# Wolverine's healing factor (and other questions) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 17, 2005, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wolverines-healing-factor-and-other-questions/295051 "2005-03-17T21:16:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wolverines-healing-factor-and-other-questions/295051/21 "2005-03-18T13:30:51Z")
> [@fiddlesticks](#): > > One complaint/question about the entry though…the paragraph which discusses Giant-Sized X-Men #1 says “the then-defunct X-Men comic book series”…was Uncanny X-Men really out of publication for a time before they brought in the new team, or is the better word “moribund”… Moribund is always the better word. It’s more esoteric. It has more sex appeal. I mean “defunct” it sounds like the profanity of a dead language. “defunct” It’s just an ugly word. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wolverines-healing-factor-and-other-questions/295051/22 "2005-03-18T15:05:33Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > Moribund is always the better word. It’s more esoteric. It has more sex appeal. I mean “defunct” it sounds like the profanity of a dead language. “defunct” It’s just an ugly word. Not true…I think defunct is a more popular word! After all…we want defunct. Gotta have dat defunct… (sorry) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wolverines-healing-factor-and-other-questions/295051/23 "2005-03-18T16:04:23Z")
By the way, Wolverine’s healing factor wasn’t originally part of his powers even in X-Men, it just kind of evolved. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wolverines-healing-factor-and-other-questions/295051/24 "2005-03-18T20:00:34Z")
> [@cckerberos](#): > > Interestingly enough, according to an interview with (IIRC) Len Wein, the creator of Wolverine for his first appearance, the original concept for him was that of a Canadian teenager (to go along with the teenager aspect of the new X-Men) as agile and strong as Spider-Man. Was that before or after the idea to have Wolverine (the Canuck) be a hyper-evolved wolverine (the animal)? I’m pretty sure I heard Claremont and Byrne debating that idea at one point. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wolverines-healing-factor-and-other-questions/295051/25 "2005-03-18T20:12:44Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > Was that before or after the idea to have Wolverine (the Canuck) be a hyper-evolved wolverine (the animal)? I’m pretty sure I heard Claremont and Byrne debating that idea at one point. I’ve heard that either Universe X or Paradise X reveal that Logan was originally an actual wolverine. They, and Earth X, revealed many crappy and stupid things which happily are not canon. ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wolverines-healing-factor-and-other-questions/295051/26 "2005-03-18T21:24:50Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > Was that before or after the idea to have Wolverine (the Canuck) be a hyper-evolved wolverine (the animal)? I’m pretty sure I heard Claremont and Byrne debating that idea at one point. I’ve never heard that before, but I imagine that idea would come after the concept I mentioned. The interview gives the impression that Claremont and Byrne only got involved with the character after his appearance in the Incredible Hulk. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wolverines-healing-factor-and-other-questions/295051/27 "2005-03-18T22:17:49Z")
> [@Dangerous Nan McGrew](#): > > Even if his strength isn’t “super”, he has other superhuman powers. Aside from his healing factor, there’s the super-acute senses. Figured I’d mention that, since **gytalf2000** asked about abilities. IIRC the explanation for the hyper-senses is that they’re a byproduct of the healing factor. His body constantly repairs what would otherwise be normal degradation of the sensory organs. At least that’s what it said back in the old Marvel Handbook from the miid-80s. God only knows what the explanation is now. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wolverines-healing-factor-and-other-questions/295051/28 "2005-03-19T00:42:50Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > Was that before or after the idea to have Wolverine (the Canuck) be a hyper-evolved wolverine (the animal)? I’m pretty sure I heard Claremont and Byrne debating that idea at one point. I remember hearing that—apparently, they were going to have it come out that the High Evolutionary had turned an actual wolverine into a superpowered human. They decided against it, so it never made it into his backstory…except during the story arc where Jean first died aboard a space shuttle, in which at one point, onboard a space station, some baddies doing a medical scan of Logan comment that his readings “aren’t quite human, but aren’t quite ‘mutant,’ either.” This was to to be foreshadowing of the “Dr. Moreau” revelation, but since that was abandoned by the writers, can just be written off as A.I.M. having miscalibrated tricorders. ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wolverines-healing-factor-and-other-questions/295051/29 "2005-03-19T05:45:34Z")
Just figured I"d toss out that according to the 2004 Official Handbook, Wolverine’s strength is rated as in the “Superhuman: 800 lbs to 25 tons” class. Pretty big range there; I’d guess that he falls closer to the 800 lbs. part. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wolverines-healing-factor-and-other-questions/295051.md?page=1)