Wolverine is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in
American comic books published by Marvel Comics, as well as in movies, television shows, and video games; most often in fiction related to the X-Men. He was created in 1974 by writer Len Wein and Marvel art director John Romita, Sr.
Wolverine is a mutant, born with the superhuman ability to fully and rapidly recover from any injury or ailment. He possesses
long retractable claws that protrude from the backs of his hands. His skeleton is laced with a fictional metal known as adamantium, which makes it indestructible. Wolverine is a member of the X-Men, a team of superheroes who fight for mutant rights and to preserve the
peace between mutants and
normal humans.
Due to his wild popularity in the 1980s and beyond, an elaborate back story has been created for the character, from his origins in the Canadian prairie land to fighting gangsters in Asia, becoming part of a
government-led superhero team, and having extensive adventures apart from other X-Men members.
Marvel editor-in-chief Roy Thomas asked writer Len Wein to devise a character specifically named Wolverine, who is Canadian and of
small stature and with a wolverine's fierce temper. John Romita, Sr. designed the first Wolverine costume, and believes he introduced the retractible claws, saying, "When I make a design, I want it to be practical and functional. I thought, 'If a man has claws like that, how does he
scratch his
nose or tie his shoelaces?'" Wolverine first appeared in the final "teaser" panel of The Incredible Hulk #180 (cover-dated
October 1974) written by Wein and penciled by
Herb Trimpe. The character then appeared in a number of advertisements in various Marvel Comics publications before making his first
major appearance in The Incredible Hulk #181 (November 1974) again by the Wein–Trimpe team. In 2009, Trimpe said he "distinctly remembers" Romita's
sketch and that, "The way I see it, Romita and writer Len Wein sewed the
monster together and I shocked it to life!... It was just one of those secondary or tertiary characters, actually, that we were using in that particular book with no particular notion of it going anywhere. We did characters in The Incredible Hulk all the
time that were in particular issues and that was the end of them." Though often credited as co-creator, Trimpe adamantly denies having had any role in Wolverine's creation.
