012 - Team X: Logan, Creed and North (version 2.0)

Logan, Creed and North as Team X

Jim Lee and Art Thibert, X-Men #6.

Team X hits its golden age as a three-man team consisting of Logan, Sabretooth and Maverick with occasional backup from John Wraith...

Maverick #2 (Oct 1997) – “Truth and Consequences”
Writer: Jorge Gonzalez; Penciler: Jim Cheung; Inker: Andrew Pepoy

Maverick admits that he was a West German freedom fighter, Christoph Nord, before joining a select group of operatives under the aegis of the CIA, including John Wraith, Victor Creed, and Logan.

X-Men #6 (Mar 1992) – “Farther Still”

Plotter: Jim Lee; Scripter: Scott Lobdell; Penciller: Jim Lee; Inker: Art Thibert

West German Sgt. David North (formerly Christoph Nord), known as Maverick, confirms that Logan has no memory of being part of a three-man CIA team comprised of Creed (later Sabretooth), Logan (from Canada) and North.

Wolverine #176 (Jul 2002) – “The Logan Files, Epilogue”

Writer: Frank Tieri; Penciler: Sean Chen; Inker: Norm Rapmund

In a near-death experience, Logan remembers seeking a family environment even with the other members of Team X.

Wolverine #65 (Jan 1993) – “State of Grace ”

Scripter: Larry Hama; ArtistL Mark Texeira

Using a virtual reality program with Professor Xavier, Logan vaguely remembers an assassination mission related to “Terry Adams” but the mission was scrubbed before he could complete it.

Wolverine #66 (Feb 1993) – “Prophecy”

Scripter: Larry Hama; Artist: Mark Texeira with Steve Biasi

John Wraith asserts that Sabretooth was backup and Maverick the Control on the “Terry Adams” mission.

Wolverine #67 (Mar 1993) – “Valley o' Death”

Scripter: Larry Hama; Penciller: Mark Texeira: Inker: Mark Texeira & Palmiotti

Maverick discloses that “Terry Adams” was an internal term for Tyuratam, the location of a former Soviet Space Center, and that Logan was sent there on an assassination mission in 1968. Wolverine, deluded into believing the present is 1968, attempts to fulfill his mission and discovers his assassination target was Epsilon Red, the Soviet Super Astronaut. Again, we are forced to implement the elasticity of Marvel Time to allow this story to fit within continuity.

Wolverine #68 (Apr 1993) – “Epsilon Red”

Scripter: Larry Hama; Artist: Mark Texeira; Backgrounds: Steve Biasi

Epsilon Red confirms that Logan was sent in 1968 to assassinate him at the Tyuratam Space Center. As the Wolverine of the present continues to believe that he is on the “Terry Adams” mission of 1968, he suddenly remembers Epsilon Red begging to be killed. The genetic engineering that allowed Epsilon Red to live in space without artificial life-support rendered him incapable of tangible pleasures on Earth, such as feeling the touch of another human being. Epsilon Red's wife, however, begs Logan to spare her husband's life. When Wolverine shakes off his time-slipping delusion, Epsilon Red telepathically frees Wolverine's true memories of the events. It's 1968 and when Logan arrives to assassinate Epsilon Red, his wife does beg for her husband's life. But before Logan can pull the trigger, Sabretooth arrives on the scene informing Logan that the mission has been scrubbed. Sabretooth orders Logan to leave immediately. Epsilon Red's daughter, Elena Ivanova, further reveals that after Logan leaves, Epsilon Red begs Sabretooth to take his life. Sabretooth refuses but shoots his pregnant wife instead on a whim. Elena is born by Caesarian within minutes, but is imprinted with memories of the brutal events as she is born.

Maverick #1 (Jan 1997) – “The Sword Sung on a Barren Heath

Writer: Larry Hama; Artist: Wilfred Santiago

Elena Ivanova dreams about Logan on his mission to kill her father Epsilon Red. Before Logan can complete his mission, Creed arrives calling off the assassination. But as Creed lingers, he decides to shoot Epsilon Red's wife instead of putting Epsilon Red out of his misery.

Maverick #6 (Feb 1998) – “Hunters”

Writer: Jorge Gonzalez; Penciler: Jimmy Cheung & Leo Fernandez; Inker Andrew Pepoy

Elena Ivanova again dreams of Sabretooth arriving just in time to abort Logan's mission to kill her father, Epsilon Red. Sabretooth confirms that he fought his way past elite KGB border guards and internal security to deliver the abort mission order. When Logan departs, Sabretooth, instead of killing Epsilon Red who is begging to be killed, kills his pregnant wife just to cause him more pain.

Logan with Team X

Mark Texeira , Wolverine #68.

Wolverine #87 (Nov 1994) – “Showdown in Lowtown”

Scripter: Larry Hama; Penciler: Adam Kubert; Inker: Farmer, Green, Townsend, Rubinstein

Logan , Maverick and Creed are on a mission to gather sensitive information when everything goes haywire. As the threesome contemplates splitting up to shake their pursuers, Creed is gravely wounded by gunfire. Logan scoops Creed up and carries him towards the extraction site despite Maverick's protests. As they reach a dead end in the industrial site, Creed wakes up, good as new, and urges them to take on their pursuers in a fierce firefight, something that apparently succeeded considering all three individuals survived the mission.

X-Men Unlimited #15 (Jun 1997) – “Second Contact”
Writer/Artist: Duncan Roleau & Howard Mackie

Wolverine relates a memory concerning a mission he was on. “It was back in the good ol' days of the Cold War. Maverick, Sabretooth and I were working black ops for a joint NATO operation. It was supposed to be a simple extraction of a foreign national, but things went sour. The heat was on and Sabretooth and I took some heavy metal. We were practically crippled. Maverick dragged the two of us halfway across the country. Now in those days the standing order was to leave behind all casualties with a bullet behind the ear so they wouldn't go over to the other side. Maverick wouldn't do it. He ain't even a big fan of Sabretooth. Even then we all knew he was a bloodthirsty whacko. But still he wouldn't leave a team member behind. But there was only so far he could run with us dragging him down. We were cornered. The leader of the team that nailed us was willing to give Maverick an out of here. Turn Sabretooth and I over to him and he could walk across the border. Maverick didn't even think. He took some hits himself, but he killed them all and dragged our butts home. The mission we were on was in East Germany , Maverick's native soil. The leader of the team that nailed us, the guy he shot… that was his… brother.”

Maverick #2 (Oct 1997) – “Truth and Consequences”

Writer: Jorge Gonzalez; Penciler: Jim Cheung; Inker: Andrew Pepoy

Maverick confirms that he saved Creed and Logan from a team of assassins led by his estranged brother Andreas, killing them all without remorse. After the mission, Logan takes North out for beers, and as the two converse, Logan tries to break through the bitterness apparent in Maverick's voice.

Wolverine: Origins #6 (Nov 2006) – “Savior, Part One ”

Writer: Daniel Way; Artist: Steve Dillon

With his memories intact after the events of House of M, Wolverine remembers...

X-Men #5 (Feb 1992) – “Blowback”

Plotter: Jim Lee; Scripter: John Byrne; Penciller: Jim Lee; Inker: Scott Williams, Art Thibert, Bob Wiacek & Joe Rubinstein

Logan has a memory of preparing for a mission in Berlin, thirty years previous.

X-Men #7 (Apr 1992) – “Inside…Out”

Plotter: Jim Lee; Scripter: Scott Lobdell; Penciller: Jim Lee; Inker: Art Thibert

Logan remembers surveying the Soviet Super Soldier project in Berlin in a mission organized by someone in the CIA referred to as “The Major.” Logan is assigned with stealing the Carbonadium Synthesizer, North with securing the double agent Janice Hollenback, and Creed with disabling the Super Soldier program.

X-Men #5 (Feb 1992) – “Blowback”

Plotter: Jim Lee; Scripter: John Byrne; Penciller: Jim Lee; Inker: Scott Williams, Art Thibert, Bob Wiacek & Joe Rubinstein

Logan and Omega Red have a memory of Berlin, thirty years previous, where Logan is on a mission to steal the Carbonadium Synthesizer with two other agents and a woman. Trapped on a high floor of building, the foursome is pursued by Omega Red, a Soviet Super Soldier capable of killing instantly with his “death pheromones.”

X-Men Unlimited #3 (Dec 1993) – “The Whispers Scream”

Writer: Fabian Nicieza; Penciler: Mike McKone; Inker: Mark McKenna with Mike Gray

As Professor Xavier psychically walks through Sabretooth's psyche, he comes across a memory of Sabretooth, Logan and Maverick working together on a mission in Berlin .

X-Men #6 (Mar 1992) – “Farther Still”

Plotter: Jim Lee; Scripter: Scott Lobdell; Penciller: Jim Lee; Inker: Art Thibert

In a crisper memory, Logan recalls being trapped on the tenth floor of a building in Berlin with the stolen Carbonadium Synthesizer and Janice, a female double agent who helped acquire the synthesizer. As Logan argues with his two companion CIA agents, Creed and Maverick, Creed shoots Janice in the back. A newly activated Omega Red pursues, forcing the team to leap from the tenth floor window, barely surviving due to their battle armor.

Maverick #1 (Jan 1997) – “The Sword Sung on a Barren Heath

Writer: Larry Hama; Artist: Wilfred Santiago

Maverick dreams of the mission in Berlin, specifically Creed shooting the double-agent Janice in the back, then heaving a thermite grenade at Omega Red as he closed in on the quartet on the tenth floor. As the grenade went off, they leapt through the window hoping their body armor would absorb the impact.

X-Men #7 (Apr 1992) – “Inside…Out”

Plotter: Jim Lee; Scripter: Scott Lobdell; Penciller: Jim Lee; Inker: Art Thibert

Matsuo Tsurayaba confirms that the double agent in the Berlin incident was Janice Hollenback.

Wolverine #60 (Early Sep 1992) – “Counting Coup”

Scripter: Larry Hama; Penciler: Dave Hoover; Inker: Keith Williams

Logan remembers after leaping from the window during the Berlin mission with Sabretooth, Maverick and Janice, that they were picked up in a jeep by another agent named Wraith who was filling in for Mastodon. Logan pulls Janice's body into the jeep, while Wraith attacks their pursuers with a very large gun. Wraith stays behind while the infiltration team heads for the Havel River and a helicopter waiting to extract them.

Wolverine #61 (Late Sep 1992) – “Nightmare Quest”

Scripter: Larry Hama; Artist: Mark Texeira

Wolverine tells Wraith that he remembers Sabretooth driving the team off in the jeep as Wraith hit Omega Red dead center with his massive gun. When Omega Red merely shrugs off the shot, Wraith vanishes without even a wisp of smoke.

X-Men #7 (Apr 1992) – “Inside…Out”

Plotter: Jim Lee; Scripter: Scott Lobdell; Penciller: Jim Lee; Inker: Art Thibert

Logan remembers secretly hiding the Carbonadium Synthesizer in Janice Hollenback's dead body during the Berlin mission. Creed suggests that setting back the Soviet Super Soldier program thirty years is at least some consolation.

X-Men #6 (Mar 1992) – “Farther Still”

Plotter: Jim Lee; Scripter: Scott Lobdell; Penciller: Jim Lee; Inker: Art Thibert

Logan remembers being picked up by helicopter in Berlin and a CIA debriefing 24 hour later, where it is revealed that the Carbonadium Synthesizer was lost at the end of the mission. Logan accuses Creed of shooting Janice in a panic, causing a nasty fight between the two. Creed is dragged off threatening Logan, as Logan walks away.

Sabretooth #3 (Nov 1993) – “City of Light , City of Night ”

Writer: Larry Hama; Artist Mark Texeira

In Paris, the shape-shifting Mystique reveals to Sabretooth that she lived as Leni Zauber during the Cold War. Specifically, she worked as a spy in East Berlin and murdered an East German scientist. Control was supposed to send an extraction team, but only Creed was sent. Fighting the secret state commandos, Creed whisked Zauber to a waiting car and broke through Checkpoint Charlie and into West Berlin.

Team X/Team 7 (Nov 1996) – “All Sold Out”

Writer: Larry Hama; Penciler: Steve Epting; Inker: Klaus Janson

In the desert known as the Anvil of Satan in the Sultanate of Numidia, Logan, Creed and North travel 50 miles by foot to infiltrate and destroy a secret super-soldier lab hidden in the mountains covertly financed by the Soviets. On the way, Logan smells landmines and prevents Creed from blowing himself up, guiding the team to a secret tunnel entrance. Once inside, Logan quickly kills two guards without a sound. Creed then bypasses the tunnel temperature sensors by dousing himself in fire-extinguishing foam and turns off the alarm system, killing another two guards with his razor sharp claws (possibly a weapons upgrade for this mission). Running into Omega Red, Creed is quickly overpowered by death pheromones, but Logan and North drive off the Russian super-soldier with a barrage of gunfire. Logan drags the unconscious Creed into the ventilation system and the threesome disappears into the complex. Before long, Spetznaz commandos force them into a dead end, cornering them against a deep shaft. Logan and North jump into the shaft, carrying Creed, and their body armor takes the brunt of the impact, though Logan breaks his leg in the fall. Creed recovers and the threesome fights through more opposition before facing off against Omega Red again. Unbelievably, another American black ops team has also entered the complex independently and helps Logan , Creed and North fight off Omega Red. Entering the super-soldier laboratory, the squadron of agents, now numbering eight, sets charges to destroy the super-soldier program. Unfortunately, Omega Red releases the super-soldiers, and the agents are forced to retreat into the launch bay of an ICBM. John Wraith, working surveillance, steals a Soviet helicopter and rescues the agents, just as the missile is launched. The five black ops agents link up mentally and destroy the missile with a psionic blast. Wraith then picks up his inside operative, Mystique, who introduces herself as Leni Zauber. As they head back to civilization, all agents agree to forget what has transpired, so as not to compromise any special talents on display during the mission.

The sudden appearance of Creed's claws and Logan 's superhuman healing ability, not to mention Mystique's shape shifting, suggests this adventure does not quite fit with existing continuity, though the next entry does help to explain the inconsistencies.

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, 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.

Maverick #1 (Jan 1997) – “The Sword Sung on a Barren Heath

Writer: Larry Hama; Artist: Wilfred Santiago

Maverick seems to confirm that John Wraith did muster a helicopter for them while on a mission in the Middle East. At the very least, some variation of the last mission seems to have taken place.

Sabretooth #3 (Nov 1993) – “City of Light , City of Night ”

Writer: Larry Hama; Artist Mark Texeira

Logan remembers when Creed went on the solo mission, noting Creed disappeared for a month after that. Creed and Leni Zauber spent that month holed up in a safe house in West Berlin . One night she left to meet a contact and was “murdered” in a setup. In reality, Mystique dumped the real Leni Zauber's body in the river and disappeared.

Maverick #2 (Oct 1997) – “Truth and Consequences”

Writer: Jorge Gonzalez; Penciler: Jim Cheung; Inker: Andrew Pepoy

Maverick confirms that shortly after saving Creed and Logan in East Germany, the group was disbanded.

Logan appears to continue his work with the United States government working solo, but he might not be acting under his own free will…

Logan with Team X

Steve Dillon , Wolverine: Origins #2.

Wolverine: Origins #2 (Jul 2006) – “Born in Blood, Part Two”

Writer: Daniel Way; Artist: Steve Dillon

In Quang Ngai province, South Vietnam, 1968, Logan, acting as a ‘Soviet advisor’ to the Viet Cong, tortures Frank Simpson (the same Frank Simpson Logan arranged, under orders, to orphan in 1953). After carving an American flag into his face and programming him to react violently to the words, “No V.C.”, Logan departs and changes into U.S. Army gear. Frank, while under additional torture by the Viet Cong, finally snaps and kills all of his captors. When he arrives at a nearby village of Lai Chi, the villagers yell, “No V.C.” (meaning we are not Viet Cong), Frank goes ballistic and wipes out the village. From afar, Logan watches and applauds the slaughter. As Logan later admits, “At first, I was just their attack dog. But as the years went on, they found a better use for me: Dog handler. I implanted triggers. I stripped away men’s humanity. I wound’em up so tight that they’d act without thinking… without questioning.” Logan later acknowledges, “I wasn’t in control of my own mind most of the time.”

Wolverine: Origins #4 (Sep 2006) – “Born in Blood, Part Four”

Writer: Daniel Way; Artist: Steve Dillon

Logan explains to Captain America that Frank Simpson was an attempt to duplicate what Logan was at the time, an ultimate weapon under the control of his superiors.

X-Men #4 (Jan 1992) – “The Resurrection and the Flesh”

Plotter: Jim Lee; Scripter: John Byrne; Penciller: Jim Lee; Inker: Scott Williams

We learn that Omega Red is a Soviet mutant named Arkady, endowed with a death factor. Logan has known him for a long time and believes him to be dead, a sound assumption since he is resurrected at the beginning of the issue.

X-Men #5 (Feb 1992) – “Blowback”

Plotter: Jim Lee; Scripter: John Byrne; Penciller: Jim Lee; Inker: Scott Williams, Art Thibert, Bob Wiacek & Joe Rubinstein

Based on dialogue between Omega Red and Logan, it is obvious they know each other quite well.

X-Men #6 (Mar 1992) – “Farther Still”

Plotter: Jim Lee; Scripter: Scott Lobdell; Penciller: Jim Lee; Inker: Art Thibert

Omega Red is revealed to have been the world's first Soviet super soldier, but instead spent thirty years in a tomb. One wonders if Logan and Omega Red met one final time, resulting in Omega Red's entrapment for 30 years.

Wolverine #26 (Mid-Jul 1990) – “Memory”

Writer: Jo Duffy; Penciller: Klaus Janson; Inker: Tom Palmer
Logan visits his friend Bando in Japan “before my adamantium bones and claws… When I was Logan and my spirit was sick and weary and I went to my friend seeking peace.” Bando and Logan partake in a Japanese tea ceremony, a ritual that helps to relax Logan. Perhaps after Team X, Logan desired to rekindle his friendship.

Logan with Team X

Steve Epting, Team X/Team 7.

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