006 - The Lost Years (version 2.3)
Humberto Ramos and Carlos Cuevas,Wolverine (Vol. 2) #48.
© and ™ by Marvel Characters, Inc.
After his defeat at the hands of Sabretooth, Logan disappears into the wilds of Canada for a time to lick his wounds…
Uncanny X-Men #172 (Aug 1983) – “Scarlet in Glory”
Writer: Chris Claremont; Penciler: Paul Smith; Inker: Bob Wiacek
In conversation with Storm, Logan refers to himself as “…a roughneck Canadian mountain man.”
Marvel Comics Presents #117 (1992) – “Dream a Little Dream… of Me”
Writer: Howard Mackie; Artist: Sam Keith
Professor Xavier assists Logan with his nightmares by creating a psychic environment that Logan is comfortable
with. As Logan notes, “Just me and a big overgrown jungle. Just like the good ol' days.”
...After a time of seclusion, it seems that Logan enlists in the Canadian military to fight in World War I...
Wolverine (Vol. 2) #25 (Apr 2005) – “Enemy of the State, Part 6”
Writer: Mark Millar; Penciller: John Romita, Jr; Inker: Klaus Janson
Wolverine tells Rachel Summers that he is not afraid of death, “…it would be a relief after two World
Wars.” So it seems that Logan did, in fact, participate in World War I.
…During his army training, Logan meets a man who will later be known as Cyber…
Marvel Comics Presents #85 (1991) – “Blood Hungry, Part One: First Scent”
Writer: Peter David; Artist: Sam Keith
When a Cyber, a psychotic assassin, arrives in Madripoor, Wolverine catches wind of
his scent. "A scent just entered the air... faint. Can almost taste it. A scent... just beyond memory." With Wolverine's remarkable ability
to place scents, it seems reasonable to believe that this scent is from his distant past.
Marvel Comics Presents #86 (1991) – “Blood Hungry, Part Two: Two Scents Worth”
Writer: Peter David; Artist: Sam Keith
Cyber, claiming to have psionic powers, recognizes Wolverine from his brain patterns and states,
"I'd thought I'd left him for dead." When Wolverine comes face-to-face with Cyber, he tells him, "You don't know how many years I've waited
for this!" To which Cyber responds, "Yes I do. I was there, when you tried to kill me last time." It seems odd that Cyber is not surprised
to find Logan as Wolverine. The only explanation, considering he thought Logan was dead for such a long time, is that Cyber was familiar with Wolverine
and quickly realizes that Logan and Wolverine are one in the same person. Similarly, Wolverine is not surprised to find his old foe with an adamantium skin.
Again, it is possible that Wolverine knew of this transformation and confronts his old foe under his new guise.
Marvel Comics Presents #87 (1991) – “Blood Hungry, Part Three: Three Scents Worth”
Writer: Peter David; Artist: Sam Keith
After getting disemboweled in fight by Cyber, Wolverine
endures feverish dreams of his past with Cyber. While they don't seem to make much sense on the surface, we can piece together
that at one time, Logan and Cyber were rivals of a sort over a girl named Janet.
Marvel Comics Presents #88 (1991) – “Blood Hungry, Part Four: Four Scents Worth”
Writer: Peter David; Artist: Sam Keith
Wolverine continues to endure feverish dreams of his past with Cyber. It seems that
Cyber was a teacher or trainer of sorts for Logan and their rivalry over Janet ended in her death. Further, it seems that Cyber challenged Logan's courage.
Marvel Comics Presents #89 (1991) – “Blood Hungry, Part Five: Five Scents Worth”
Writer: Peter David; Artist: Sam Keith
As Wolverine's feverish dreams of his past with Cyber come to end, it becomes apparent that Cyber
manhandled Logan in a fight.
Marvel Comics Presents #90 (1991) – “Blood Hungry, Part Six: Six Scents”
Writer: Peter David; Artist: Sam Keith
Logan reveals to Tiger Tyger that Cyber was “…an old associate. Someone
I looked up to in my misbegotten youth. Then we had a falling out. A woman was involved. It got ugly. Things were said. Things
were done. Scars were left… He beat me.” It seems that Cyber beat him so badly that he can barely remember the events, noting
that Cyber left him for dead without working up a sweat.
Marvel Comics Presents #91 (1991) – “Blood Hungry, Part Seven: Seven (and a Half) Scents”
Writer: Peter David; Artist: Sam Keith
Cyber taunts Logan noting, "You always were a slow learner."
Marvel Comics Presents #92 (1991) – “Blood Hungry, Part Eight: Eight Scents Worth ”
Writer: Peter David; Artist: Sam Keith
While Cyber and Wolverine fight, Cyber asks, "Remember the old days? Remember what
I did to you, Logan?" Wolverine responds by cutting out Cyber's eye, adding "An eye for an eye... It's more than a metaphor... You took
something from me, and finally -- finally -- we're even."
Marvel Comics Presents #134 (Early Aug 1993) – “Brothers in Arms, Part 3: Chain Reaction”
Writer: Dan Slott; Artist: Steve Lightle
Cyber reminds Wolverine that he was Logan's teacher and confirms that he killed Logan's girlfriend.
Wolverine #79 (Mar 1994) – “Cyber! Cyber! Burning Bright!”
Writer: Larry Hama; Penciler: Adam Kubert; Inker: Mark Farmer and Mike Sellers
In a hallucinogenic dream, Cyber reveals his true name is Silas Burr. The suggestion, however, that Silas Burr
worked with William Burke and William Hare (infamous for the West Port murders of 1827-1828) seems farfetched, though clearly he does possess some ability
to overcome aging.
Wolverine: Origins #12 (May 2007) – “Sweet and Terrible, Part 2”
Writer: Daniel Way; Artist: Steve Dillon
A newly resurrected Cyber explains that he used to be known as Silas Burr and "...train bad guys to be worse.
Not many people liked me back then. Especially the ones I trained. One, in particular, took it very personally." Cyber's memory flashbacks confirm
that person to be Logan, and judging from the artwork, it would seem that Cyber, as Silas Burr, was Logan's drill sergeant from the World War I era.
It also seems that Silas Burr murdered Logan's girlfriend Janet and ripped out Logan's eye when they fought after her death.
Steve Dillon, Wolverine: Origins #12.
© and ™ by Marvel Characters, Inc.
Wolverine: Origins #14 (Jul 2007) – “Sweet and Terrible, Part 4”
Writer: Daniel Way; Artist: Steve Dillon
Cyber tells Logan, "You never were afraid to take a beating," and later admits to being transferred
to a military base in Canada by Sabretooth in 1912 after committing a series of brutal murders as a Pinkerton agent in Sioux City, Iowa.
Wolverine: Origins #15 (Aug 2007) – “Sweet and Terrible, Part 5 ”
Writer: Daniel Way; Artist: Steve Dillon
Cyber relates more of his time in Canada to Logan, confirming that a man by the name of Hudson was responsible
for bringing the two of them together and ordered him to kill Janet. As Hudson explained to Silas Burr about Logan, "We don't want him to be under
control -- we want him to be what he is: an animal, born and bred to kill. The only measure of control we want to establish -- the one thing we want him
to learn and never forget... is that if he ever stops being the predator he is meant to be, if he ever tries to be anything else, like a man... if he ever
tries to reach out to anyone... that person will die."
…After his melodramatic training in Canada, Logan joins the war effort in Europe…
Wolverine (Vol.2) #57 (Nov 2007)
Writer: Marc Guggenheim; Artist: Howard Chaykin
In Ypres, Belgium on April 22, 1915,
WildC.A.T.S./X-Men: The Golden Age #1 (Feb 1997)
Writer: Scott Lobdell; Artist: Travis Charest
Nazi Colonel Eikert recognizes Logan in Paris
during World War II, commenting that, remarkably, Logan had not aged since their previous meeting many years ago. This could
be a reference to World War I. The evident familiarity would suggest some sort of relationship between the two, possibly
at a prisoner of war camp.
X-Men/WILDC.A.T.S: The Dark Age (May 1998)
Writer: Warren Ellis; Penciller: Mat Broome; Inker: Sean Parsons
In the year 2019, in an apocalyptic future dominated by the evil alien Daemonite race, a group of mutants (including
Logan) and former members of the covert action team WILDC.A.T.S. succeed in altering the distant past, thereby eliminating the
Daemonite influence from Earth's history. So while the events in the previous entry did occur, they are no longer a part of
current continuity.
Wolverine (Vol. 2) #48 (Jan 2007) - “Vendetta -- Epilogue: Knocking on Heaven's Door ”
Writer: Marc Guggenheim; Penciler: Humberto Ramos; Inker: Carlos Cuevas
After a series of near-death experiences, Wolverine tells of a confrontation in purgatory with a mysterious
figure named Lazaer. "He's always there. Tryin' to kill me. To pull me into the abyss. Not that I blame him. After all, I'm the one who killed
him." From a series of flashbacks, it seems that Logan killed Lazaer on the battlefields of World War I, Lazaer probably being a German officer.
Civil War Files (2006)
Head Writer: Anthony Flamini; Writers: Stuart Vandal, Ronald Byrd, Madison Carter, Michael Hoskin, Chris Biggs, Mark O’English, Mike Fichera
According to Tony Stark’s dossiers for the President’s daily intelligence briefing, “Wolverine… was a decorated soldier
in… World War I.”
…In the years after the war, Logan spends time in various locations around the world and in the
merchant marine, suggesting he joined the merchant marine sometime during the 1920s…
X-Men #117 (Jan 1979) – “Psi War”
Plotters: Chris Claremont & John Byrne; Scripter: Chris Claremont; Penciler: John Byrne; Inker: Terry Austin
As the X-Men navigate a tiny craft against a prodigious gale in Drake Passage, just south of Cape Horn, Wolverine
notes, “Count yer blessings, bub. This is summer. In midwinter, it's really rough.” This would suggest that Wolverine has sailed around Cape Horn
in the past, probably as a merchant marine.
Wolverine: The End #3 (Jun 2004)
Writer: Paul Jenkins; Artist: Claudio Castellini
Logan mentions that he met Adolf Hitler once, “…he was a weasel.” It is doubtful Logan met Hitler at the height of
his power, meaning the meeting most likely occurred during the early 1920s when Hitler was in Munich before the Beer Hall Putsch
of 1923. Since Logan's recollection takes place in a future timeline, we cannot confirm this meeting happened.
Wolverine/Shi: Dark Night of Judgment (2000)
Creator: William Tucci and Beau Smith; Inker: Rich Perotta
A secret war has raged for thousands of years in Japan between two societies of warriors, the Sohei warrior monks
of Kyoto and the legendary Kage Ryu' dragon warriors. The two sides eventually agree to hold a Quarter War every 25 years, facing off one warrior from each
clan against the other. Just before 1925 in Japan, Logan “…was accepted into the Dragon Clan when he played a major role in saving their leader from betrayal
and assassination from within his own clan.” Logan then became the chosen warrior for Kage Ryu' in the 1925 battle, easily defeating the Sohei warrior.
Note that as this information is from a cross-comic company storyline (Marvel and Crusade Entertainment) with characters
not traditionally from Marvel continuity (Shi), the veracity of this background and story is extremely suspect.
Wolverine#183 (Jan 2003) – “…And Got Yourself a Gun”
Writer: Frank Tieri; Penciler: Sean Chen; Inker: Tom Palmer
Logan states, “Lou Gehrig was the best first baseman who ever lived. Anybody who actually saw the man play would
know that.” Logan strongly implies that he saw Gehrig probably during Gehrig's prime between 1927 and 1937. Further, Logan's tone suggests he saw Gehrig
play on numerous occasions, meaning Logan was most probably in New York at some point in the late 1920s.
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