I used to read some X-men comics several years ago,and with the recent movie my interest in a unresolved plot was piqued.
Did the comic ever answer the question of Wolverine’s origin?
I remember lots of things,he had no idea how old he was possibly several hundred years,he may have fought in the revolutionary war,at some point he was enhanced with the adamantium,claws etc.
Was the movie faithful?
Wolverine’s childhood and teen years at least were shown in the limited series “Origin” currently available in HC and TPB form. I suggest reading it before reading any spoilers but if you insist…
Whe was born in the mid-1800’s I do believe, with the name James Howlett. He took the Logan name when he went on the run with his friend Rose and worked at a logging camp in Canada.
This series didn’t get to the Weapon X/adamantium part of his life, but did show his first surprise use of the claws when he accidentally killed his father in a fit of rage. So the movie didn’t really touch on anything the mini would have.
Weren’t his claws part of the adamantium added as Weapon X?
Originally, they were part of his gloves when the character was first created. Then, when he joined the X-Men in Giant Sized X-Men, they rewrote the character to have an adamantium skeleton and claws built into his forearms. This was the standard belief for, oh, 30 years or so. Marvel Card Series 2 had a Weapons set, in which they gave a nice description of how his claws work. They were manufactured by the Weapon X program, installed into his forearms, and that was that.
Then Magneto ripped out his adamantium, and some dipshit f#*k of a writter caved to peer preasure of people who believe that “Wolverine just isn’t Wolverine without his claws” so they came up with the whole bone claw concept, which in my mind is the WORSTE rewrite the character has ever received.
That was until Origins came out. Really, really, REALLY crappy story (reads something like The Lost Garden meets The Power of One meets every trite cliche in comic book history) where they built up the fact Logan was actually a sickly little rich kid who’s mother was bonking the gardener, who resembled Logan and who’s name was, ::GASP::, Thomas Logan. Apparently, he had an older brother who was sickly and developed claws as well, but the family killed him when he attacked the mother. He also had a half brother who was Thomas’s son to his legitimate wife, but he somehow escaped any form of mutation, even though as a child, he looked just like Logan as well. Bad stuff happens, Jame’s mutation comes out, all his parents die (legitimate and otherwise), and he and the red headed nursery mate, Rose, run away. He takes up the name Logan, lives in a mining colony for several years, where Rose falls in love with the foreman, Logan goes crazy in a jealous rage, starts to accept his mutation, tries to help Rose and her new husband to be get money to move away, gets in a fight with his half brother who, for some reason 20 years later, is paid by his grandfather to hunt James down and kill him, and in the process, accidentally kills Rose. He then runs off into the woods to live with a pack of wolves.
Somewhere down the line, he rejoins society, fights in WWI where he meets Bloodthorn(? The vampire who’s been hunting him ever since), then joined the Canadian Military and fought as covert ops in WWII (according to X-Men/WildCATS Gold and a few old issues of X-Men). Then, he got involved with Team X (why that name, who knows?) where he first teamed up with Creed and Mavrik, I believe is his name (showed up in X-Men #5; has the ability to see various futures; should have died of legacy virus, but then got his own series, got better and developed new powers and shitty storyline, hasn’t been heard from since). At some point during this, he signed up for the Weapon X project, had his skeleton laced with Adamantium, went insane, killed everyone involved in the project (mostly), and ran off into the woods. Later attacked the leaders of AlphaFlight while they were hicking. They shot him, nursed him back to help, brought him back into the folds of society, and he joined Alpha Flight. Then he joined the X-Men.
That’s the jist of it. When they removed his adamantium, they had the opportunity to do some really great stuff with his character. Instead, they pissed all over it and just made his past even more convoluted than it was beforehand. I hate the whole concept of the bone claws (can you tell?), and find Origins to be absolutely terrible. First off, I’m a little biased because obviously, I think the premise sucked (everything revolves around the bone claws, which were a 30 year afterthought to the character that just came out of unimaginative bong resign at the base of Marvel’s writer’s skull), but the storyline was rehashed and dull. Like I said, the beginning was just like The Secret Garden. Young girl sent to take care of sick little wealthy kid, they befriend the gardener’s boy and have happy fun times teaching Sickly McSickerson he can still have fun and be a normal boy. The end of the story got rushed, was predictable, and just really ruined the character. I’ve only seem them draw allusions to it twice so far, but I don’t read comics much anymore, so I don’t know.
The Weapon X/mysterious past concept was much, MUCH better, and should have been left alone.
In his first appearance they were part of the costume, or at least, it looked that way.
When they introduced him as a standard character, they were surprised to learn (not Wolverine, the X-Men) that the claws were built in.
It was revealed the Weapon X program attached them.
Then Wolverine got his adamantium forcibly and rapidly removed by Magneto. He now had bone claws.
They retconned it into his character background.
And my spelling is the WORSTE ever.
That should be “worst”.
Thank you.
Also, I believe the cover to X-Men #4 with Wolverine Fightin Omega Red has a nice shot of Logan’s arm ripped open, and a good shot of the sheeths for his claws. If their developement was a complete shock because they didn’t know he had claws, why would they build sheeths for them?
Stupid, stupid re-write.
Ugh. I’m sorry I asked.
Man, am i fortunate to have been a comic-book loving teen in the 80s and then lost interest with age to the point of not caring what’s happened to comics since then. That, and now my generation has reached an age where they can make really cool movies based on the comics we loved back then.
I thought I heard somewhere that Wolverine got his adamantium back recently.