Wolverine has been going through it lately. The Krakoa Era ended with him yet again losing a place that he thought of as home, something that should be pretty normal for him by now. Since then, he’s joined the New Orleans X-Men, tussled with Department H, trained some new Morlocks, had a dalliance with Silver Sable, and had a battle against the Adamantine, a magical metal that adamantium was based off of, that ended up involving Hercules and a bunch of multiversal “wild champions” who had fought the Adamantine on their Earths. This fight saw the claws on his right hand shattered and that was the only beginning of his problems, as his healing factor went kaput as well.
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Wolverine (Vol. 8) #21-22, by Saladin Ahmed and Julius Ohta (who probably should take over as regular artist; he blows Martin Coccolo’s generic style out of the water), started out with a vacation with Nightcrawler, led to a fight with the Absorbing Man, and then the appearance of Taskmaster, who boasted Wolverine’s healing factor. Issue #23 ends that fight, as Logan realizes that someone in Department H stole the tech that took away his powers and gave it to Taskmaster. After the battle, the ol’Canucklehead is able to track down the person who stole his powers, a Department H scientist who infected himself with what he calls the “Post virus” and wanted to use Wolverine’s healing factor to fix it. However, as Logan is about to have him give him his powers back, he transforms, becoming an enemy that Wolvie and the X-Men haven’t faced in a long time – Post.
Post Was Sold as the Next Big Thing But Fizzled Out
The ’90s were the X-Men’s time, when they were basically the engine of the Marvel Universe. Creators were given carte blanche to create new mutants – as much because of toy sales as anything else (Toy Biz was in business with Marvel at the time and bought the company in 1998). Reading an X-Men comic before the Marvel bankruptcy meant that there was a good chance you were going to meet a new character. They were always hyped as the next big thing and some of them even lived up to that, if only for a little while. The comic buying community was mutant crazy – there were people like me, who bought nearly every book with an X on it (so, the next time Marvel makes you happy, remember to thank ’90s X-fans – we’re the only reason the company still exists).
1995’s “Age of Apocalypse” was massive and Marvel decided to follow it up with a story that would shake the Marvel Universe to its core. 1996 was the year of “Onslaught” and the House of Ideas spent the rest of ’95 after “Age of Apocalypse” laying the groundwork for it. This included X-Men (Vol. 2) #50, by Scott Lobdell and Andy Kubert. In this issue, Wolverine, Storm, Cyclops without his visor, and Iceman in ice form with a hole in his chest wake up in a wasteland and are soon attacked by the person who stole them from the X-Mansion: Post. This massive mutant smacked the team around as the astral form of Onslaught watched the X-Men. The four of them were able to escape Post, but fans were hyped for when they’d see him next.
However, when “Onslaught” finally rolled around, the character we were told in X-Men #50 was the Herald of Onslaught didn’t appear fighting alongside his master. I haven’t read the story in a long time (in fact, I only just got the original issues back after selling the ones I bought 30 years ago), but he didn’t really appear in any of the main issues of the story, the “Phases”. He would disappear completely until 1998’s “Hunt for Xavier”, when he showed up as a member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, which were being led by Xavier. In 2000’s Cable (Vol. 1) #87, he attacked Senator Robert Kelly and was killed, lasting about four years in total.
Post’s powers were pretty ill-defined. He was a mutant with super strength that worked with Cable’s Wild Pack in the past. He was injured and Cable used his techno-organic virus to save him. The T-O virus completely rewrote his system, giving him platelet-like armor that he could shape into a variety of weapons. The scientist in Wolverine #23 must have gotten his hands on a sample of Post’s version of the virus, which he transforms into a new version of the villain at the end issue. Wolverine has tangled with someone with Post’s powers before; he was without his adamantium, but at least had his healing factor. This time, the fight may go very differently, but there’s a hidden ace in the hole for the ol’Canucklehead – Alpha Flight was on the way to get the scientist.
The Last Thing Wolverine Needs Is a Post In His Way
Wolverine has been having a tough time of things lately (not the least of which is being written by Ahmed; the book has been remarkably uneven since he took over). He lost three of his claws and his healing factor went caput. The Adamantine is defeated (seemingly; it feels like the closest the run has to a big bad) and the Department H plot that’s been built since the beginning of the book is seemingly ending in the next issue, which will feature Alpha Flight. This healing factor story was just a way station in a run that keeps trying to be Larry Hama in 1995 and can’t even sniff that kind of greatness.
However, the introduction, or in this case re-introduction, of Post is an interesting little development that could pay off in the long run. The original Post was a massive disappointment; I bought X-Men (Vol. 2) #50 back then and was waiting for him to blow up and get the spotlight it seemed he was meant for. While it’s doubtful this will mean anything in the long run in the X-Men comics – we have MCU synergy incoming, folks – it’s a great little callback for older fans who picked up a book with a shiny cover waaaay back in 1995 and wondered what happened to that guy.
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