026
- Death in the Family

Arthur
Adams, Classic X-Men #2.
©
and ™ by Marvel Characters, Inc.
Classic
X-Men #2 (Oct 1986) - "Chapter One: The Doomsmith Scenario"
Writer:
Chris Claremont, Plotter: Len Wein, Artist: Dave Cockrum
As the weeks in the Danger Room pass, the six outcast mutants
of the new X-Men find themselves being forged by Cyclops into
an effective and lethal team.
Giant-Size
X-Men #4 (2005) – “Finding Home”
Writer:
Chris Claremont; Penciler: Rick Leonardi; Inker: Jimmy Palmiotti
In the Danger Room, Cyclops sets Thunderbird against
Storm in an exercise where mutant abilities are forbidden. When
Thunderbird defeats Storm, she refuses to yield. Cyclops fails
to recognize the seriousness of the situation, forcing Wolverine
to intercede and end the battle. Later in Charles Xavier's study,
Wolverine discusses the situation with Xavier, who asks Wolverine
to support Cyclops as leader of the X-Men. Late in the night,
Thunderbird slips into Wolverine's room, dodging the makeshift
minefield of empty beer cans on the floor. While Thunderbird
does notice photographs of Wolverine's past as a soldier on
the desk, he fails to notice Wolverine himself who is sitting
silently in the next room.
Even
though Chris Claremont is integral to the early history of Wolverine's
chronology, he has the frustrating habit of contradicting his
early stories when he revisits them years later. Jean, Scott and
Professor Xavier refer to Wolverine as Logan
, a name that no
one in the X-Men learns until after the death of Phoenix
. Wolverine's relationship
with Nightcrawler is depicted as friendly and includes wagers
on cases of beer. But these elements of their friendship are well
chronicled and do not develop until after Thunderbird's death.
X-Men
#94 (Aug 1975) - "Chapter Two: Death O'er Valhalla
High!"
Writer:
Chris Claremont; Plotter: Len Wein; Artist: Dave Cockrum
After several more weeks of training, the X-Men
receive a priority distress call: Count Nefaria, an old X-Men
foe, has seized control of the NORAD
Command
Center
at Valhalla.
With the Avengers unavailable, Beast passes the emergency to
the X-Men explaining that Nefaria, with his Ani-man (animal/human
hybrids), has threatened to launch the entire arsenal of U.S.
nuclear weapons
if his ransom demands are not met. Using their Blackbird SR-71
jet, the X-Men depart for Valhalla
.
X-Men
Unlimited #25 (Dec 1999) - "In Remembrance"
Writer:
Joe Pruett; Penciler: Brett Booth; Inker: Sal Regla
Many years after the events in Valhalla , Banshee reminisces
about Wolverine. On the way to Valhalla Mountain, Wolverine
tells Banshee that he will cut Count Nefaria into tiny little
pieces if any of his friends at NORAD are hurt. At first Banshee
assumes Wolverine is joking, but soon realizes, with a twinge
of fear, that Wolverine is deadly serious.
X-Men
#94 (Aug 1975) - "Chapter Two: Death O'er Valhalla
High!"
Writer:
Chris Claremont; Plotter: Len Wein; Artist: Dave Cockrum
Approaching Valhalla,
the X-Men are informed by military personnel that Count Nefaria
has armed the Doomsmith system that controls the U.S.
nuclear arsenal.
Before the X-Men can land, Nefaria destroys their SR-71 with
heat-seeking missiles and a sonic disruptor, and the heroes
find themselves plummeting through the air, awaiting impact.
Originally,
Len Wein was slated to write this two-part Nefaria story as
Giant-Sized X-Men #2, but when the series was awarded
bimonthly status, Wein turned the plot over to a relative newcomer
and Wein's former associate editor, Chris Claremont. While Claremont
is credited with
writing over Wein's plot, Claremont
actually did not
begin scripting until the X-Men's arrival at Valhalla.[1]
X-Men
#95 (Oct 1975) - "Warhunt!"
Writer:
Chris Claremont; Plotter: Len Wein; Penciler: Dave Cockrum;
Inker: Sam Grainger
Banshee and Storm quickly move to slow everyone's
descent, allowing the team to land safely at the base of the
mountain complex. Using a blend of their mutant abilities, the
X-Men are able to enter the complex, disarming several obstacles
along the way.
Classic
X-Men #3 (Nov 1986) - "Warhunt!"
Writer:
Chris Claremont; Plotter: Len Wein; Penciler: Dave Cockrum;
Inker: Sam Grainger
With the Wolverine as scout, the group tracks down
Count Nefario's Ani-Men with the Valhalla
mountain complex.
X-Men
#95 (Oct 1975) - "Warhunt!"
Writer:
Chris Claremont; Plotter: Len Wein; Penciler: Dave Cockrum;
Inker: Sam Grainger
As the X-Men and the Ani-Men square off, the Wolverine
finds himself overmatched by Cat-Man, a human/cat hybrid. Colossus
defeats the feline before the Wolverine can stage a comeback,
and the X-Men finally claim victory against the Ani-Men, highlighted
by the Wolverine and Nightcrawler jointly defeating the human/gorilla
hybrid, Gort. The pitched battle disables the Doomsmith system
and the nuclear threat, but as Count Nefario attempts to escape
in an F-16, Thunderbird destroys the jet's circuitry, causing
the jet to explode, killing both Nefario and the Apache mutant.
While the story itself is somewhat weak, the shocking
ending more than makes up for it. Death was uncommon in comics
at that time, and Wein wanted to demonstrate from the onset
of the series that being a superhero was a dangerous business.[2]
We also see a glimpse of Wein's original vision for the Wolverine
when Cat-Man's comments that the Wolverine's claws are fake.
“The adamantium claws were [only] in the gloves when I first
created the character. And the claws were retractable. They
were telescoping, and they would fit back in the casing of the
gloves.” [3]
It is interesting to note that by the end of this issue, Wein's
plotting had cut the X-Men down from thirteen members to six.
This seems to bolster Chris Claremont's suggestion that, “…Len
[Wein} had intended Colossus to be the star of the book and
Storm to be the girl, and Nightcrawler to be the tormented demon
and Wolverine to be essentially the Johnny Storm-Hawkeye hothead.”[4]

John Bolton, Classic X-Men #3.
©
and ™ by Marvel Characters, Inc.
Classic
X-Men #3/2 (Nov 1986) - "Mourning"
Writer:
Chris Claremont; Artist: John Bolton
Traveling to New
Mexico, the X-Men
attempt to attend the funeral of their fallen teammate, but
after arriving, discover that Thunderbird's body has been stolen.
John's parents ask that the X-Men not interfere, but Wolverine
ignores the warnings, stating, "Me, I was taught a team
takes care of its own." Following the trail, Wolverine
finds a boy burying his brother in the ways of the Apache tribe.
When the rest of the team appears an hour later, Wolverine tells
them it is time to leave. "Whatever Thunderbird was running
from -- or trying to prove -- he's at peace now. We should all
be so lucky." Claremont
again effectively
fills in early encounters of the X-Men with the back up stories
from Classic X-Men . We discover that much of Thunderbird's
motivation resulted from trying to be better than Wolverine,
a task he was seemingly not up to. Ironically, it would seem
that Thunderbird's death was precipitated by much the same reasoning
on an editorial level: within The X-Men , Thunderbird
was redundant. We also learn how tremendously effective a tracker
Wolverine is, something that impresses even Cyclops.
X-Men
#96 (Dec 1975)- "Night of the Demon"
Writer:
Chris Claremont; Penciler: Dave Cockrum; Inker: Sam Grainger
Shortly after returning from New
Mexico , the X-Men
continue training in the Danger Room. Colossus mistakenly hits
the Wolverine at full strength. Rebounding off the walls, the
unfazed Wolverine lunges at Colossus, only to be thrown back
again by a windblast from Storm. Nightcrawler, finding the whole
episode humorous, laughs at the Wolverine, a dangerous thing
to do. The Wolverine, ablaze with anger, charges Nightcrawler
with his claws and yells, "Nobody laughs at the Wolverine,
mister -- Nobody!" As Nightcrawler barely teleports to
safety, Banshee, aghast at the savagery of the attack, admonishes
the Wolverine, "Laddie -- take it easy. Ye could have killed
Nightcrawler then, y'know..." The Wolverine merely nods,
"Yeah -- I know."
Classic
X-Men #4 (Dec 1986) - "Night of the Demon"
Writer:
Chris Claremont; Penciler: Dave Cockrum; Inker: Sam Grainger
and Jack Abel
Later at the pool, the Wolverine is privy to Ororo's
naivete, when she swims like she did back in Africa
, naked. While
Kurt, Sean and Peter are all embarrassed, Wolverine seems to
be the only one enjoying the confusion.
X-Men
#96 (Dec 1975) - "Night of the Demon"
Writer:
Chris Claremont; Penciler: Dave Cockrum; Inker: Sam Grainger
By nightfall, Xavier introduces Moira MacTaggert
as the person who will watch over the mansion during Xavier's
well-deserved vacation. The Wolverine, bored by the pleasantries,
carves a game of tic-tac-toe into the antique living room table
with his claws. Seconds later, Cyclops crashes through a wall,
followed by a dragon-like creature, Kierrok. Though Storm and
Colossus attack first, it is not until Nightcrawler is knocked
unconscious by Kierrok that the Wolverine reacts. Incensed at
Nightcrawler's fate, he attacks Kierrok, yelling, "...nobody
beats on Wolverine's buddies!" Letting his beserker rage
take over for the first time in front of his teammates, the
Wolverine cuts Kierrok to ribbons. But even the Wolverine's
damage is not enough, as Kierrok quickly regenerates. Finally,
with the help of Xavier's mindprobe, Storm is able to destroy
the source of Kierrok's power, an ancient obelisk, thus defeating
Kierrok.
During the fight with Kierrok, Wolverine does reveals
to the rest of the team, "Ten years 'o psycho-training,
o' hypnotism, o' drug therapy, o' prayin'... an' I cut him to
pieces without a thought." As this was Chris Claremont's
first full issue as writer, we see that already he was taking
Wolverine in a different direction than Len Wein had planned.
“I went for the psycho killer idea as an explanation of why
he was as violent as he was,” Claremont
explains, “and
to provide an interesting dynamic for the group.”[5]
X-Men
Unlimited #25 (Dec 1999) - "In Remembrance"
Writer:
Joe Pruett; Penciler: Brett Booth; Inker: Sal Regla
Xavier reminisces about the first time he saw the rage
and conflict within Wolverine, during the battle against Kierrok.
“Savage… Vicious… Untamed… His feral side only thinly contained
by sheer willpower and a fragile psyche that could collapse
at any given moment.”
X-Men
#106 (Aug 1977) - "Dark Shroud of the Past"
Writer:
Chris Claremont; Penciler: Bob Brown (flashback); Inker: Tom
Sutton
In a flashback courtesy of Professor Xavier, we
return, once again, to the Danger Room. Wolverine is dodging
laser beams, seemingly unaware of a steel beam flying into his
path. Colossus shoves Wolverine aside and takes the brunt of
the beam's impact. Incensed that someone would cramp his combat
space, Wolverine threatens to disembowel Colossus with his adamantium
claws. Before a fight can occur, Cyclops fires an optic blast,
separating the two would-be combatants. Cyclops admonishes Wolverine
for his "mad killer" act, but Wolverine retorts that
Cyclops should be the one to back off considering that he has
been a slave driver since Thunderbird's death. Banshee sides
with Wolverine, forcing Cyclops to apologize, but Wolverine,
always the epitome of tact, tells Cyclops that if death affects
him so deeply, maybe he should quit as leader. Storm chastises
Wolverine, but her comments are cut short by a surprisingly
hostile Angel in an old X-Men costume. The rest of the old X-Men
(sans Cyclops) appear, equally belligerent, and dressed in X-Men
costumes circa 1964. Heated words are exchanged as the older
X-Men demand that the newer mutants vacate immediately. A fight
erupts and Wolverine, facing off with Iceman, senses something
is not quite right. They are, in fact, creations of Xavier's
fevered mind. An evil version of Xavier joins the fray, one
who is able to wreak havoc on Wolverine's senses with an illusion
of an endlessly deep chasm. Gaining control of his dark side,
Xavier vanquishes the original X-Men and the evil Xavier.
This rather weak story was published as a filler
issue due to deadline pressures during the M'kraan Crystal saga
the following year.[6] Written
by Bill Mantlo around the time of X-Men #96, it had
to be extensively reworked by Chris Claremont because character
development had been in such turmoil at that point in time.
Claremont
conceded that, “…there are maybe two lines in the entire book
that are Bill's.”[7]
It is so weak, in fact, that Classic X-Men declined
to reprint it when republishing the early new X-Men stories.
It does show, however, the continuing friction between the Wolverine
and the rest of the team, and confirms that Nightcrawler had
not yet met Spider-Man, a fact that helps to place Wolverine's
next appearance.
Amazing
Spider-Man #161 (Oct 1976) - "...And the Nightcrawler Came
Prowling, Prowling"
Writer:
Len Wein; Illustrator: Ross Andru
During these early months of training, Nightcrawler
reads a newspaper while hanging upside down from a high ring.
His attention focused on an article, Nightcrawler fails to notice
Wolverine cutting the ring support as a practical joke. Not
viewing the act as a joke, Nightcrawler challenges Wolverine.
Colossus breaks the two up, but not without another threat from
Wolverine. Nightcrawler leaves in a huff and into an adventure
with Spider-Man.

John
Bolton, Classic X-Men #4
©
and ™ by Marvel Characters, Inc.
Classic
X-Men #4/2 (Dec 1986) - "The Big Dare"
Writer:
Chris Claremont; Artist: John Bolton
Wolverine and Nightcrawler are playing a game of
tag on the grounds of Xavier's estate probably as an exercise
to lessen tensions between the two. Nightcrawler tags Wolverine
first and avoids all of Wolverine's return attempts with teleportation,
circus acrobatics and taunts. Finally, when Nightcrawler suggests
that Wolverine has lost, Wolverine anticipates Nightcrawler's
next move and catches him in the gut with an elbow. Before Nightcrawler
can move, Wolverine swings his claws at him, retracting them
at the last second. With his point made, Wolverine requests
their wager, loser buys the beer, be paid off in town. For the
first time in front of Wolverine, Nightcrawler activates an
image inducer, a device capable of disguising its user with
a perfect illusion, and the two depart for a local bar, Harry's
Hideout. Once there, Wolverine, in civilian clothes, accuses
his drinking partner of being ashamed of his demonic appearance
and dares him to walk down the street without the aid of his
image inducer. Nightcrawler grudgingly accepts the challenge
and finds, much to his surprise, that he actually enjoys the
experience, publicly displaying his true inner self. The exercise
is ended when a group of troublemakers starts to harass Nightcrawler
because of his appearance. A threat from Wolverine and a brimstone
*bamf*, Nightcrawler's teleportation trademark, scares
them off, and Nightcrawler realizes that Wolverine is, in fact,
a friend.
The final page of this story incorrectly shows Nightcrawler
teleporting himself and Wolverine away. According
to Chris Claremont during a private conversation with this writer,
this was an error in the story because, otherwise, this tale
could not have fit into the continuity at all. This story is
the epitome of the fun and the frustration involved in piecing
together a chronology. The story effectively acts as segue between
the animosity and the long-term friendship soon to develop between
Wolverine and Nightcrawler. We are also introduced to the image
inducer and its somewhat erratic use. But Nightcrawler's nonchalant
teleportation of Wolverine and himself at the end would demand
that this story be placed well after the events in X-Men
#110 at the earliest, long after Nightcrawler abandons
the use of the image inducer!
X-Men
#97 (Feb 1976) - "My Brother, My Enemy"
Writer:
Chris Claremont; Penciler: Dave Cockrum; Inker: Sam Grainger
Xavier finally boards his plane at Kennedy
International
Airport
to start his vacation,
but as the plane departs, the X-Men, minus the Wolverine and
Banshee, are attacked by Cyclops' brother Havok, Polaris and
a figure named Eric the Red. As an explosive battle is waged,
it becomes obvious that Havok and Polaris are under the control
of Eric the Red. Before long the Wolverine and Banshee arrive,
forcing Eric to flee with Havok and Polaris. Cyclops, unable
to bring himself to use his optic blast on his own brother,
watches them leave, causing the Wolverine to accuse Cyclops
of cowardice. Cyclops decks the Wolverine in frustration, but
before the Wolverine can retaliate, Storm grabs the Canadian
mutant, warning him that he will have to go through her first.
When I first read this story, I was appalled at Storm's
handling of the situation. I really wanted to see Wolverine
drop the self-righteous Cyclops with one punch. While editing
this text, I still feel the same way. Perhaps that is why this
chronology is being written about Wolverine and not Cyclops
or Storm.
Marvel
Holiday
Special #1 (1991) - “A Miracle A Few Blocks Down From 34
th Street ”
Writer:
Scott Lobdell; Artist: Dave Cockrum; Inker: Joe Rubinstein
Mastermind
comments that he recognized the new X-Men from television news
footage of their battle at Kennedy airport.
It is my supposition that the fight between Wolverine
and Cyclops at Kennedy
International
Airport
led to Wolverine
taking an extended leave of absence from the X-Men. If this
is the case, it makes sense that several “solo adventures” from
this time period would take place here.
Marvel
Treasury Edition #26/2 (Jul 1980) –“At the Sign of the Lion”
Writer:
Mary Jo Duffy; Penciler: Ken Landgraf; Inker: George Perez
Logan
thinks about his confrontation with Cyclops while drinking a
few beers at the Sign of the Lion, a drinking establishment
far away from Westchester,
New York.
After receiving a come-on from a cute redhead, Logan
makes the mistake
of being rude. Before he can apologize, Hercules, the god, walks
into the bar and immediately receives the attention of all the
women. Hercules asks Wolverine to move to the end of the bar,
since his own party is so large. Wolverine agrees to move but
only for the redhead with whom he had spoken earlier. Hercules
picks up Wolverine and tosses him into a chair because, well,
he is a god. Wolverine, not taking kindly to the insult, hits
Hercules without any discernible results. In response, Hercules
knocks him across the bar, but soon finds himself up against
Wolverine's claws. In mighty Marvel fashion, a fight ensues
which trashes the entire bar and finally ends when Hercules
suggests that the two warriors drink and carouse rather than
fight. But as the two heroes sit down to share a beer, they
realize that all of the women have fled the bar.
It is understandable that Hercules would not remember
Wolverine from their earlier meeting when they fought the Leader
since Wolverine is not in costume, but it is curious that Wolverine
does not remark about that encounter as they trade blows.
Classic
X-Men #25/2 (Sept 1988) – “Just Don't Look in its Eyes…”
Writer:
Ann Nocenti; Artist: John Bolton
Against his better judgment, Wolverine takes an
espionage mission from the folks at Central (Canadian Intelligence
or the CIA ).
Perhaps due to his anger with Cyclops, Logan
decides blowing
stuff up might act as a form of therapy. Traveling into Canada
, Wolverine sets
explosives at an enemy facility, but the fuses are too short
causing Wolverine to be injured during the explosion. A hunter
catches a glimpse of the battered Wolverine and mistakes him
for a wild beast. Wolverine hopes to lose the hunter, but is
slowed down by an angry bear which he is forced to kill. The
hunter fires an arrow at Wolverine, who catches it and throws
back at the hunter. The hunter is felled by the arrow, and Wolverine
makes his way back the Central HQ to complain about short fuses.
Ann Nocenti, the writer, based the second half
of this story on conversations with hunters in upstate New
York. She also
asserts that Wolverine kills a bunker filled with sleeping people
inside. “Marvel characters, in general, don't kill people. For
the most part, Wolverine does. His M.O. is that he doesn't care.
The people are bad. He's on assignment.”[8]
Deathblow/Wolverine
#1 (Sep 1996)
Writer/Breakdowns:
Aron Wiesenfeld; Finisher: Richard Bennett
Logan
heads for San
Francisco
where he gets an apartment and falls for a young Asian woman,
Sung Li. When Sung Li's mother begins to act strangely, Logan
is drawn into a bizarre world of demonic possessions and is
attacked by a host of ninjas. Sung Li gets kidnapped, and Logan,
his body riddled with arrows, is rescued by a mysterious and
well-armed individual (the soldier-of-fortune Deathblow from
Image Comics continuity). Taking Logan
to his home, Navy (as he is later dubbed by Logan
)
drags him unconscious into his house and rifles through his
belongings. There he realizes Logan
's
past connection with the top secret Canadian Department H. When
Logan
comes to, they are again attacked by ninjas who invade through
the windows. Logan
slays several more ninjas before making an escape with Navy
in his car. Returning to Logan
's
apartment, they come face to face with an Asian stranger who
explains that Sung Li is in grave danger.
Published as a cross-company venture in 1996 by
Image Comics, the story is set in 1982, but I think it best
fits here before Wolverine meets Mariko. It certainly takes
place after Wolverine joins the X-Men as evidenced by the photo
of Nightcrawler and Colossus in his wallet. Note that Navy (Deathblow)
and Logan met briefly many years previous in Team X/Team
7 #1 before the Weapon X experiment. As will be seen,
this story did occur but disappeared from continuity after the
events of X-Men/WILDC.A.T.S: The Dark Age.
Deathblow/Wolverine
#2 (Feb 1997)
Writer/Breakdowns:
Aron Wiesenfeld; Finisher: Richard Bennett
Logan
attacks the Asian stranger with his claws, carving his face to
ribbons. But the stranger reappears in an instant directly behind
Logan
explaining that Sung Li is being held in a dark magical place.
He then teleports Logan and Navy to a mythical library to meet
the Librarian, an ancient legend, who tells of an ancient civilization
that stored the spirits of their people in a mystic urn. Sung
Li is a descendant of the civilization's high priestess and was
kidnapped as part of a nefarious plan to release the spirits into
the San Francisco area and possess every living soul as part of
an unstoppable army. The Librarian gives Logan
a talisman that will destroy the urn and returns Logan and Navy
to his apartment. The two of them prepare for battle, Logan
,
dressed as Wolverine with his martial arts weapons, and Navy with
lots of high caliber guns. As they approach Chinatown
,
they are attacked ninjas and gun-toting thugs, but Wolverine and
Navy bloodily fight their way into the underground of Chinatown
where the urn is stored. In the confusion of battle, a magician,
disguised as Navy, injures Wolverine, but his hyper senses tell
him something is amiss, and he kills the magician. As the fighting
continues, it becomes apparent there are too many weaponed foes
opposing them. But the sudden appearance of an attacking army
of white ninjas gives Wolverine just enough of a diversion to
destroy the urn with the talisman, freeing Sung Li. Back at Sung
Li's home, Logan
realizes that she and the Librarian are one in the same. Feeling
used and betrayed, Logan
mounts his motorcycle and rides back to the X-Men.
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 since Deathblow is from the same universe
as WILDC.A.T.S.

Aron
Wiesenfeld and Richard Bennett, Deathblow/Wolverine #2.
©
and ™ by Marvel Characters, Inc.
<<<
Previous | Next: The Phoenix
[1]
"Interview with Chris Claremont," The X-Men Companion,
1982.
[2]
Interview with Len Wein," The X-Men Companion,
1982.
[3]
Peter Sanderson, "Wolverine: The Evolution of a Character,
" The Incredible Hulk and Wolverine #1, 1986.
[4]
"Interview with Chris Claremont," The X-Men Companion,
1982.
[5]
Peter Sanderson, "Wolverine: The Evolution of a Character,
" The Incredible Hulk and Wolverine #1, 1986.
[6]
“Power and Pain: A Hero History of the X-Men” by Robert Jones,
Amazing Heroes, Sept.
15, 1984 .
[7]
"Interview with Chris Claremont," The X-Men Companion,
1982.
[8]
“Hunter & Prey,” Wizard Wolverine Master Edition,
Dec. 2004. |