It’s been a good year to be an X-Men
fan with the animated revival series X-Men
’97
and the upcoming third Deadpool
movie in the series with Deadpool & Wolverine due for release in
mere days. As you’d expect by now, today’s post will be focused on the MC2
incarnation of the mutant who’s the best there is at what he does: Wolverine
in the MC2.
The short, hairy, Canadian mutant known as Wolverine
first appeared in a cameo on the final page of Incredible Hulk #180
before making his first full appearance in Incredible Hulk #181,
where Wolverine reveals to the Hulk his
claws are ‘forged of diamond-hard Adamantium’..
We first see Wolverine without his mask in X-Men #98, which is
also where we first learned his claws came from within his body, not his
gloves. His current name ‘Logan’ was first used by a leprechaun in X-Men
#103, as odd as it might seem.
Logan clarifies he has a healing factor in X-Men
#116 and mention is made of his ‘unbreakable bones’
in X-Men #124 before X-Men #126 has Logan outright
state he has ‘a skeleton made of about three million bucks worth of Adamantium’.
We see this ‘Weapon X’ experiment play out in the pages of Marvel
Comics Presents #72-#84. Logan survives the experiment due
to his mutant healing factor but loses his memory.
Then we come to the X-Men storyline known as Fatal
Attractions, during which Magneto
returns to his villainous ways and uses his powers to rip the Adamantium
from Wolverine (X-Men (vol. 2) #25), nearly killing him and
shortly afterwards revealing Logan had bone claws beneath the Adamantium
the whole time (Wolverine (vol. 2) #75).
The final major point I need to touch upon is the fact that
despite the mini-series Wolverine: The Origin being published after the MC2
universe branched from the Main Marvel Universe, it’s revelations can or
may
be considered canon to the MC2 version of the character as it is the
resolution to a pre-existing and long-running plot about Wolverine’s
origin and past. The main take away for now, barring any future implementations
from ‘Origin’, is Logan’s real name was James Howlett and
he really is Canadian (The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe:
Alternate Universes 2005).
Now let’s get our claws into Wolverine in the MC2! With
the introduction of Rina Logan aka Wild Thing we also saw the
arrival of her father, Wolverine in J2 #5. Here we learn that Logan
is in a relationship with to Elektra Natchios when he heads to New
York to find their daughter after she targets J2 to learn what he
knows about the fate of the original Juggernaut. Logan arrives to
end the fight in his full classic yellow and blue costume (notably without
his X-Belt) and tells J2 that Jubilee
has vouched for him.
The next time we see Wolverine is in a flashback
where, after a few references to the original mutant team in the series, we get
our first glimpse of the X-Men in J2 #7 via a
flashback to 'The Last Days of the Original Juggernaut'. It's
here we learn Cain Marko aka the Juggernaut reformed
and joined the X-Men, eventually being lost on a mission while at
the Crossroads of Infinity though some details would remain
unrevealed. Wolverine leads the X-Men team that Cain
Marko joins and other teammates included Wolfsbane (Rahne
Sinclair), Synch (Everett Thomas), Siryn (Theresa
Cassidy) and 'Hopper'. As Rina mentioned in J2 #5, Logan
feels responsible for the disappearance of Marko.
Aside from single panel flashbacks to his early X-Men
adventures, Wolverine next appears in a fun two-page story from J2 #9
where he spars with Wild Thing, demonstrating just how proud he is of
his little girl.
We get a great issue featuring J2 on the road with Wolverine
when they journey to Madripoor seeking Logan’s daughter Rina
after receiving word she was there and assuming she’d been kidnapped. Zane,
a huge Wolverine fanboy, gets a very different experience than he
bargained for teaming up with his idol. The pair eventually learn Rina
is safe and sound with the mutant Daze and the mistress of magnetism Magneta,
with the latter attempting once again to recruit other mutants in hopes of
forming a super team (J2 #10).
In J2 #11, alongside Cyclops,
Logan and Elektra watch on Rina runs the gauntlet against Jubilee’s
team, the X-People. After Wild Thing proves herself, Jubilee
declares she has passed the initiation and may join the X-People as a
probationary member. Rina declines, stating she only did it because her
father asked her to which Cyclops remarks she reminds him of Logan.
In Wild Thing #1 briefly appears after Rina as
Wild Thing stops the kidnapping of her classmate Cameron
Bryce-Jones. Picking Rina up on his Harley Davidson bike, he
assures her that if she were ever kidnapped he would track her down himself and
let nothing stop him.
Around this time, Wolverine made an
appearance in Wild Thing #0 where in he calls upon Doctor
Strange to attempt to remove the cure of the Wendigo from
the land around Hudson Bay. With the aid of the Hulk, Wolverine and Wild
Thing, Doctor Strange successfully lifts the curse.
Rina and Logan spend some quality father-daughter
time together embracing their animal instincts until they encounter a member of
the other-dimensional demon race the N’Garai in the middle of Central
Park. The two manage to drive it back and destroy the cairn it used to
arrive before they head home (Wild Thing #4).
While bonding with his daughter Rina by tracking her
through the New Jersey Pine Barrens, Logan is the first super
hero to be abducted in a plot secretly masterminded by the Asgardian Loki (Spider-Girl
#85, Last Hero Standing #1-#2).
Under the dark influence of Loki’s enchantment, Wolverine
is among the super heroes who are returned to Earth and filled with
malice, engage their fellow heroes in battle. When Loki enthralls and
enrages the Hulk he fights the various assembled heroes including Wolverine.
In the end the sacrifice of Captain
America ultimately saves the day and Wolverine is among those
present to witness his death (Last Hero Standing #3-#5)
With Galactus enacting his final solution to
resolve his hunger and in the process destroy the universe, the combined forces
of the super hero community working to penetrate his force field and combat his
doomsday weapon’s launch. Wolverine is among the heroes who inadvertently
inspires The Vision
to finally join the fray, going against orders from President
G.W. Bridge. This issue also appear to be the only time Logan
interacts on-panel with his son, Hudson aka Sabreclaw (Last
Planet Standing #4). Wolverine soon after witnesses the birth of a
new entity composed of the Silver Surfer and Galactus which
could harness a new form of energy known as The Power Essential (Last Planet
Standing #5).
Wolverine’s last appearances are also cameos in
the pages of Avengers Next #4 and off-panel in #5.
When Loki's daughter Sylene attempts to
restore the devastated Asgard by recreating it on Earth,
she creates energy duplicates of various super humans to serve her
purposes. Logan is among those rendered comatose in the
process of creating these duplicates. When Sylene is
defeated, Wolverine’s duplicate dissipates, and Logan is
presumably restored.
I know I’m not alone in hoping we see more from the MC2
incarnation of Canada’s favourite son, especially given the Wild Thing
series was abruptly cancelled so we never got to see Sabreclaw, Wild
Thing and Wolverine together.
Until I can get early tickets to see Deadpool &
Wolverine to get ahead of spoilers, I remain
frogoat
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