Wolverine #8 also just so happens to be the 400th issue Wolverine solo comic, and Marvel has gone all out to make it an event. The issue, by Saladin Ahmed, Martin Cocolo, and Daniel Warren Johnson, closes out the current Adamantine storyline, giving Wolverine a whole new foe. Meanwhile, Wolverine also has to deal with his new sidekick, a teen named Leonard who has become the Wendigo, and the story ends with Wolverine receiving a shock he never expected. At a hotel room with a six-pack, Wolverine is surprised by a knock at the door. He finds a letter which reveals that the last person anyone would expect — whether it be Wolverine or the readers — is alive: Elizabeth Howlett, Wolverine’s mother.
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Fans were introduced to Wolverine’s mother in 2000’s Origin, the book that told the story of young James Howlett, the man who would one day be known as Logan. Elizabeth’s part in the story is one of the more tragic parts of a book that traded in tragedy. Elizabeth’s return in the Wolverine comics isn’t anything that anyone asked for, but it could still lead to some very interesting places for the ol’Caknucklehead.
Elizabeth Howlett Is the First Major Tragedy of Wolverine’s Life
Origin‘s inaugural setting was the Howlett Estate. The Howlett family was wealthy, but there were a lot of secrets. James Sr. was feckless and oblivious as his wife Elizabeth had an affair with groundskeeper Thomas Logan. This affair produced young James, and perhaps even the dead John Howlett, a sickly little boy who the family usually had a governess for. This was the first look at the Logan family, although Uncanny Avengers (Vol. 1) #6 introduced readers to another member of the Logan family that had the same look as both Thomas and James in the future. James once walked in on his mother getting dressed and witnessed the claw scars that his real father left all over her body. One fateful night, Thomas and his son Dog attack the Howlett Estate, meaning to kill James Sr. and Jr., and take Elizabeth Howlett with them after robbing the house. James Jr.’s mutant powers manifested that night, and he went into a berserker rage, one that saw him kill Thomas, and scar both Dog and Elizabeth. Elizabeth went crazy at the sight of her son’s claws, and kicked him and his nurse Rose off the estate. After they left, she killed herself with Thomas’s gun. Or at least that’s what we thought.
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Wolverine #8 sees her letter reveal that she wanted to tell Wolverine how she survived, but that would have wait until they met. Now, there are several ways Elizabeth could have survived. The first is something that was revealed in the Krakoa Era. Basically, Wolverine’s healing factor is carried in his blood and if he gives it to someone with the same blood type as him, they gain it for a short period time. Powers of X revealed that in Moira MacTaggert’s sixth life, she was able to survive a thousand years through these transfusions. Thomas and Elizabeth could have the same blood type, and maybe his leaking blood saved her and somehow imbued her with the healing factor. The other possibility is one that only very old Wolverine fans will remember. In the mid ’00s series Wolverine: The End, it was revealed by the White Ghost that Elizabeth was where his mutant genes came from. Perhaps Elizabeth had the healing factor the whole time, and that’s how she survived. It would make sense, since Thomas’s son Dog never had a healing factor. Wolverine: The End was also written by Origin writer Paul Jenkins, which is another point in its favor.
Elizabeth’s Survival Changes Everything for Wolverine
The current run of Wolverine is the definition of average. While the Adamantine was a pretty good idea, it only served to bring back a bunch of Wolverine villains, including the lackluster Romulus, and give Wolverine a new godlike big bad. The Wendigo sidekick idea was pretty cool, but it ended in Wolverine #8. This book needs something to give it a kick in the pants, and the return of Elizabeth Howlett may be what the book needs.
It’s hard to figure out what they’re going to do with Elizabeth. They’re almost certainly going to reveal that she’s a mutant or has gained superpowers, but that’s the only obvious thing. However, one thing is for sure — this is a huge shock. Not one Wolverine fan ever would have figured that she was going to come back, and that might mean this development will take Wolverine to some new places. Of course, it could be another story that fizzles out, which has been a problem with Wolverine so far.
Wolverine #8 is on sale now.
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Image courtesy of Peacock
