor, he became close friends with his teammate Nightcrawler, despite their many differences. He went by the name "Logan", without a surname, but it was unclear whether this was his real name. Wolverine became romantically interested in Cyclops' true love, Jean Grey, but the interest was never truly reciprocated. He later met and became engaged to Lady Mariko Yashida of a Japanese crime family. He was forced to kill her father in a duel and single-handedly destroyed his crime cartel. Mariko and Logan became estranged due to the strange honor customs of her family, and the manipulations of the villain Mastermind. Once they were finally reunited she was poisoned by Reiko, an assassin for the Yakuza. She begged Wolverine to end her life quickly rather than let her die a slow and painful death from the toxin, and he obeyed by using his claws to end her life. This changed Wolverine's character significantly, making him more disciplined and emotionally distant. At some point in the 1990s the adamantium in Wolverine's skeleton was forcibly removed by the supervillain Magneto, who had retaliated in response to Wolverine's attempt to kill him. Following this, Genesis kidnapped Wolverine and attempted to re-bond the metal to his skeleton. This was unsuccessful and caused Wolverine's mutation to accelerate out of control. He was temporarily changed into a semi-sentient beast-like form. In this form Wolverine was physically more powerful than he had ever been before, and far less stable, killing Genesis in the process. Finally, the villain Apocalypse kidnapped Wolverine, brainwashed him, and had the adamantium rebonded to his skeleton successfully. Wolverine overcame Apocalypse's brainwashing and returned to the X-Men. Wolverine's early life has been revealed gradually over time. His time as a captive and subject of the Weapon X project has been revealed as a time when he was entirely at the mercy of his dark, savage side. Finally, the story of his childhood was told in the miniseries Wolverine: Origin. He was born James Howlett, the son of a wealthy Canadian. When his mutant powers - particularly his claws - developed, he was exiled by his grandfather and became a nomad. It is unclear how much Wolverine recalls about his past, as his memories have been extensively tampered with. Today, Wolverine remains an integral part of the X-Men, He is also an officer of the mutant law enforcement agency the X-Treme Sanctions Executive (XSE), and a member of The New Avengers alongside other famous Marvel Comics heroes such as Captain America, Iron Man, and Spider-Man Superhuman powers Wolverine is a mutant with a number of both natural and artificial enhancements to his physiology. He regenerates and heals hundreds of times faster than a normal human. Thanks to this "healing factor," he has been able to completely recover from injuries which would prove fatal to most humans, even those with superhuman abilities. Over the years, this has increased in potency to the point where he can regenerate organs such as eyes, but he cannot regenerate limbs which have been completely severed. Other benefits of the healing factor include an effective immunity to most toxins (except in massive doses) or diseases, greatly improved stamina and hugely slowed aging (he was born in the late 1800s, and, from photos has changed little since World War II). However, the healing factor has also been hypothesized as the cause of his amnesia. Wolverine also possesses superhumanly acute senses that are comparable to those of certain animals, enabling him to see and hear distant objects more clearly than a normal human, and identify and track someone purely by scent. Although this may be seen as a separate ability, the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, an encyclopedia that was first produced by Marvel Comics in the 1980's, indicates that these heightened senses, which are only slightly less developed than those of Daredevil, are actually a result of his cellular regeneration. Wolverine's physical appearance also displays number of animal-like mutations, most notably, two fangs among his teeth, and six retractable claws housed within his forearms, which he can release from behind his knuckles (causing bleeding that is rapidly healed by his healing factor). Although claws in the animal kingdom are made of keratin, Wolverine's are made of bone, (which may have been a scientific error on the part of the writer who first established this fact in the 1990's). Wolverine's skeleton has been completely coated in the nigh-indestructable metal Adamantium, including the claws housed in his forearms. Due to the adamantium coating (which also maintains the cutting edge), the limiting factor on what he can cut through is based upon his own strength, rather than the resilancy of the claws. The adamantium coating on his skeleton interferes with his bones' ability to produce red blood cells, but is compensated by his accellerated cellular regeneration. Special skills Wolverine has extraordinary hand to hand combat ability, and, alongside Captain America and The Taskmaster, is considered one of the finest combatants on Earth. Japanese disciplines he has mastered influence his street-fighting technique. He is fluent in English, Japanese, Russian, Chinese, Lakota, and Spanish. It is also known that he has knowledge of several other foreign languages. He is also an accomplished pilot and extremely well trained in espionage and covert operations. In more recent stories it has been revealed that Wolverine has some skills at computer hacking. Television and film His voice was provided by Cathal J. Dodd in the X-Men animated television series, and in a series of video games through the 1990s. In the animated television series , his voice was provided by Scott McNeil. In the movies, he was played by Hugh Jackman. In the movie tie-in computer game X2: Wolverine's Revenge, his voice was provided by Mark Hamill. Enemies A handful of Wolverine's more notable and colorful foes: External links
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