Marvel character profiles: Wolverine by D. Kearney Sparano

Created on: September 07, 2009 Last Updated: September 08, 2009

He is the best there is at what he does and what he does isn't nice.

Wolverine aka Logan aka James Howlett is an iconic character. He is the ultimate bad boy with a heart of gold. Anyone who has an interest in comics knows the character and chances are, fantasizes being him on (since Hugh Jackman came along) being with him. For years his origins were kept secret by Marvel. I suppose this as done to allow writers more creative license, thus molding him onto what they wanted.

Created in the turmoil of the 70's, wolverine was the mutant Dirty Harry in many ways, more anti hero then hero. He smoked cigars, drank hard and had clearly killed in the past. This was not Superman. While partly grounded in the idea of the anti hero, Wolverine also connects to a deeper more archetypal image; that of the wild animal man.

Perhaps one of the 1st inceptions of the animal man can be found in the story of Gilgamesh. The character of Enkidu lives with the animals and is raw and wild. On order to subdue and civilize him Gilgamesh enlists the aid of a temple priestess who spends 7 days and nights civilizing Enkidu. By the end of the period Enkidu attempts to return to the wild, but is spurned by the animals. He has been brought into the world of men and so cannot live in the wild any longer.

Wolverine has a similar story, albeit in reverse. Through out the 6-part series, Wolverine: Origins, the audience learns that Wolverine was born James Howlett in the mid 19th century to an upper aristocratic class. It is inferred that his mother had an affair with the grounds keeper names Thomas Logan. One night on a drunken tear Thomas kills James' father. This becomes the emotional trauma that triggers the activation of Wolverine's mutant gene. In a fit of anger and grief he kills Thomas Logan with his bone claws. He is then taken away to a mining village by a young girl and somewhat protector named Rose. She also gives him his first alias that he will use for the rest of his life, Logan.

While in the mining camp young Logan grows strong spending much time in the wilderness. While there he talks less and slowly becomes more feral, developing his animal keen senses as well as his tracking abilities. In this aspect parallels could be made to Buck in Jack London's Call of the Wild. Rose is his last and only connection to the civilized world. Upon her murder Logan disappears into the wild, not to resurface for some time.

One consistent theme throughout the characters history is amnesia. Not until the end of The House of M story line, did Wolverine posses all of his memories. The reason for the amnesia had been explained in several ways, but it has since been decided that it was Wolverines healing factor that caused it. Though the claws are what make Wolverine cool, the healing factor is what allows him to be such a versatile character. Writers have shot, stabbed and blown him up, but can always bring him back because of the healing factor. It is the cause of his amnesia, because it will not only heal him physically but mentally after a traumatic experience. The healing factor explains how metal can be bound to his skeleton and how they can expand his story line all the way back to the mid 19th century, since they attribute it to slowing his aging process.

In many ways, I see Wolverine being a writer's delight. He is a complicated character that borders the worlds of animal and man. Hi life span allows for numerous stories to be told and his claws never leave him wanting for a weapon. He is a character with few limits that can appeal to both the most innocent of children and the grittiest adults. He really is the best at what he does and he does is enthrall the audience.

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