{"id":6302,"date":"2021-01-31T13:07:38","date_gmt":"2021-01-31T13:07:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=6302"},"modified":"2021-02-14T11:56:07","modified_gmt":"2021-02-14T11:56:07","slug":"the-incomplete-wolverine-1981-version-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=6302","title":{"rendered":"The Incomplete Wolverine: 1981"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Part 1: Origin to Origin II<\/a><\/em> | Part 2: 1907 to 1914<\/a><\/em>
Part 3: 1914 to 1939<\/a><\/em> | Part 4: World War II<\/a><\/em>
Part 5: The postwar era<\/a> | Part 6: Team X<\/a><\/em>
Part 7: Post Team X<\/a><\/em> | Part 8: Weapon X<\/a><\/em>
Part 9: Department H<\/a><\/em> | Part 10: The Silver Age<\/a><\/em>
1974-1975<\/a><\/em> | 1976<\/a><\/em> | 1977<\/a><\/em> | 1978<\/a><\/em> | 1979<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a01980<\/a><\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The focus is very much off Wolverine in this year\u2019s X-Men stories. But 1981 is also where most of\u00a0Wolverine: First Class<\/em> fits, so…<\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/a>X-MEN vol 1 #141 and UNCANNY X-MEN vol 1 #142<\/strong>
\u201cDays of Future Past\u201d<\/strong>
by Chris Claremont, John Byrne, Terry Austin & Glynis Wein\u00a0<\/strong>
January & February 1981<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Kate Pryde<\/strong>, the middle-aged Sprite from the distant future of 2013, swaps minds with her past self in order to warn the X-Men that the new\u00a0Brotherhood of Evil Mutants\u00a0<\/strong>\u2013\u00a0Mystique<\/strong>\u00a0(Raven Darkh\u00f6lme),\u00a0Destiny<\/strong>\u00a0(Irene Adler),\u00a0Avalanche\u00a0<\/strong>(Dominic Petros),\u00a0Pyro\u00a0<\/strong>(St John Allerdyce) and the Blob \u2013 are going to assassinate Senator Robert Kelly. In Kate\u2019s timeline, this set off a chain of events resulting in an apocalyptic Sentinel-dominated America, and likely nuclear annihilation. The X-Men, now with Storm as field leader, duly defeat the new Brotherhood and save Kelly; Kitty and Kate swap back.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cDays of Future Past\u201d is a classic X-Men story, but it\u2019s not particularly central for Wolverine. He does get to use his senses to verify that Kate is the real thing, and to identify Mystique in disguise. And he has a brief argument with Storm, now that she\u2019s the new authority figure in town. She orders him not to use his claws against opponents unless the circumstances are exceptional, and he grudgingly accepts the ruling. Interestingly, her argument is that he doesn\u2019t need his claws because he has \u201cspeed [and] strength\u201d as well as his adamantium skeleton, which reads as if they still hadn\u2019t quite figured out exactly what his powers were at this point.<\/p>\r\n

<\/p>\r\n

Wolverine\u2019s future counterpart gets rather more to do in his segments of the story. He\u2019s generally played as a reliable veteran, foreshadowing the role that he was growing into. He\u2019s also perhaps the least changed by this apocalyptic future. After all, there wasn\u2019t much room to make him harder than he was already.<\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/a> DAZZLER #1-2<\/strong>
\u201cSo Bright This Star\u201d \/ \u201cWhere Demons Fear to Dwell!\u201d<\/strong>
by Tom DeFalco, John Romita Jr, Alfredo Alcala, Glynis Wein & Ken Klaczak<\/strong>
March and April 1981<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Dazzler invites the X-Men and a bunch of other superheroes to her first show at the Numero Uno nightclub. Coincidentally, a magical portal is about to open at the club, and so\u00a0the Enchantress<\/strong>\u00a0shows up, with an army of followers in tow for all the guest stars to fight. Dazzler saves the day, and the assembled superheroes (yes, even Wolverine) persuade agent\u00a0Harry Osgood<\/strong>\u00a0to sign her.<\/p>\r\n

It\u2019s a completely inconsequential story, but this is also Wolverine\u2019s first meeting with\u00a0the Human Torch<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0the Avengers<\/strong>, who currently consist of Captain America, the Beast,\u00a0Hawkeye<\/strong>\u00a0(Clint Barton),\u00a0Iron Man\u00a0<\/strong>(Tony Stark) and\u00a0the Wasp<\/strong>\u00a0(Janet van Dyne). It\u2019s also the first time he meets Ben Grimm as\u00a0the Thing<\/strong>, though they\u2019ve crossed paths in the pre-FF days.<\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/a>WEAPON X: FIRST CLASS #1-3<\/strong>
by Marc Sumerak, Mark Robinson, Robert Campanella & James Brown<\/strong>
November 2008 to January 2009<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

This miniseries is basically a framing sequence for a retelling of the Weapon X story. Professor X and Wolverine take a telepathic journey into Wolverine\u2019s mind, to try and unlock his suppressed memories. He learns about Team X and the Weapon X Project, but the memories send him into such a rage that he asks Professor X to wipe them again for everyone\u2019s safety.<\/p>\r\n

UNCANNY X-MEN vol 1 #143<\/strong><\/a>
\u201cDemon\u201d<\/strong>
by Chris Claremont, John Byrne, Terry Austin & Glynis Wein<\/strong>
March 1981<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

This is the one where Kitty Pryde is left alone in the Mansion on Christmas Eve, and has to fight an N\u2019Garai demon on her own.<\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/a>Wolverine is in the intro scenes, in which Mariko visits the Mansion to collect him for a date. He introduces her to the X-Men as his \u201clady\u201d. Kurt playfully teleports in and kisses her under the mistletoe, and Logan lashes out with his claws. After being calmed down, Logan apologises, and is very upset about his behaviour. Somewhat remarkably, he and Mariko leave on their scheduled date anyway. It\u2019s the \u201cloose cannon\u201d interpretation of Wolverine, though with a very clear indication that he hates being that way and wants to change. As for Mariko, she\u2019s still a cipher \u2013 though an extremely tolerant one.<\/p>\r\n

A few minor flashbacks fit in here. In\u00a0Wolverine Annual 1995<\/em><\/strong>, the X-Men destroy the N\u2019Garai cairn, to try and get rid of the demon infestation for good. In\u00a0Wolverine<\/em>\u00a0vol 2 #126<\/strong>, Sprite faces Wolverine in the Danger Room for the first time (which is still usable for sparring sessions). And in\u00a0Excalibur<\/em>\u00a0vol 1 #85<\/strong>, Wolverine gives a nervous Sprite her first lesson in Krav Maga.<\/p>\r\n

UNCANNY X-MEN vol 1 #144<\/strong><\/a>
\u201cEven in Death\u2026\u201d<\/strong>
by Chris Claremont, Brent Anderson, Joe Rubenstein & Glynis Wein<\/strong>
April 1981<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

This is a Cyclops solo story. The active X-Men only appear in a subplot, in which they\u2019re still doing repairs after the previous issue. Wolverine and Nightcrawler tease Sprite about all the damage, and she cries.<\/p>\r\n

ROM #17-18<\/strong>
\u201cHybrid!\u201d \/ \u201cAnd a Child Shall Deceive Them!\u201d<\/strong>
by Bill Mantlo, Sal Buscema & Ben Sean<\/strong>
April & May 1981<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

The X-Men team up with\u00a0Rom<\/strong>\u00a0to fight the half-mutant, half-Dire Wraith<\/strong>\u00a0creature known as\u00a0Hybrid<\/strong>. Rom and Hybrid both wind up banished to a limbo dimension.<\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/a>UNCANNY X-MEN vol 1 #145-147<\/strong>
\u201cKidnapped!\u201d \/ \u201cMurderworld!\u201d \/ \u201cRogue Storm!\u201d<\/strong>
by Chris Claremont, Dave Cockrum, Joe Rubinstein & Glynis Wein<\/strong>
May to July 1981<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Miss Locke blackmails the X-Men into rescuing her boss Arcade from\u00a0Doctor Doom<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 later retconned into\u00a0a faulty Doombot<\/strong>\u00a0in\u00a0Fantastic Four<\/em>\u00a0vol 1 #258 \u2013 by holding various friends and family hostage. The X-Men escape the usual deathtraps, and Doom backs down. Meanwhile, a reservist team rescues the hostages. As a result, Colossus\u2019s little sister\u00a0Illyana Rasputin<\/strong>\u00a0comes to live at the Mansion.<\/p>\r\n

Wolverine objects to the X-Men even bothering to rescue Arcade, instead of going for the hostages themselves. He escapes his trap room by keeping his cool and thinking his way out of it, with the help of a flashback to a James Hudson pep talk. It\u2019s a minor triumph over his berserker impulses, to keep that storyline ticking over.<\/p>\r\n

WOLVERINE: FIRST CLASS #2<\/strong><\/a>
\u201cSurprise!!\u201d<\/strong>
by Fred van Lente, Andrea di Vito & Laura Villari<\/strong>
April 2008<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/a>Kitty wants to show off to her dance class friends by getting Logan to drive them to a Dazzler show in the X-Men\u2019s limousine. Looking for a way to get into his good books, she finds out his birthday by hacking into Xavier\u2019s files, and sets him up on a birthday date with Mariko at a horrific ninja-themed novelty restaurant. Of course, this completely screws up Logan\u2019s plan to deal with the annual Sabretooth attack alone. Naturally, Sabretooth attacks, but Kitty saves the day by blowing him up. In exchange for her keeping quiet about the whole birthday attacks thing, Logan winds up driving her to the Dazzler concert.<\/p>\r\n

This is a fun issue, and it plays rather cleverly off the fact that we know more than most of the characters do. It also plugs the obvious gap in that Sabretooth didn\u2019t show up in the regular X-Men comics for years.<\/p>\r\n

WOLVERINE: FIRST CLASS #3-4<\/strong><\/a>
\u201cThe Last Knights of Wundagore\u201d<\/strong>
by Fred van Lente, Salva Espin & Guru eFX<\/strong>
April & May 2008<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/a>As part of the X-Men\u2019s search for Magneto (mentioned in\u00a0Uncanny<\/em>\u00a0#149), Wolverine and Sprite investigate strange electromagnetic pulses in Wundagore. They meet\u00a0the High Evolutionary<\/strong>\u00a0and his evolved-animal\u00a0New Men<\/strong>, including\u00a0Bova, the Knights of Wundagore<\/strong>, storyteller\u00a0Prosimia<\/strong>\u00a0and the evil\u00a0Man-Beast<\/strong>. It\u2019s meant to be a story which contrasts Wolverine\u2019s animalistic tendencies with the New Men, but it\u2019s rather confused. The Evolutionary first claims to cure Wolverine of his berserker rages, but later clarifies that he only removed Wolverine\u2019s sense of self-loathing temporarily. For some reason Wolverine panics and runs when he believes that he\u2019s lost his anger, but eventually he stands and fights anyway, because he\u2019s a hero. Bit of a mess.<\/p>\r\n

WOLVERINE: FIRST CLASS #5<\/strong><\/a>
\u201cCitadel\u201d<\/strong>
by Fred van Lente, Clayton Henry & Chris Sotomayor<\/strong>
June 2008<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Wolverine and Sprite visit Alpha Flight in a last attempt to wake Citadel from his coma (a villain who might know something about Department H and Wolverine\u2019s past). Citadel dies. Mainly a framing sequence for flashbacks, with Wolverine brooding on the loss of a potential link to his inaccessible past.<\/p>\r\n

SPIDER-WOMAN vol 1 #37<\/strong><\/a>
\u201cWho Am I?\u201d<\/strong>
by Chris Claremont, Steve Leialoha, Terry Austin & Carl Gafford<\/strong>
April 1981<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Wolverine cameos as some of the other X-Men head off to investigate a new mutant. It\u2019s Sean Cassidy\u2019s long lost daughter\u00a0Siryn<\/strong>\u00a0(Theresa Rourke) and he\u2019ll meet her when they bring her back to the mansion after the next issue. (This storyline has to come out of publication order because the story below takes place \u201cdays\u201d later.)<\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/a>UNCANNY X-MEN vol 1 #148<\/strong>
\u201cCry, Mutant!\u201d<\/strong>
by Chris Claremont, Dave Cockrum, Joe Rubinstein & Glynis Wein<\/strong>
August 1981<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Once again, Wolverine\u2019s not in the main plot (which is the first meeting of Sprite and Caliban). But he spars with Nightcrawler and reveals that he can hide in plain sight like a ninja. He also joins the other X-Men for the heartwarming reunion of Sean and Theresa.<\/p>\r\n

Meanwhile, Angel storms out when Professor X refuses to take Wolverine off the team. This turns out to be Angel quitting the team, though it doesn\u2019t come across that way here. Still, Professor X does wonder whether Wolverine\u2019s potential for good justifies the cost of keeping him around.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

Another flashback from\u00a0Wolverine: Weapon X<\/em>#16<\/strong>\u00a0has been placed around here in the official timelines \u2013 it shows Wolverine storming out of the Mansion in a rage, on his way to kill someone. Nightcrawler tries to warn him that he\u2019s dooming himself to Hell, but Wolverine is unswayed. It\u2019s an essentially unplaceable flashback \u2013 the whole point is that it\u2019s broadly generic.<\/p>\r\n

AVENGERS ANNUAL #10<\/strong><\/a>
\u201cBy Friends \u2014 Betrayed!\u201d<\/strong>
by Chris Claremont, Michael Golden & Armando Gil<\/strong>
1981<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

When an amnesiac Carol Danvers turns up in San Francisco, Professor X is called in to help. The other X-Men make a brief cameo, still plodding away on the repair of the Danger Room. This story is, of course, the debut of Rogue, but Wolverine won\u2019t meet her for a while. The X-Men also appear in the epilogue, \u201cweeks\u201d later, where Carol is rehabbing at the Mansion and the Avengers drop by for a visit \u2013 but since the story expressly calls for a massive gap before that scene, I\u2019m going to stick it as late as it can go, which puts it into 1982.<\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/a>WOLVERINE: FIRST CLASS #6<\/strong>
\u201cLittle Girls\u201d<\/strong>
by Fred van Lente, Salva Espin & Chris Sotomayor<\/strong>
August 2008<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

We now hit another run of\u00a0Wolverine: First Class<\/em>\u00a0issues \u2013 since issue #12 explicitly follows on from\u00a0Uncanny X-Men<\/em>\u00a0#150, issues #6-11 all have to be shoehorned into the gap between\u00a0Uncanny X-Men<\/em>\u00a0#148-149. (They can\u2019t go any earlier because Angel is no longer with the X-Men, and Illyana is now living at the Mansion.)<\/p>\r\n

In this one, Logan tries to watch the Stanley Cup play-offs in peace while Kitty has a girls\u2019 night in with little Illyana, Siryn, and Michelle from issue #1 (now\u00a0Amp<\/strong>). The girls play in the Danger Room and wind up activating some robots that Wolverine has to deal with. The main story is about the girls squabbling over a boy. It doesn\u2019t fit very neatly into continuity because the plot hinges on the Danger Room working, but at least it\u2019s not working\u00a0properly<\/em>.<\/p>\r\n

WOLVERINE: FIRST CLASS #7-8<\/strong><\/a>
\u201cZone of Alienation\u201d<\/strong>
by Fred van Lente, Steven Cummings, Vicente Cifuentes & Adam Street<\/strong>
September and October 2008<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/a>Paranoid Kitty thinks Colossus is meeting a Russian girl, but it turns out that he\u2019s helping\u00a0the Soviet Super-Soldiers<\/strong>\u00a0to deal with an apparent reactor meltdown. This leads to Wolverine, Sprite, Colossus and the Super-Soldiers uncovering a failed experiment to power-up Russian mutants, who have instead been merged into \u201cthe Collective\u201d. The heroes defeat the Collective, and the Super-Soldiers pledge to deal with the party officials responsible. Kitty decides that Peter thinks of her as a sister, and determines to change his mind.<\/p>\r\n

The Soviet Super-Soldiers here are\u00a0Darkstar<\/strong>\u00a0(Laynia Petrovna),\u00a0Vanguard<\/strong>\u00a0(Nikolai Petrovna),\u00a0the Crimson Dynamo<\/strong>\u00a0(Dimitri Bukharin) and\u00a0Ursa Major<\/strong>\u00a0(Mikhail Ursus) \u2013 and yes, they\u2019re the Soviet Super-Soldiers even though the story was published in 2008.\u00a0Wolverine: First Class<\/em>\u00a0seems to be going for stories that would have\u00a0literally<\/em>\u00a0fit in if published at the time of the original issues. Ursa Major is presented as a cadet Super-Soldier, and he did indeed debut in 1981 \u2013 specifically,\u00a0Incredible Hulk<\/em>\u00a0vol 2 #258-259.<\/p>\r\n

WOLVERINE: FIRST CLASS #8 (backup strip)<\/strong><\/a>
\u201cKitty\u2019s Dream\u201d<\/strong>
by Fred van Lente & Colleen Coover<\/strong>
October 2008<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Kitty tells Logan about a dream involving the Mole Man. It\u2019s a two page gag strip, but there\u2019s no reason why it\u00a0can\u2019t<\/em>\u00a0be in continuity.<\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/a>WOLVERINE: FIRST CLASS #9<\/strong>
\u201cKoan\u201d<\/strong>
by Fred van Lente, Francis Portela & Ulises Arreola<\/strong>
November 2008<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

When Sabretooth kidnaps Kitty, Wolverine asks\u00a0Shang-Chi, the Master of Kung Fu<\/strong>\u00a0for advice, but only gets some zen pointers about not being distracted by thoughts. Wolverine is initially unimpressed, but naturally, Shang-Chi\u2019s advice leads him to victory. This is an interesting counterpoint to the usual angle in early 80s stories, which was that Wolverine wasn\u2019t thinking\u00a0enough<\/em>, and needed to temper his animal instincts. The point is not to overcorrect and become paralysed by overanalysing.<\/p>\r\n

WOLVERINE: FIRST CLASS #10-11<\/strong><\/a>
\u201cThe Pack\u201d<\/strong>
by Fred van Lente, Francis Portela & Ulises Arreola<\/strong>
December 2008 & January 2009<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Wolverine takes Kitty into the Illinois woods for a solo navigation exercise. They wind up encountering a pack of werewolves, plus the passing\u00a0Jack Russell, Werewolf by Night<\/strong>. The werewolves are mostly agitated about a new film manufacturing plant which is dumping silver (which is poisonous to them). Logan is briefly turned into a werewolf, and becomes drawn to the pack while struggling for control. He comes to his senses when he realises that the banker behind the plant is Kitty\u2019s father Carmen, and that the pack are going to kill him. Logan, Kitty and Jack defeat the pack, and Logan\u2019s healing factor cures him of the werewolf bite. A pretty straightforward story, but a nice counterpart to the Shang-Chi one that precedes it.<\/p>\r\n

UNCANNY X-MEN vol 1 #149<\/strong><\/a>
\u201cAnd the Dead Shall Bury the Living!\u201d<\/strong>
by Chris Claremont, Dave Cockrum, Josef Rubinstein & Glynis Wein<\/strong>
September 1981<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

The X-Men (and stowaway Sprite) check out Magneto\u2019s old volcano base from issue #115. They find evidence that Magneto is back, and fight reluctant watchman Garokk the Petrified Man. Not an especially important issue for our purposes.<\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/a>UNCANNY X-MEN vol 1 #150<\/strong>
\u201cI, Magneto\u2026\u201d<\/strong>
by Chris Claremont, Dave Cockrum, Josef Rubinstein, Bob Wiacek & Glynis Wein<\/strong>
October 1981<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Apparently by sheer coincidence, on their way home the X-Men are caught in the magnetic field surrounding Magneto\u2019s Island M base, and they crash. Cyclops and his new partner\u00a0Lee Forrester<\/strong>\u00a0have already been on the island for several issues, and Professor X gets yanked there by Magneto during the story. Despite the island\u2019s power dampers, the X-Men fight Magneto, who has a crisis of conscience after knocking out Sprite and realising that he\u2019s hurt a child. Magneto escapes, and the X-Men celebrate on the beach.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

This is a key issue for Magneto, since it kicks off his rehabilitation storyline. It also gives the X-Men possession of his base, which they\u2019ll use a lot in coming issues. But again, there\u2019s not much that\u2019s specific to Wolverine.<\/p>\r\n

WOLVERINE: FIRST CLASS #12<\/strong><\/a>
\u201cThe Substitute\u201d<\/strong>
by Fred Van Lente, Scott Koblish & Ulises Arreola<\/strong>
February 2009<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/a>Van Lente\u2019s final issue takes place immediately after issue #150. Professor X sends Kitty and Cyclops to investigate a strange noise. They encounter the monstrous demon Quoggoth, which claims to have been imprisoned in a sepulchre on the island by Shuma-Gorath for hundreds of millions of years, until Magneto raised it from the sea. Quoggoth can\u2019t escape the mystic veils around its sepulchre, but plans to hold Kitty hostage until the X-Men release it. Naturally, with Wolverine\u2019s help, they escape and re-form the seal. The main point of the story is that after twelve issues of odd-couple squabbling between Kitty and Wolverine, she find that she prefers him to Cyclops as a teacher, because he brings a much wider perspective than career-superhero Cyclops.<\/p>\r\n

The remaining issues of\u00a0Wolverine: First Class<\/em>, written by Peter David, are a bit more evergreen in character, not to mention Not Very Good. At least some of them have to come before the Brood arc due to Kitty\u2019s age, and so they have to fit somewhere between\u00a0Uncanny X-Men<\/em>\u00a0#150 and #154 (where the X-Men finally decamp to Island M). I could have scattered them at random in the available gaps, but for simplicity I\u2019ll just shove as many as possible of them here. The X-Men make a bunch of other appearances in that same period, after all, so it\u2019s as good a gap as any.<\/p>\r\n

WOLVERINE: FIRST CLASS #13-14<\/strong><\/a>
\u201cHand in Hand\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0\/ \u201cDemon With a Crass Hand\u201d<\/strong>
by Peter David, Ronan Cliquet & Ulises Arreola<\/strong>
March & April 2009<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Mariko\u2019s friend Keli Saga has recently inherited a family company and asks Wolverine to protect her from the Hand. In fact, the Hand just want to steal a magical mask which is occupied by the demon Shinigami. The demon possesses Kitty for a bit, but gets defeated by Wolverine,\u00a0Daredevil<\/strong>\u00a0(Matt Murdock) and\u00a0Elektra<\/strong>\u00a0(Elektra Natchios).\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/a>WOLVERINE: FIRST CLASS #15<\/strong>
\u201cRock Gods\u201d<\/strong>
by Peter David, Scott Koblish & Ulises Areola<\/strong>
May 2009<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Kitty pesters Logan to introduce her to Thor, so that she can impress her dance classmates. They team up with Thor to fight\u00a0Ulik<\/strong>, and eventually Logan persuades Thor to show up and impress the dance class.<\/p>\r\n

WOLVERINE: FIRST CLASS #16<\/strong><\/a>
\u201cBedazzled\u201d<\/strong>
by Peter David & Gurihiru<\/strong>
June 2009<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

When Dazzler receives death threats, Wolverine, Kitty and Siryn guard her. The art is lovely, but the story is excruciating \u2013 there\u2019s lots of Wolverine grumbling about disco, and the death threat turns out to be a misunderstanding from someone who wants to throw a pie at her. Seriously, if you\u2019re thinking of re-reading this series, stop with issue #12.<\/p>\r\n

WOLVERINE: FIRST CLASS #17<\/strong><\/a>
\u201cTwo Wongs\u201d<\/strong>
by Peter David, Ronan Cliquet & Ulises Arreola<\/strong>
July 2009<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Wolverine uses his Patch persona to intimidate politician Benjamin Wong, whose father was a criminal that he once assassinated in Madripoor. For some unfathomable reason, Logan is convinced that Wong will be a bad guy simply because his father was. It turns out that Wong Sr is still alive and Wong Jr knows nothing about his crimes \u2013 but for some reason Wolverine still insists he\u2019ll keep an eye on the guy, and the story treats this as perfectly reasonable. Really bad.<\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/a>WOLVERINE: FIRST CLASS #18<\/strong>
\u201cIdentity Crisis\u201d<\/strong>
by Peter David, Francis Portela and Jim Charalampidis<\/strong>
August 2009<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Madrox shows up looking for a missing dupe that he wants to reabsorb; Logan and Kitty argue about whether it should have the right to refuse. (Logan agrees with Madrox.) In the end, the dupe dies anyway while rescuing a child from a fire. This is the best of the Peter David issues by a mile \u2013 it\u2019s a Madrox story, after all \u2013 but still mars it with a stupid scene of Wolverine ranting about the evils of bootleg movie script vendors (\u201cinsulting and unfair to the movie-makers\u201d).<\/p>\r\n

WOLVERINE: FIRST CLASS #19-20<\/strong><\/a>
\u201cDiscreet Invasion\u201d<\/strong>
by Peter David & Dennis Calero<\/strong>
September & October 2009<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Wolverine and Sprite are kidnapped by Skrulls led by\u00a0the Super-Skrull<\/strong>, who plans to experiment on Wolverine. Sprite and the original\u00a0Captain Marvel<\/strong>\u00a0(Mar-Vell) save him. Lovely art, but that\u2019s pretty much the whole plot and it\u2019s two issues long. The implication is that the Skrulls were planning to create duplicates of Wolverine and Sprite in order to replace them as part of the scheme that eventually came to light in 2008\u2019s\u00a0Secret Invasion<\/em>\u00a0crossover.<\/p>\r\n

The final issue of\u00a0First Class<\/em>\u00a0comes long after this point, since the Danger Room is fully restored. We\u2019ll get to that.<\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/a>X-MEN ANNUAL vol 1 #5<\/strong>
\u201cOu, La La \u2013 Badoon!\u201d<\/strong>
by Chris Claremont, Brent Anderson, Bob McLeod & Glynis Wein<\/strong>
1981<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

The X-Men team up with the\u00a0Fantastic Four<\/strong>\u00a0to save Arkon\u2019s world from the invading\u00a0Badoon<\/strong>. This is the first time Wolverine meets\u00a0Mr Fantastic, the Invisible Girl<\/strong>\u00a0and young\u00a0Franklin<\/strong>\u00a0Richards<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

Wolverine\u2019s not the focus of this issue, but it does have a rare scene of him objecting to Cyclops\u2019 plan on the grounds that it\u2019s too risky. More interestingly, there\u2019s also a scene of Wolverine and Nightcrawler discussing the morality of killing, in which Claremont flags up that Wolverine would be a completely conventional hero in the barbarian-genre world of Arkon. Wolverine also points out that this is a war, and lethal force is perfectly reasonable on the morality of a soldier. Kurt accepts that argument but responds with two points: first, that even if killing is necessary, Wolverine needs to take it more seriously; and second, that the X-Men should follow a higher standard because they symbolise an ideal. This is a common Claremont argument and Wolverine will start to advance it himself later in the 1980s.<\/p>\r\n

MARVEL FANFARE vol 1 #3-4<\/strong><\/a>
\u201cInto the Land of Death\u2026\u201d<\/strong>
Issue #3 by Chris Claremont, Dave Cockrum, Bob McLeod & Glynis Wein<\/strong>
Issue #4 by Chris Claremont, Paul Smith, Terry Austin & Glynis Wein<\/strong>
July and September 1982<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/a>In the Savage Land, the X-Men team up with Angel and Ka-Zar against Sauron, Zaladane and\u00a0the Savage Land Mutates<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>(Gaza, Vertigo, Amphibius, Timberius<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Barbarus<\/strong>). The X-Men get captured and experimented upon, with Brainchild turning them into neanderthals and back. The bad guys are defeated, and Sauron turns back into Karl Lykos. Wolverine meets\u00a0Shanna the She-Devil<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>here, along with obscure supporting character\u00a0Tanya Anderssen<\/strong>\u00a0(Sauron\u2019s ex-girlfriend). Even though these are essentially extra issues of\u00a0Uncanny X-Men<\/em>, you\u2019re not missing much if you haven\u2019t read them \u2013 certainly where Wolverine\u2019s concerned.<\/p>\r\n

UNCANNY X-MEN vol 1 #151-152<\/strong><\/a>
\u201cX-Men Minus One!\u201d \/ \u201cThe Hellfire Gambit\u201d<\/strong>
Issue #151 by Chris Claremont, Jim Sherman, Bob McLeod, Josef Rubinstein & Bonnie Wilford<\/strong>
Issue #152 by Chris Claremont, Bob McLeod, Josef Rubinstein & Don Warfield<\/strong>
November & December 1981<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Kitty\u2019s parents send her to Emma Frost\u2019s Massachusetts Academy, and Emma uses a device to swap her mind with Storm\u2019s. The Hellfire Club attack the X-Men Mansion, using both Sentinels and soldiers. Three of the soldiers (Cole, Reese and Macon) have been turned into cyborgs after the injuries Wolverine inflicted on them during the Dark Phoenix Saga, and who are out for personal revenge. The villains are defeated, Storm gets her body back, and Emma agrees to send Kitty back to the X-Men. Rather implausibly, both groups simply agree to keep the other\u2019s secret.<\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/a>Wolverine suggests that Professor X simply change the Prydes\u2019 minds telepathically, which Professor X vetoes on the ground that it\u2019s completely immoral \u2013 though he acknowledges that he used to do that sort of thing in the Silver age.<\/p>\r\n

The main Wolverine material, though, comes in his brief interaction with Cole, Reese and Macon (and Harry Leland, who also fancies a bit of revenge). Wolverine is completely unimpressed by the three cyborgs\u2019 motivation \u2013 so what if they had a lot of cyborg parts put in, they\u2019re still human, aren\u2019t they? He sees them as making excuses, and there\u2019s an obvious parallel with his own experiences in the Weapon X Project.<\/p>\r\n

Next time, 1982 and the Brood.<\/a><\/p>\r\n

(Oh, and a\u00a0footnote: The first\u00a0Wolverine<\/em> mini is cover dated 1982, but it fits into\u00a0Uncanny X-Men<\/em> during 1983. So we won’t reach it for a little while yet.)<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Part 1: Origin to Origin II | Part 2: 1907 to 1914Part 3: 1914 to 1939 | Part 4: World War IIPart 5: The postwar era | Part 6: Team XPart 7: Post Team X | Part 8: Weapon XPart 9: Department H | Part 10: The Silver Age1974-1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,33,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","category-wolverine","category-x-axis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6302"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6302\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6392,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6302\/revisions\/6392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}