What Wolverine owes to the Summer of '75?

[bronze johnny]

Undoubtably the greatest Bronze Age creation, Wolverine has gone on to become an iconic character, perhaps reaching the height of Spidey and Supes in terms of popularity. Wolverine's second appearance happens to be in the book that begins the "Mutant Age of Comics" where the X-Men dominate the next two decades of comics.

 

Interestingly, Wolverine gets a limited series approximately 7 years after GS X-Men 1 and 8 years after his first appearance. The first ongoing Wolverine series begins in 1988! Wolverine may have the distinction of being the greatest character to have a 1st appearance in one Age while getting his own ongoing series in another! Looking back at the 7 year period between GS X-Men 1 and Miller's series, one question to look at is why did it take Marvel so long to take Wolverine out of the "X-Men Context?"

 

It's interesting since Marvel had no problem giving characters their own ongoing series especially during the mid to latter part of the Bronze Age- Omega the Unknown, The Human Fly, Ms. Marvel, Spider-Woman, Machine Man, Devil Dinosaur, etc. Perhaps the House of Ideas wasn't ready to give a mutant his own title? In the Bronze Age of Diversity where characters of different racial and ethnic backgrounds were given their own ongoing titles it would be difficult to argue that Marvel wanted to keep the most diverse group of characters from branching out into their own titles. Wolverine would have been the first in line to get his own series, long before the advent of the Copper Age.

 

The popularity of the X-Men continued to grow and expand as Byrne took over the artistic reins with Uncanny X-Men 108. Claremont's stories were some of the best comics had ever seen. The first seven years of the X-Men that followed their intro in the summer of '75 were special.

 

Is Wolverine primarily responsible for making the X-Men the greatest team of the latter half of the 20th Century? Or, are the X-Men responsible for making Wolverine?

 

What Wolverine owes to the Summer of '75?

 

John

[boomtown]

Put me in the camp that the X-Men made Wolverine. I'm not sure whether it was an early letters page or a fanzine that was out at the time but there was a discussion on the death of Thunderbird. Len Wein mentioned that Wolverine & Thunderbird were basically the same type character (angry, loner, savage, etc.) & that one or the other was planned to be killed off early. Wein had a soft spot for Wolverine as one of his creators so Thunderbird was chosen to die.

 

I look back & picture Thunderbird in all the Claremont / Byrne storylines & could certainly see him becoming the big character that Wolverine went on to become.

 

Wolverine was in the right place at the right time.

[bronze johnny]

Thanks for the insight (thumbs u

 

One thing that distinguishes Wolverine from Spider-Man, Superman, and Batman is that the latter three characters first started out and developed in their own comic books. Wolverine started to "grow up" in an X-Men world- a significant part of a remarkable team.

 

John

[HarrisonJohn]

From what I remember reading, Claremont fought to keep Wolverine from getting his own series for a number of years.

[Ken Aldred]

Put me in the camp that the X-Men made Wolverine. I'm not sure whether it was an early letters page or a fanzine that was out at the time but there was a discussion on the death of Thunderbird. Len Wein mentioned that Wolverine & Thunderbird were basically the same type character (angry, loner, savage, etc.) & that one or the other was planned to be killed off early. Wein had a soft spot for Wolverine as one of his creators so Thunderbird was chosen to die.

 

I look back & picture Thunderbird in all the Claremont / Byrne storylines & could certainly see him becoming the big character that Wolverine went on to become.

 

Wolverine was in the right place at the right time.

 

I have to agree with that. (thumbs u

 

Always liked Thunderbird / Warpath.

[nmtg9]

From what I remember reading, Claremont fought to keep Wolverine from getting his own series for a number of years.

 

Do you know why? Was it so someone else couldn't ruin the character?

[vaillant]

It‘s the quality of the early stories which made the characters popular. Thus, Wolverine owes his success to that, and the fact he finally got his own mini-series and then series reinforced the popularity, IMO.

[Gatsby77]

Wolverine may have the distinction of being the greatest character to have a 1st appearance in one Age while getting his own ongoing series in another!

 

Punisher is another prime example of this. Granted, he's no longer in the same league as Wolverine but for a time he was supporting three monthly series and guest-starring in every other book.

 

Not bad for a b-list villain/Dirty Harry rip-off who only took off after an epic solo mini-series 12 years later.

 

Frank Miller probably had some influence in popularizing The Punisher via Daredevil 182-184 and ASM Annual 15, but the miniseries still didn't come until four years later.

[Jeffro.]

I think without the X-Men as a team and Byrne/Claremont, Wolvie might not be the icon that he is today.

 

As far as it taking so long for him to get his own series, in the early 80s the mini series was still a new concept. Contest of Champions in 1982 was (I believe) the first for Marvel and DC had done a couple before that. Until then, the only option was for characters to be given their own book instead of a mini type "tryout"

Perhaps until then, Marvel was unsure that Wolverine could sustain his own ongoing title. Seems like the popularity of the mini series format would be the perfect venue to test the market. All speculation on my part though.

[jjonahjameson1]

From what I remember reading, Claremont fought to keep Wolverine from getting his own series for a number of years.

 

That's a good question. I also wondered about that and I was also thinking about why the Wolvie mini-series wasn't illustrated by Byrne, the strongest proponent of Wolverine. His input and co-plotting really helped to emphasize and shape Wolverines characterization and prominence in the title.

[HarrisonJohn]

Claremont didn't want to water down/ overexpose Wolverine (or have other writers writing him) and tried to use mini series to meet demand until editors at marvel finally decided there had to be a Wolverine book.

[Comicopolis]

And now Wolverine is in virtually every Marvel book - how times have changed.

[shadroch]

If memory serves me well, the Wolverine mini was the first Marvel mini-series that featured a single character.

The only one I can think of before it was the Contest of Champions.

Either you had a regular on-going series or you had nothing. Claremont didn't think Wolverine could do two separate series on an ongoing basis. As soon as Marvel greenlit the mini series idea, Wolverine was the obvious choice for it.

The rise of the Direct Market made mini-series more feasible and shortly after Wolverine's series you had The Falcon, Hercules, Jack of Hearts and many other getting them. They even did a couple of Maxi-series books that were more than 4or 6 issues but that had a specific run.

[jools&jim]

If memory serves me well, the Wolverine mini was the first Marvel mini-series that featured a single character.

The only one I can think of before it was the Contest of Champions.

Either you had a regular on-going series or you had nothing. Claremont didn't think Wolverine could do two separate series on an ongoing basis. As soon as Marvel greenlit the mini series idea, Wolverine was the obvious choice for it.

The rise of the Direct Market made mini-series more feasible and shortly after Wolverine's series you had The Falcon, Hercules, Jack of Hearts and many other getting them. They even did a couple of Maxi-series books that were more than 4or 6 issues but that had a specific run.

I seem to remember the Hercules mini-series coming out at the same time as the Wolverine mini in the summer of '82...

 

 

[Huskie-migration]

The X-Men made Wolverine. That's where he became cool and I would argue that the 90s cartoon which heavily adapted those Claremont/Bryne was a big part of his surge to iconic status without the rest of the X-Men. If Wolverine stayed with Alpha Flight, he wouldn't be where he is today

[jjonahjameson1]

If memory serves me well, the Wolverine mini was the first Marvel mini-series that featured a single character.

The only one I can think of before it was the Contest of Champions.

Either you had a regular on-going series or you had nothing. Claremont didn't think Wolverine could do two separate series on an ongoing basis. As soon as Marvel greenlit the mini series idea, Wolverine was the obvious choice for it.

The rise of the Direct Market made mini-series more feasible and shortly after Wolverine's series you had The Falcon, Hercules, Jack of Hearts and many other getting them. They even did a couple of Maxi-series books that were more than 4or 6 issues but that had a specific run.

I seem to remember the Hercules mini-series coming out at the same time as the Wolverine mini in the summer of '82...

 

 

Hey, good memory; Here's the dates of first few Marvel mini's:

 

-Contest of Champions = June '82 - Aug '82

-Wolverine = Sept '82 - Dec '82

-Hercules = Sept '82 - Dec '82

-Vision & Scarlett Witch = Nov '82 - Feb '83

[shadroch]

I think Woverine beat Hercules by a couple of weeks.

[shadroch]

If memory serves me well, the Wolverine mini was the first Marvel mini-series that featured a single character.

The only one I can think of before it was the Contest of Champions.

Either you had a regular on-going series or you had nothing. Claremont didn't think Wolverine could do two separate series on an ongoing basis. As soon as Marvel greenlit the mini series idea, Wolverine was the obvious choice for it.

The rise of the Direct Market made mini-series more feasible and shortly after Wolverine's series you had The Falcon, Hercules, Jack of Hearts and many other getting them. They even did a couple of Maxi-series books that were more than 4or 6 issues but that had a specific run.

I seem to remember the Hercules mini-series coming out at the same time as the Wolverine mini in the summer of '82...

 

 

Hey, good memory; Here's the dates of first few Marvel mini's:

 

-Contest of Champions = June '82 - Aug '82

-Wolverine = Sept '82 - Dec '82

-Hercules = Sept '82 - Dec '82

-Vision & Scarlett Witch = Nov '82 - Feb '83

 

May I ask where you got this list?

[jjonahjameson1]

If memory serves me well, the Wolverine mini was the first Marvel mini-series that featured a single character.

The only one I can think of before it was the Contest of Champions.

Either you had a regular on-going series or you had nothing. Claremont didn't think Wolverine could do two separate series on an ongoing basis. As soon as Marvel greenlit the mini series idea, Wolverine was the obvious choice for it.

The rise of the Direct Market made mini-series more feasible and shortly after Wolverine's series you had The Falcon, Hercules, Jack of Hearts and many other getting them. They even did a couple of Maxi-series books that were more than 4or 6 issues but that had a specific run.

I seem to remember the Hercules mini-series coming out at the same time as the Wolverine mini in the summer of '82...

 

 

Hey, good memory; Here's the dates of first few Marvel mini's:

 

-Contest of Champions = June '82 - Aug '82

-Wolverine = Sept '82 - Dec '82

-Hercules = Sept '82 - Dec '82

-Vision & Scarlett Witch = Nov '82 - Feb '83

 

May I ask where you got this list?

 

I pulled the cover publication dates from comics.org

 

[jools&jim]

If memory serves me well, the Wolverine mini was the first Marvel mini-series that featured a single character.

The only one I can think of before it was the Contest of Champions.

Either you had a regular on-going series or you had nothing. Claremont didn't think Wolverine could do two separate series on an ongoing basis. As soon as Marvel greenlit the mini series idea, Wolverine was the obvious choice for it.

The rise of the Direct Market made mini-series more feasible and shortly after Wolverine's series you had The Falcon, Hercules, Jack of Hearts and many other getting them. They even did a couple of Maxi-series books that were more than 4or 6 issues but that had a specific run.

I seem to remember the Hercules mini-series coming out at the same time as the Wolverine mini in the summer of '82...

 

 

Hey, good memory; Here's the dates of first few Marvel mini's:

 

-Contest of Champions = June '82 - Aug '82

-Wolverine = Sept '82 - Dec '82

-Hercules = Sept '82 - Dec '82

-Vision & Scarlett Witch = Nov '82 - Feb '83

 

May I ask where you got this list?

 

I pulled the cover publication dates from comics.org

The Mike's Amazing World site lists the on-sale date for the first issues of both series as 6/1/82 (cover date of September '82).

 

I'm pretty sure that I bought my copies of both at the same News Center, on the same day, along with this issue of Rolling Stone magazine, which is also from June of '82:

 

 

I remember it because I caught heat from my rocker high school buddies for still buying comic books...