Part 1: Origin to Origin II | Part 2: 1907 to 1914
Part 3: 1914 to 1939 | Part 4: World War II
Part 5: The postwar era | Part 6: Team X
Part 7: Post Team X | Part 8: Weapon X
Part 9: Department H | Part 10: The Silver Age
1974-1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 
1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985
1986

We left off just after the Mutant Massacre crossover, which ran through to January. That leads us to a string of aftermath issues as the X-Men roster rebuilds.

UNCANNY X-MEN vol 1 #214
“With Malice Toward All!”
by Chris Claremont, Barry Windsor-Smith & Glynis Oliver
February 1987

The X-Men investigate Dazzler’s unusually aggressive behaviour, and wind up freeing her from possession by the disembodied psychic Malice (Alice McAllister). Malice then hops between the X-Men until Storm defeats her by sheer force of will. With her reputation wrecked by Malice’s antics, Dazzler reluctantly joins the X-Men.

In a surprising coda, Wolverine wrongly concludes that Storm is still under Malice’s control and attacks, realising at the last moment that he’s got it wrong – the idea is that Malice screws with Wolverine’s usual ability to rely on his senses, inverting the usual trope where he’s the one who can sense the truth.

This issue also has a scene of Wolverine training with Callisto in the Danger Room, in one of those highly violent sparring sessions that Storm insists is absolutely fine because they know their limits. And Wolverine is up to his usual tricks, ambushing Psylocke in order to see how she’ll react in a fight. Arguably these are stock “Wolverine knows best” tropes which get subverted at the end.

UNCANNY X-MEN vol 1 #215-216
“Old Soldiers” / “Crucible”
#215 by Chris Claremont, Alan Davis, Dan Green & Glynis Oliver
#216 by Chris Claremont, Jackson Guice, Dan Green & Glynis Oliver
March 1987

Shaken by his error about Storm, Wolverine hasn’t spoken to anyone and seems to be spending most of his time in the Mansion grounds. The X-books will come back to this idea after “Age of Apocalypse”, but it does have some precedent here in the Claremont era.

Partly, Wolverine is upset about his misjudgment. And partly, he’s unsettled by the fact that he can’t uses his senses to detect Malice reliably. Storm assures him that she still trusts him, but he declines her outstretched hand. Still, with everyone else off on Muir Isle, he joins her in investigating the fire bombing of Jean Grey’s sister’s home. Wolverine confirms that Sara Grey left before the blast, but then picks up the scents of Cyclops and Marvel Girl, who have also been in the area. Don’t ask how he can tell Jean and Madelyne’s scents apart.

This further evidence of Jean’s survival seems to drive him briefly crazy – he lashes out, knocking out Storm in the process, and then races off to follow Jean’s scent. Instead of finding her, he ends up in the wilderness, gets hit by a truck, and does a bit of primal howling. Meanwhile, Storm encounters geriatric vigilantes the Crimson Commando (Frank Bohannan), Stonewall (Louis Hamilton) and Super Sabre (Martin Fletcher), though Wolverine doesn’t actually meet Super Sabre in person just yet. The trio are currently capturing criminals and hunting them for sport in the woods – today, it’s drug dealer Priscilla Morrison. Wolverine comes to his senses after realising that he’s just failed to stop Morrison from murdering an innocent couple. Morrison winds up getting killed by the Commando, and the two X-Men defeat the vigilantes.

Afterwards, Storm tells Wolverine that the X-Men need to stop being so reactive and take the initiative more. Wolverine is still having a crisis of confidence, and queries whether Storm risks leading the X-Men down the same path as the two vigilantes.

Wolverine doesn’t appear in issues #217-218, in which the rest of the X-Men fight the Juggernaut in Edinburgh.

MEPHISTO VS… #3
“The Devil You Say!”
by Al Milgrom, John Buscema, Bob Wiacek & George Roussos
June 1987

Mephisto tries to capture the X-Men’s souls, with a convoluted scheme that involves tricking Rogue into absorbing all her teammates so that Mephisto can get them all at once. It actually works (briefly), though Mephisto rejects Wolverine’s soul as sub-human – for no apparent reason beyond trolling. He doesn’t take it well. Wolverine also cameos in a single panel of Mephisto vs… #4, which is mainly an Avengers story.

UNCANNY X-MEN vol 1 #228
“Deadly Games!”
by Chris Claremont, Rick Leonardi, Terry Austin & Bill Wary
April 1988

Wolverine tags along with Dazzler to investigate when her friend OZ Chase is framed for murdering a drug dealer’s henchman. They uncover the real killer as mutant KGB agent Vladimir Zaitsev. But Henry Peter Gyrich shows up to explain that Zaitsev has defected, and Wolverine grudgingly agrees to rescue him from Russian agents. He does, but Chase’s dog kills Zaitsev anyway.

This was a flashback story, published the month after “Fall of the Mutants” – there’s a framing sequence, but it’s just Chase reading a letter from Dazzler. The basic idea is to contrast Logan’s CIA background with Dazzler’s naïve and amateurish approach, but with Wolverine’s moral compromise being to rescue Zaitsev, and Dazzler coming to see Zaitsev’s death as the principled result. They make a fun duo.

X-MEN & SPIDER-MAN #2
“Last Hunts”
by Christos Gage & Mario Alberti
December 2008

X-Men & Spider-Man was an unusual miniseries which featured team-ups at various different points in continuity, all playing into a long-term plot. In this issue, Spider-Man gets a lead on Mr Sinister, and joins the X-Men in investigating an obscure area of the Morlock tunnels, where they fight the Marauders again. Wolverine meets Scalphunter (John Greycrow) for the first time in this fight.

Wolverine doesn’t exactly appear in Uncanny X-Men vol 1 #219 (where Havok joins the team), but he does appear briefly in a distorted dream scene where Havok comes looking for the X-Men. The team apparently wipe his memory and send him packing. The Marvel Index treats this as a distorted flashback rather than outright fiction. Poor old Havok is viewed as something of a liability at this point.

SPIDER-MAN VS. WOLVERINE #1
“High Tide”
by James Owsley, Mark Bright, Al Williamson & Petra Scotese
February 1987

Despite the cover date, this one-shot takes place after Havok joins the team.

Wolverine learns that his old friend Charlemagne (i.e., his lover – it’s a gender reveal twist) has resurfaced in West Berlin. She is killing retired KGB officers who once betrayed her. Wolverine goes to Berlin to look for her, and gets into trouble with the KGB himself. Journalists Peter Parker and Ned Leeds are also looking for her. Logan immediately recognises Peter as Spider-Man by scent, but soon satisfies himself that Peter really is just an idiot journalist. Ned gets killed, and Logan tries to pack Peter off home. But Peter keeps trying to help (and to find out what happened to Ned), despite being utterly lost in the morally conflicted world of a spy story. When Charlemagne finally kills everyone on her list, Wolverine claims that he was trying to keep her under control, and berates Spider-Man for getting in his way; Spider-Man retorts that Wolverine and Charlemagne are lunatics. Wolverine decides on reflection that he was too hard on Spider-Man, and decides to catch up with him in New York to explain. The next night, Wolverine meets up with Charlemagne, who wants him to kill her quickly so that she will avoid torture by the KGB. Spider-Man tries to step in, only for her to engineer her own death via a fatal blow from Spider-Man himself.

For Wolverine, the story itself is inconsequential – Charlemagne never comes up again. It’s more notable in publishing terms, as another step towards Wolverine becoming a solo hero; his ongoing title will launch next year. Instead of the usual focus on his animal rage, this story focusses on his secret agent back story, treating him as a spy who’s wandered in from a more morally flexible genre that Spider-Man doesn’t initially understand. Wolverine here is an amoral pro anchored not by principles but by his personal relationships – he insists here that there is no good or bad, no law, and that Spider-Man’s attempt to interpret the story through a moral framework is simply misconceived.  This has very little to do with the way Claremont was writing Wolverine in Uncanny at the time, where he was starting to become the moral compass for Storm. But it fits surprisingly well with later interpretations of the character.

Writer James Owsley changed his name a few years after this issue, and is now Christopher Priest.

WEB OF SPIDER-MAN vol 1 #29
“Mask”
by James Owsley, Steve Geiger, Art Nichols & Bob Sharen
August 1987

As promised, Logan does indeed track down Peter to talk over what happened. They fight off a group of muggers first, and thanks to a passing Spider-Man subplot, Logan crosses paths with the Hobgoblin (Jason Macendale) and the Arranger (Oswald Silkworth). Afterwards, Logan tells Spider-Man that he shouldn’t feel responsible for the deaths of Ned or Charlemagne, that “you can’t take responsibility for other people’s lives like that”, and that he should let go of his guilt. From Logan’s point of view, this is good advice towards a healthier life… but of course, he’s actually rejecting the whole premise of Spider-Man as a character.

FANTASTIC FOUR VS THE X-MEN #1-4
4-issue miniseries
by Chris Claremont, Jon Bogdanove, Terry Austin & Glynis Oliver
February to May 1987

Shadowcat has been stuck in intangible form since the Massacre, and the X-Men turn to Dr Doom for help. After some misunderstands, the FF help make Doom’s machine work, and Shadowcat is cured. Much of the plot is about a fake diary, presumably created by Doom, which suggests that Reed deliberately engineered the accident that created the FF; another major strand is about Shadowcat and Franklin Richards. This mini is important to Uncanny X-Men, but it doesn’t have much to do with Wolverine.

X-MEN VS THE AVENGERS #1-4
4-issue miniseries
by Roger Stern, Marc Silvestri, Josef Rubinstein & Christie Scheele
April to July 1987

On hearing that part of Asteroid M has crashed in Cambodia, Magneto races off to deal with it. He’s pursued by the X-Men (who want to know what he’s up to), the Soviet Super-Soldiers (who are trying to kill him), and the Avengers (who want to arrest him). It turns out that Magneto is trying to recover a mind control device that can wipe out anti-mutant prejudice. All the other heroes agree that this is a terrible idea, and Magneto ends up surrendering so that his trial can be completed.

In an extended epilogue, Magneto’s trial before the World Court from Uncanny X-Men #200 is finally concluded. He uses his device one last time to remove the anti-mutant prejudice of the senior judge. The court then acquits him on a technicality, which satisfies nobody. Magneto is left wondering whether he actually affected the decision, and whether the backlash is going to do mutants even more harm.

This series doesn’t really have much for Wolverine either. He does meet Doctor Druid for the first time, though. A brief cameo of the X-Men arriving for the trial can also be seen in Marvels: Eye of the Camera #5.

X-MEN ANNUAL vol 1 #11
“Lost in the Funhouse”
by Chris Claremont, Alan Davis, Paul Neary & Glynis Oliver
1987

Alien villain Horde threatens to destroy the world unless the X-Men steal the “Crystal of Ultimate Vision” for him. The Crystal is kept in the Citadel of Light and Shadow, which sidetracks intruders with illusions of everything they want. In Wolverine’s case, that’s a vision of Mariko, who then turns into a figure more like Yukio (“a wild woman for my wild man”). Of course, by this point he has enough self control to reject that. He and Storm are the only X-Men to make it to the Crystal; Horde tries to kill Wolverine, but a drop of his blood lands on the Crystal, and he’s reconstituted with cosmic power. Cosmic Wolverine toys briefly with changing the world, but decides it would be too much like the way his own mind and body were interfered with against his will. So he destroys the Crystal instead. This finale confused a lot of people at the time, since it presents the Crystal’s cosmic power as enabling Wolverine to “heal” from just a drop of blood, without really explaining why the new body still has adamantium. It’s a plot hole which I suppose you can explain as cosmic weirdness.

This story takes place on the anniversary of Logan and Mariko’s wedding day, and he’s been drinking heavily at the start. He says his healing factor stops him from getting blind drunk “even when I want to”, but by all appearances he is blind drunk. Perhaps he just means it stops him staying that for long. For some reason, drunk Logan sings “There’s No Place on Earth Like the World”, which comes from Brendan Behan’s play “The Hostage” (about the death of a teenage IRA member).

In the B-plot, Psylocke convinces herself that she can be a warrior, and she belongs on the X-Men. At the start, she claims that while Havok is there out of duty, and Dazzler had no choice, Wolverine and Storm “seem actually to be born to” the warrior life. But in the next scene, Wolverine uses the term “warrior” to describe the honourable behaviour that he aspires to, rather than as something he already is.

Oh, and visiting the Mansion in this story are Captain Britain and Meggan.

UNCANNY X-MEN vol 1 #220
“Unfinished Business”
by Chris Claremont, Marc Silvestri & Dan Green
August 1987

Wolverine only appears in a subplot, but it’s an important scene. Storm tells him that she’s taking a leave of absence in order to find Forge and get her powers back. She asks Wolverine to lead the X-Men in her place. He initially refuses, saying that he isn’t up to the job, but finally relents.

Storm won’t return until “Fall of the Mutants”, so this kicks off a brief phase with Wolverine as team leader, rising to a challenge that he doesn’t think he’s up to.

The X-Men leave for San Francisco next issue, and don’t return to the Mansion for years. As a result, a last batch of Mansion-era guest appearances have to go here.

DAREDEVIL vol 1 #248-249
“A Cage in Search of a Bird” / “Kiss & Kill”
by Ann Nocenti, Rick Leonardi, Al Williamson & Petra Scotese
November & December 1987

This is the debut of Bushwacker (Carl Burbank), a cyborg hitman who is killing harmless civilian mutants for money – people like mutant ballerinas. Bleeding heart liberal Daredevil has been led to believe that Bushwacker is mentally ill, and starts off trying to help the guy, while Wolverine only cares about stopping him. Eventually Daredevil concedes that Wolverine is right, at least in the short term. Much to Wolverine’s irritation, Daredevil still saves Bushwacker’s life and hands him over to the authorities. Basically a principles versus pragmatism story – Wolverine’s right about what needs done, but mainly because it happens to coincide with what he’d like to do anyway. Bushwacker himself notes that he can’t identify with Daredevil at all, but he understands Wolverine.

ALPHA FLIGHT vol 1 #52-53
“Specters!” / “A Blast from the Past!”
#52 by Bill Mantlo, June Brigman, Whilce Portacio & Bob Sharen
#53 by Bill Mantlo, Jim Lee, Whilce Portacio & Bob Sharen
November & December 1987

Wolverine teams up with Alpha Flight to fight James Hudson’s rogue creation Bedlam. Much of this is a framework for flashbacks which we covered back in the Department H chapter. Bedlam claims that Hudson also had a hand in creating Wolverine, but he seems to be trolling. Eventually Vindicator kills Bedlam, and Wolverine tells her that she’s proved herself as Alpha Flight leader.

Wolverine also meets Beta Flight members Manikin, the Purple Girl and Goblyn, and Bedlam’s henchman the Derangers – Laura Dean, Freakout and Janus.

UNCANNY X-MEN vol 1 #221-222
“Death by Drowning!” / “Heartbreak!”
by Chris Claremont, Marc Silvestri, Dan Green & Glynis Oliver
September & October 1987

The X-Men go to San Francisco to help Madelyne Pryor, who is in hospital after the Marauders tried to kill her and kidnapped baby Nathan. (Their employer Mr Sinister wants rid of her because he’s tying up loose ends.) The Marauders have another go at killing her, and two issues of destructive fighting ensue. Polaris, possessed by Malice, debuts as the Marauders’ new leader. Wolverine has another skirmish with Sabretooth. But even though it makes the cover of issue #222, we haven’t quite settled on Sabretooth being a big deal yet, and so he doesn’t come across as much of a threat – he punches Wolverine in the head and breaks his hand on the adamantium. Upshot: the X-Men rescue Madelyne and drive the Marauders away.

UNCANNY X-MEN vol 1 #223
“Omens & Portents”
by Chris Claremont, Kerry Gammill, Dan Green & Glynis Oliver
November 1987

Mainly a Storm story. Meanwhile, the X-Men and Madelyne set up a temporary base in Alcatraz, and hang around in San Francisco looking for the Marauders. Wolverine does his usual routine while training the team – sudden attacks and the like – and it seems to be working quite well.

UNCANNY X-MEN vol 1 #224
“The Dark Before the Dawn”
by Chris Claremont, Marc Silvestri, Bob Wiacek & Glynis Oliver
December 1987

Logan tags along when Dazzler plays an anonymous gig in a nightclub; he gently tells her off for using her powers in public when they’re trying to lie low, but he’s noticeably more tactful and supportive than usual, perhaps because he’s trying to play the leader role rather than the disruptor.

Rogue relays news that Destiny has predicted that the X-Men will all die, and that Storm will be key to events. Wolverine decides that the X-Men should head to Forge’s home in Dallas, Eagle Plaza, in search of Storm.

This leads into the “Fall of the Mutants” crossover, which kicks off 1988. It’s a year that drastically changes the X-Men’s status quo for several years – and starts off Wolverine’s solo book.