Out of all the big-name Marvel icons, Wolverine is one of the most successful characters that was not part of the initial 1960's boom. First appearing in 1974 in INCREDIBLE HULK [1968] #180/181, Wolverine's past was an ongoing mystery. Logan--as he was called then--was part of Canada's first superhero group, Alpha Flight, but was immediately recruited after his INCREDIBLE HULK appearances into the X-Men by Professor X where the anti-social outsider seemingly, finally found a pseudo-family and home. Wolverine is a nearly unbeatable opponent with his unbreakable adamantium-laced skeleton, retractable razor-sharp claws, elevated strength and agility, heightened senses like those of the most capable animals, and a miraculous mutant healing factor that also greatly extends his lifespan. Wolverine has been an ally of Alpha Flight, the X-Men, and the New Avengers. His biggest foes include Sabretooth, Omega Red and the Silver Samurai. He has gone by different aliases throughout his publishing history, including: Logan, Patch and James Howlett (but not 'Bub'). From his very beginning, Wolverine was continually haunted by repressed past traumas in a history of which even he had very little recollection. He found solace in whisky, cigars and just being "the best as what he does," that is...killing--one of a very few Marvel heroes acknowledged to handle his most vile opponents in this fashion.

Wolverine had very little depth of character to accompany his ultra-cool appearance and powers until Chris Claremont and Frank Miller's 4-issue mini-series in 1982 introduced audiences to his time in Japan, grafting a samurai-based era onto his history and imbuing him with a healthy dose of that culture's warrior code. Wolverine owes much of his modern, honorable character to the duo of Claremont and Miller.

A large part of the fan attraction to Wolverine was the ongoing mystery of his past. It was known that he was part of the Weapon X program, but Marvel didn't flesh out exactly what that program was until 1991, beginning with a story arc in MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS [1988] #72-84, titled WEAPON X. This and sequel arcs detailed how Logan was forced into the Weapon X program where, in their attempt to create a compliant super soldier, they laced his skeleton with adamantium and presumably installed the retractable claws. One of the program's greatest successes, because of his mutant healing factor, Wolverine was too hard to control and escaped, He has been at odds with the mysterious, covert program ever since, albeit with very little memory of his time in the program. Over the decades, the shrouded history of the Weapon X program has been expanded even further in the Marvel Universe. Grant Morrison greatly expanded the mythos of the Weapon X program most notably in 2002 when he introduced the concept of the Weapon Plus program in NEW X-MEN [2001] #128. This issue introduced Fantomex as Weapon XII, revealing that Weapon X was a previous, "tenth" iteration (the "X" being re-interpreted as a Roman numeral). The retroactive continuity (retcon) history of the Weapon Plus program now reaches back into the origins of Captain America (Weapon I) and other Marvel superheroes. Before this surprising retcon, another assumption was dispelled in 1993 when Magneto forcibly extracted the adamantium from Wolverine's skeleton in X-MEN [1991] #25, revealing he had bone claws all along.

At the same time that Marvel was exploring the Weapon Plus program in print, with equal parts reluctance and confidence, they chose to finally publish Wolverine's true "origin," knowing this was the last bit of mystery left to the character, but perhaps aware if they didn't tell the story in print, Fox's X-Men film franchise may beat them to it. This original background goes way back to Wolverine's youth and the immergence of his mutant abilities. In WOLVERINE: THE ORIGIN [2001] #1-6 audiences are finally rewarded with some key, missing facts about the character. Wolverine was born to a weathy family in the late 19th century in Canada, and his real name is James Howlett. The series depicts the first time Wolverine popped his claws. Other nuggets in the series include where his nickname, Logan, came from and his infatuation with redheads. The first part of the 2009 film, X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE was greatly inspired by THE ORIGIN. Fox's X-Men film franchise has plumbed Wolverine's source material thoroughly and--for the most part--faithfully, including an alternate future version of the character, Old Man Logan.

Wolverine ultimately regained and retained all of his missing memories. While Wolverine is an integral part of many X-Men stories, he has an equally impressive solo publishing history with stories running the complete gambit of genres and his 100+ year lifespan. He is as popular today as much as ever and still a key character in the X-Men family, often cast as the grizzled veteran in juxtaposition to young X-Men recruits.