The Evolution of Wolverine in the Comics
One of the definitive aspects of comic books is seeing how the characters develop throughout the years. Rarely in the medium do we see the characters fully formed from the get-go; it’s through constant storytelling and writing that we get to see them in the established version that they became known for. A prime example of this in the medium is the most famous Canadian in comics, Wolverine.
The claw-wielding hero of the X-Men is one of the most popular and iconic characters in comics, having been a significant success across all media. So, it is not surprising that the character of Wolverine, which has been around since the early 1970s, has been going through a lot of changes throughout the years. Today we will talk about his evolution in the comics as the years went by.
The first appearance
Even though he is mostly known due to his association with the X-Men, Wolverine’s first ever appearance was in issue #180 of the Incredible Hulk in July of 1974, written by Lein Wein and drawn by Herb Trimpe. There we see Wolverine, with a mask that is a bit dissimilar to his iconic design, near the end of the issue as he joins the battle that is taking place between the Incredible Hulk and an antagonist known as the Wendigo.
We will see a lot more of Wolverine in the following issue as he fights the Hulk. There are some people that claim that issue #181 is the first real appearance of the character, but issue #180 is, for all intents and purposes, the first time that we see Logan.
In terms of his actual character, there isn’t much to say. Most of his iconic design is there and his metal claws are also there, but most of his personality, backstory, and points of view are still not there. At this moment, he is mostly a foil for the Hulk to beat.
The rest of the 70s
Wolverine would become a part of the X-Men through the Giant Size X-Men comic that propelled the series’ popularity to the stratosphere, which would only be cemented by the monthly series that legendary X-Men writer Chris Claremont started in the mid-to-late 70s. Wolverine benefitted greatly from that.
Claremont always knew how to get the most out of Wolverine as a character and that trend started here. While Lein Wein, Logan’s creator, already had the edge and the personality written down, it was Claremont who truly developed his lone wolf persona, the absence of his memories, and his coping with a lot of different feelings, including his love for Jean Grey.
This was a version of Wolverine that could be viewed as both complex and simple. Complex because there were a lot of layers to his personality, but also simple in the sense that Claremont played straight and focused him in giving Logan that violent, animalistic streak to him that is held down by his union with the X-Men.
We are close to the version of Wolverine that most people are familiar with, but we are going to have to wait a couple of years for that.
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The 80s and the early 90s
Since Claremont was writing the X-Men for the vast majority of this time period, there was a lot of consistency with Wolverine’s character in this series. Here we see him growing more attached to the rest of the X-Men and developing a bit of a mentor role to Kitty Pride and Jubilee, to mention a couple of characters, and also having periods of leadership within the team.
This was also the era of the character where his past was slowly being fleshed out. We also get his first couple of solo series where his past with the Weapon X project and his time at Japan are explored, giving us a lot more clarity about who Logan is and what he went through.
If you are the kind of person that is more familiar with the Wolverine of the Fox movies because of Hugh Jackman’s phenomenal performances, then this is the time period that most of the concepts and ideas came from. It is also widely regarded as the best time period for the character.
The 90’s and the early 00’s
This was a weird time period for the character. We could say that this was a version of Wolverine that was pretty much the same as in the 80s, but there were some key differences.
One of the key differences is the fact that he lost his Adamantium against Magneto in the Fatal Attractions event, and he went through a journey of self-discovery to cope with his own animalistic impulses. This was an era of the character where the people in charge, now without Chris Claremont at the helm, were trying to give him a new direction.
Another key aspect in this regard is that the X-Men started a school for mutants, and in that regard, we see Logan in a role as a teacher, which is something that slowly gave him a more fatherly role that we already saw with the likes of Kitty Pryde and Jubilee.
2010s and Beyond
In terms of who he was in the 2010s and in the modern days, Wolverine is by and large what we have seen in recent times: the hero with a violent streak, the father figure to a lot of people, and overall a person that we have grown to know and love throughout the years. There haven’t been a lot of changes regarding his character in recent times.
The revamped version of the X-Men, done through Jonathan Hickman’s writing, has shown them in a more morally ambiguous role, but we cannot really say that Wolverine’s personality has changed that much. He is who he is, but now going with the flow when it comes to the Krakoa arc.
Overall, Wolverine’s current character is the direct result of decades and decades of storytelling that have cemented him as one of comic books’ finest characters of all time.
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