Wolverine (comics)

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Publication history

Wolverine first appeared in Incredible Hulk #180 (October 1974), in the final panel (enshrouded by darkness) of an issue written by Len Wein and illustrated by Herb Trimpe. His full introduction was in the next issue, #181 (November 1974. He appeared in a costume designed by John Romita, Sr: yellow-and-blue spandex which didn't particularly resemble a true wolverine; and sporting foot-long metal claws. His introduction left an ambiguous impression, revealing little more than that he was an agent of the Canadian government with superhuman powers. The basic facts about the character had not been established.

Related Topics:
Incredible Hulk - October - 1974 - Len Wein - Herb Trimpe - November - John Romita, Sr - Wolverine - Claw - Canadian - Superhuman

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Wolverine next appeared in Giant-Sized X-Men #1 (1975), in which he joined the X-Men. Written by Wein and drawn by Dave Cockrum (who altered Wolverine's mask), the issue was successful enough to revive the title, starting with #94 (August 1975), drawn by Cockrum but written by Chris Claremont. Wolverine was initially overshadowed by the other characters, and, as the series progressed, Claremont even considered dropping the character.

Related Topics:
1975 - Dave Cockrum - August - Chris Claremont

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However John Byrne, Cockrum's replacement as artist on The Uncanny X-Men, took it upon himself to champion the character. Himself a Canadian, Byrne did not appreciate the suggestion of dropping a Canadian character. One of his ideas 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 established, as was his unstable nature, which he battled to keep in check. To further deepen the character, Claremont and Byrne presented Wolverine as having crush on Jean Grey, (a subplot that has been revisited), the team leader Cyclops' girlfriend. This caused tension within the team dynamic, especially as Cyclops was written as a more cautious character, allowing another avenue for writers to develop tension, as well as adding a new dimension to the character. Byrne also designed a new, brown-and-tan costume for Wolverine, keeping the distinctive Cockrum-designed cowl. The new look succeeded and the readers' interest began to climb.

Related Topics:
John Byrne - Alpha Flight - Jean Grey

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Following Byrne's departure, Wolverine remained with the X-Men, written by Claremont. By this point he was becoming popular with regular comic book readers, 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).

Related Topics:
Mini-series - Frank Miller - September - December - 1982 - Kitty Pryde and Wolverine - Al Milgrom - November - 1984 - April - 1985

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The success of these books prompted Marvel to launch a solo book for Wolverine, written by Claremont, with art by John Buscema, in November 1988. In addition to the Wolverine comic book and his appearances in the various X-Men comic books, two other stories have been published which serve to expand upon the character's past; Weapon X (by Barry Windsor-Smith, which was serialised in Marvel Comics Presents #72-84, 1991); and the Origin six issue mini-series (by Bill Jemas, Joe Quesada, Paul Jenkins and Andy Kubert, 2002).

Related Topics:
John Buscema - 1988 - Weapon X - Barry Windsor-Smith - Marvel Comics Presents - 1991 - Origin - Bill Jemas - Joe Quesada - Paul Jenkins - Andy Kubert - 2002

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Wolverine has also proven one of the most popular X-Men in other media, being one of the most prominent characters in the X-Men movies, and one of the main characters in each of the X-Men cartoons. For more details, see In Other Media section below.

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