Wolverine became the X-Men’s superstar slowly but surely, becoming more and more popular as the ’70s went on. The ’80s were the decade that he transcended every other Marvel hero (but Spider-Man) in popularity, and since then rode high on the hog. He’s been a member of every major Marvel team, has helmed numerous ongoing series (including several at once at various times over the years), starred in hundreds of miniseries and one-shots, and moved into the greater pop culture with cartoons, movies, and video games. He has one of the most varied histories in comics, and many of his best stories use that history brilliantly.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Over the years, some awesome pieces of Wolverine lore have become an important part of the character’s canon, but others have been left behind for whatever reason. Marvel loves nostalgia and Logan is popular as ever, so it’s about time to revisit these good old days. These seven pieces of Wolverine lore should be brought back, giving readers more of what they’re hungry for.
7) Shiva
Wolverine comics in the ’90s started to give readers pieces of his origin and introduced readers to Shiva. The android was created by the Weapon X Program and was programmed to kill anyone who dug into the project’s past. Wolverine fought one in Wolverine (Vol. 2) #50, and readers got to see a list of targets for the android. Sabretooth was attacked, but would defeat it, and then Shiva would just sort of fade away. Shiva and its control system is still out there somewhere, and it would be awesome to see it brought back for a cool blast from the past.
6) Team X
Team X was introduced to readers in X-Men (Vol. 2) #6. Back in the Cold War, Wolverine, Sabretooth, and Maverick were working together as a hit team for the West, battling the Soviets, and running afoul of Omega Red. We learned that the trio had numerous missions over the years, but we’ve actually seen very few of them. This period of the character’s history has so many stories to explore, and it’s weird that Marvel has never actually decided to tell more stories of Team X.
5) Solem
Wolverine faces some of the most dangerous villains out there, and one of the most underrated is Solem. He was introduced in the 2020’s “X of Swords”, and was established as a Arakkii rogue born with adamantium skin and was one of the most dangerous mutants in Arakko. He and Wolverine became enemies, with the Arakkii manipulating Logan and the two of them clashing. He was set up as the next major Wolverine villain, and he’s still out there, ready for his next close-up. He’s a villain who can work in so many different stories, and deserves all the attention in the world.
4) Weapon Plus
New X-Men revolutionized the X-Men, and it also gave creators an all-new aspect of Wolverine that has never been explored as much as it could be. Weapon Plus was the program Weapon X evolved into, creating more and more advanced mutant weapons by manipulating time and genetics at levels impossible before. We’ve seen it show up numerous times, but it’s rarely featured as part of Wolverine solo stories. Weapon X stories are kind of played out by now, but new Weapon Plus stories can go in similar directions without stepping on all of the same plot points.
3) Wolverine as the Horseman of Death
At the end of 1999, the X-books built up to a big millennium ending story with Apocalypse. A new Death appeared in Astonishing X-Men (Vol. 2), killing Wolverine at the end of the series. It would soon be revealed that Death was the actually Logan, stolen by the Skrulls while the X-Men were stuck in time and given to Apocalypse. The mutant spent a short time as Death, but we don’t see it brought up very often. We’ve rarely if ever gotten any flashbacks to it, even though we definitely could have by now. Logan proved to be one of Apocalypse’s most powerful Horsemen, and it would be cool to get an adventure from that period.
2) The Gweilo
Wolverine has a long history with the black ops world, and has known many of the most prolific hired killers in the world. The most dangerous he ever met was Roddy McLeish, a Scottish assassin known as the White Ghost, or the Gweilo among the Chinese. He could figure out how to kill anyone, and was one of the few people that Logan was afraid of. The two eventually clashed, and Wolvie was able to win, killing the mercenary, but only after almost being murdered several times. However, we don’t really know anything about their history, and it would be interesting to get a story dealing with their past dalliances.
1) The Feral Mutation Years
Marvel loves two things: the ’90s X-Men stories and putting out nostalgia miniseries. Wolverine has had several of those over the last five years, taking readers back to his Patch days, his Madripoor adventures with Captain America and Black Widow, and a forgotten fight against Mister Sinister and the Marauders. However, there’s a cool era that Marvel should go back to that doesn’t get the credit it deserves: the feral mutation years. This period lasted from about Wolverine (Vol. 2) #91 to #118, after which point it’s mostly ignored, and doesn’t get completely fixed until issue #145. There are lots of cool times that creators could go back to in this period, telling all kinds of great Logan stories.
What’s you favorite piece of Wolverine lore? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!
Most Viewed
-
Image Courtesy of Toei Animation
