Bone Claw Wolverine Was One of His Best Eras (but Marvel Shouldn’t Go Back to It)

Wolverine has one of the richest histories in Marvel Comics. The character was introduced as a man of mystery and the House of Ideas was able to stretch out revealing everything for years. He’s gone through a lot of changes over the years, becoming a more fully realizing character, and that’s paid off. Like every superhero, he’s lost a lot, including various aspects of his powers. Logan losing his healing factor because of technology or other mutants’ powers was a plot that readers had seen often over the ’70s and ’80s, but the ’90s would see his biggest powers change ever as he lost his adamantium skeleton and claws in 1993’s X-Men (Vol. 2) #25. The vaunted metal was gone for six years, with the ’90s giving Wolverine readers unique stories with the hero.

Wolverine’s bone claws years took away a big part of his invulnerability, and it led to some unique stories from writers Larry Hama, Chris Claremont, Warren Ellis, Erik Larsen, and many others. It was interesting to see how he dealt with the loss, how he would have to change his fighting style and the way he looked at the world. It was a great time to be a Wolverine fan, and lots of his readers have nostalgia for this era. That nostalgia is seemingly about to be paid off, as Marvel has announced that Wolverine (Vol. 8) #21 and #22 will see the ol’Canucklehead break his claws. The bone claw era of Wolverine was fantastic, but Marvel is making a huge mistake going back, and they’re doing it for the most cynical reason imaginable.

Bone Claw Wolverine Was a Great Idea but Repeating It Right Now Will Be a Disaster

Wolverine losing his adamantium was a massive shock in 1993. The X-Men had just gone through a major reboot two years before and X-Men: The Animated Series was a huge hit, with Logan being one of the most popular characters on the show. Taking away his unbreakable skeleton and the claws was a risky move that paid off for readers. At the time, Marvel was circling the Weapon X part of his life, revealing some things but holding back the stuff readers really wanted back. Losing his adamantium changed that.

Instead of Marvel editorial stopping Larry Hama from digging too deep into Wolverine, the bone claw years gave readers a different focus. There was the anticipation of how and when he’d get the metal back (most of us thought it would be issue #100), and the joy of watching new kinds of Wolverine stories. It was a fantastic time; even the feral regression stuff that came to distract fans away from thinking about when the adamantium was coming back was great at times. We got to see a new, vulnerable Logan and it worked better than anyone imagined.

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The bone claws years were honestly needed, but they aren’t right now. That’s not to say that Wolverine couldn’t use a shake-up, he just doesn’t need a shake-up that he’s already gone through. Honestly, we could start by getting an actual A-list writer who didn’t just tank Daredevil on his bok. Comics are a cyclical business. Ideas always come back and sometimes, it’s pretty cool; for example, Wolverine losing his healing factor in the mid ’10s was great because it introduced vulnerability to him after years of winning, playing off the loss of the adamantium years before. This isn’t that.

To begin with, Wolverine (Vol. 8) is one of the most maligned runs on the character ever. Much like the other current X-Men books, it’s banking on nostalgia completely, with writer Saladin Ahmed trying to write like Hama and completely failing. This book going back to the bone claw well isn’t shocking — the Adamantine storyline introduced a sentient magic metal that can control adamantium and it’s easy to see how this can be used to get rid of the metal — but right now, it’s a poisoned well. There’s nothing new here, it’s just a rehash, and it’s cynically obvious why it’s happening.

MCU Synergy Is Going to Ruin Wolverine

X-Men ’97‘s first season ended with Magneto tearing out Wolverine’s adamantium while the hero was wearing the brown and orange costume, when in the comics he was wearing the blue and yellow. Marvel just gave the hero a new costume in 2024, but now, as we get closer to X-Men ’97‘s return, he’s in the classic brown and orange and Marvel is teasing the return of the bone claws. MCU synergy has finally reared its ugly head among the X-Men, and it’s about to ruin Wolverine.

Wolverine (Vol. 8) is the worst the book has been in years, and is almost certainly one of the worst runs on the character ever. The book’s biggest problem is the writing and the bone claws are going to make that worse. The bone claw years worked for the character because of the writing, and the the writing just isn’t there right now. Wolverine needs a shot in the arm, but this isn’t it. Comics are cyclical, sure, but this is blatant ripping off the past for the slim chance that MCU fans will read comics. Marvel keeps thinking this works, but all it does is push away regular readers. Hopefully, this is a bait and switch, because this is going to make things even worse for the ol’Canucklehead.

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