An Abridged History of Wolverine, Pt 1
It’s said that Wolverine is the best at what he does, and what he does isn’t very nice. But being the best at something doesn’t mean that he enjoys it.
Wolverine is one of the most famous superheroes out there, and for good reason. He’s a nigh-unstoppable hunter, able to charm many women despite his short size and gruff demeanor, and out of all his teammates/found family on the X-Men, he’s the most well-known. And he isn’t even one of the original members! As cool as he is, though, anyone with more than a passing knowledge of Wolverine will know how messed up his life has been. He’s endured experiences that would break other people dozens of times over long before he ever joined the X-Men. It’s not a very happy story, but it explains why he’s one of the most complex characters in comic book lore.
I’m RJ Writing Ink for The Game of Nerds, and this is the abridged history of Wolverine. Emphasis on abridged, as his life spans half a century of comics and twice that much in-universe.
But first, let’s talk about how he came to be in real life.
How Wolverine (And the X-Men) Became Famous
Despite being most famously associated with the X-Men, Wolverine’s first appearance had nothing to do with them. Created by Len Wein and John Romita Jr, he first appeared in issues #180 and #181 of The Incredible Hulk in late 1974. Why? Because at the time, the X-Men were on the verge of being forgotten. Despite their prominence today, their first comics were among the least popular Marvel Comics had to offer. It got to the point where their actual series had been canceled four years earlier.
Thankfully, in the following year, Marvel decided to revamp the X-Men with an all-new roster, introduced in the legendary Giant Size X-Men #1. Under the direction of writer Chris Claremont, who stayed with them for a whopping sixteen years, the X-Men would go from bottom of the barrel into Marvel’s most popular superhero team, and Wolverine played a big role in the whole thing.
Now, on with the story.
Origin Story
The one who would be known to the world as “Logan” or the Wolverine was born James Howlett near the end of the 19th century to a wealthy family in Alberta, Canada. A sickly child with a mentally unstable mother, Logan’s only real friends were his hired companion, Rose, and Dog, the son of their groundskeeper, Thomas Logan. Unfortunately, Thomas was an abusive man who regularly beat his son. When Dog tried to take his anger out on Rose, that got him and Thomas banished from the estate.
The Logan’s response? Break in, try to convince James’ mother (who had cheated on her husband with Thomas) to run away with them, and kill Mr. Howlett when he tried to intervene. And James saw all of it. The trauma of which kickstarted his mutant powers, making bone claws pop out of his knuckles and leading him to kill Thomas in a rage. He saw his legal father and biological father die in one night, the latter by his own hands.
After that, James and Rose fled, with Logan’s new healing factor surpressing the memory for a time. It would not be the last.
James and Rose tried to start over in a mining town, with James adopting the name Logan that most know him by. However, Dog tracked them down to get revenge for his father’s death. A fight ensued and, tragically, Rose died when she was impaled on Logan’s claws. Combined with him remembering what happened that night, Logan became horrified with who he was and fled into the wilderness. There he would live with a pack of wolves for some years while being hunted by Dog, but this would not last forever. For shadowy figures were starting to take notice of what Logan could do.
Turned into a Weapon
Eventually, Logan returned to civilization, but he would not find peace for the next century. He became a soldier, a warrior, and assassin fighting through the many wars of the 20th century. In doing so, he also wound up meeting and working alongside many people who would influence the age of superheroes. He fought alongside Captain America and Bucky, even saving the former from the Hand at one point. He worked alongside the likes of Nick Fury during the Cold War, and even Ben Grimm during his days with the USAF. Heck, he even work alongside Richard and Mary Parker, AKA the parents to your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.
Eventually, though, Logan found himself back in Canada and working for a black ops group called Department K. When he tried to leave, they handed him over to a project called Weapon X. Inspired by the procedure that made Captain America, they hoped to make their own supersoldiers. And thanks to Logan’s healing factor, they could do whatever they wanted without fear of killing him.
Their response to this? They repressed a massive chunk of his memories and proceeded to forcibly coat his bones in the nigh-indestructible metal called adamantium, giving him the signature claws that he would be known for. That proved a huge mistake, though, as he quickly broke free, killed a ton of their staff, and escaped into the wilderness. Except now, he was more animal than man. A couple on a hiking trip by the name of the Hudson’s would find him and bring him back to civilization, but while he regained his sanity, he couldn’t regain most of his lost memories. But they did the next best thing: they got him a job.
Becoming the Wolverine
Mr. Hudson ended up becoming the head of Department H, the Canadian Government’s official means to oversee all superhero activity in the country. Realizing how tough Logan was, Mr. Hudson recruited him to work to the Department, giving him his first costume and the codename that the world would come to know him as: the Wolverine.
And that’s just the first part of his story. The history of Wolverine is so long that, even abridged, I’m going to have to break it up into three parts! Trust me, though. It will be worth it. Because there are forces lurking in the shadows that are messing with Wolverine’s life, and when they show themselves, his world will change!
