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.. Yet Chris Claremont and John Byrne, the creative team 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 characters such as Cyclops and Thunderbird 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.

The first issue of the 1980s Wolverine mini-series

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.

Fictional 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, who 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.

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. 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.

Wolverine eventually made peace with Alpha Flight and remained a member of the X-Men.

At some point in the 1990s the adamantium in Wolverine's skeleton was forcibly removed by the supervillain Magneto. 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.

Wolverine remains an integral part of the X-Men, despite having decapitated someone who was believed to be Magneto for killing Jean Grey, resulting in a rift between himself, Cyclops, and Professor X. He is also an officer of the mutant law enforcement agency the X-Treme Sanctions Executive (XSE), and a member of The New Avengers.

Superhuman powers

Wolverine is a mutant with a number of both natural and artificial enhancements to his physiology:

Wolverine possesses superhumanly acute senses that are comparable to those of certain animals. His vision enables him, for example, to read written words on a paper at a distance of 100 feet. Wolverine is also able to see perfectly in complete darkness, possibly even into the infra-red spectrum. Wolverine's sense of smell is so sensitive, he can detect the distinctive chemical differences in different brands of deodorant which, seemingly, have the same scent. He is able to use his keen sense of smell to track targets with scents several days old, even if their scent has been diluted somewhat by natural erosion. His sense of hearing is only slightly less developed than that of Daredevil. For example, he is able to detect the normal breathing or heartbeat of an individual at a distance of 200 feet.

Wolverine possesses retractable claws that are housed in his forearms. At will Wolverine can release these claws through the skin between the knuckles on each hand. The skin between the knuckles tears and bleeds, but is quickly healed by his healing factor. The claws are composed of the same dense bone as the rest of his skeleton and are capable of slicing through any known material, with the probable exception of Adamantium itself.

Wolverine possesses an accelerated healing factor based on his physiology. Ordinary humans heal from injuries over an extended period of time, however Wolverine's "healing factor" greatly increases that natural process. Wolverine's healing powers have enabled him to completely recover from injuries which would prove fatal to most humans, even those with superhuman abilities. For example, Wolverine's healing powers have enabled him to survive having half the bones in his body broken and the majority of his internal organs smashed into paste, and completely recover within a period of no more than 30 seconds. In the past, Wolverine's healing factor has displayed the ability to regenerate massive amounts of damaged or destroyed tissue, such as healing him from recieving 3rd degree burns over most of his body within seconds, with even his facial and body hair regenerating to their original length. Wolverine has proven capable of regenerating missing or badly damaged organs in the past, such as having completely regenerated a missing eye on several occassions. It has been theorized that Wolverine's healing powers could regenerate missing limbs, but this has never been verified.

Wolverine's body is in a state of constant cellular regeneration, possibly due to or related to his healing factor, that enhances many of his body's natural abilities. Without the adamantium, Wolverine is roughly as strong as Captain America (who can lift, or military press, 800 pounds, the maximum amount a human being can lift in the Marvel Universe without being considered superhuman). The adamantium has doubtlessly increased the tensile strength of his bones to enable them to handle much greater pressure. This, combined with his natural strength, should probably allow him to lift somewhere between 1,500 and 2,000 pounds. Wolverine's agility and reflexes have also been enhanced to levels which are beyond the reach of ordinary human beings. Due to the effects of his healing powers, Wolverine's body produces considerably less fatigue toxins than that of an ordinary human being. It is theorized that Wolverine can perform at peak capacity for a period of several days before fatigue begins to impair him. Finally, Wolverine's natural aging process has been severely altered when compared to that of an ordinary human. It is known that Wolverine fought in both World War I and II and photos of him from those time periods shows that his looks are identical to those he possesses now. Wolverine has aged little, if any at all, during the last 100 years.

Finally, Wolverine's entire skeletal structure has been infused with a metal known as Adamantium. Adamantium is an iron based alloy created by famed metallurgist Dr. Myron McClain and is the most durable substance ever produced by man. For all intents and purposes, Adamantium is virtually indestructible. A sufficient amount could the impact of multiple nuclear explosions without possessing a single,microscopic, scratch. Wolverine's bone claws have also been bonded with Adamantium, rendering them as indestructible as the rest of his skeleton. The natural curvature of Wolverine's claws give them a type of natural sharpness that has only been greatly enhanced by the Adamantium. Wolverine's Adamantium claws are capable of slicing through any known material, with the probable exception of Adamantium itself.

Special skills

Wolverine is an extraordinary hand to hand combatant, on par with Captain America, and is highly skilled and familiar with virtually every known fighting style on Earth. 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 X-Men: Evolution, 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:

• Brotherhood of Evil Mutants
• Cyber
• Genesis
• Dog Logan
• The Hand
• The Hellfire Club
• Lady Deathstrike
• Mister X
• Ogun
• Omega Red
• The Reavers
• Roughhouse and Bloodscream
• Sabretooth
• Shingen Harada
• Silver Samurai
• Thomas Logan
• Viper
• Weapon X
• Wendigo

External links

• Wolverine's official page at Marvel Comics (http://www.marvel.com/catalog/listing.htm?category=WOLVERINE)
• An Unofficial chronology of his life based on various stories (http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/7160/byrd.html)