By Eric Drumm
A few years ago we learned that Logan, the X-Man known as
Wolverine, is really named James Howlett and he has a history far more bloody than anything we could have imagined. Now, under the care of Jeph Loeb and Simone Bianchi, a shocking revelation may explain the truths behind Logan's animal nature. And while new light is being shed on Wolverine's history, the curtain may be closing on his decades long battle with the mutant murderer
Sabretooth.
At the Wakandan royal palace, Wolvie is a guest in the home of King T'Challa, the
Black Panther. Suffering from strange dreams that feel more like memories, Logan can't tell what is real and what is imagined. For a guy with an adamantium skeleton, he is more shattered in the head than usual. What could these dreams mean? Writer and industry icon Jeph Loeb gives us some insight. "What interests me about Logan is that he's virtually indestructible. So, when your body can continually heal, it's...challenging...when your mind acts on it's own path. Ever since he got his memories back (post-HOUSE OF M), he's been following the things he's learned. I wanted to tell a story that came at a price. The nature of the dreams--or memories--will be cleared up by the end of this storyarc."
Enigmatic nightmares aside, Wolverine has a different shock to the system to deal with. Always one to embrace his animal instincts, T'Challa offers a possible explanation as to why Wolverine has that beserker rage inside of him. While Charles
Darwin explained that humans evolved from apes thousands of years ago, T'Challa's theory to Logan is that perhaps there was another animal that was an evolutionary ancestor--wolves.
Could Wolverine and other feral beings in the Marvel Universe get their bloodlust and animal features from a lupine ancestor? Loeb says to keep reading. "Well, something is different about those characters--Sabretooth, Wolverine,
Sasquatch,
Wolfsbane,
Feral, Thornn--the list goes on and on. It's as if the mutant gene was specifically built for this kind of DNA. If that holds true, then T'Challa's theory is intriguing. And clearly, there's a person--or person--who are messing with that given what's going on in this storyarc."
While Logan isn't a believer just yet, he has another, more pressing, issue at hand: giving his old pal Sabretooth an adamantium face lift. Battling across time, these two killers have had it out for each other in the worst way, but it now appears that they are in their end game. With Sabretooth escaping (or being abducted) from the Wakandan palace, Wolvie is on his trail. Could the strange dreams and theoretical genetic beginnings be a sign that the end is coming? Time will tell. Whatever happens, Jeph Loeb says we won't be disappointed, but it might get a little messy "It ain't gonna be pretty, bub. Except for [artist] Simone's [Bianchi's] artwork. That's ALWAYS GORGEOUS!!!"
Start sharpening your claws, rookie. Wolverine is the best there is at what he does, and WOLVERINE #54 will show us that what he does isn't very nice.
WOLVERINE #54 by Jeph Loeb and Simone Bianchi is on sale May 30.
