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Greg McPhee Byrne Robotics Member

Joined: 25 August 2004 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 5114
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Posted: 14 December 2021 at 11:14am | IP Logged | 1
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One of the great things is this origin streamlines / eliminates a lot of the "baggage" Wolverine accumulated.
I for one am glad Mac is shown again as having good and honourable intentions with regards to Wolverine and Alpha Flight. It never sat right with me that Bill Mantlo went out of his way to present him as such a flawed character given all we had seen previously.
I was a fan of the Larry Hama / Marc Silvestri run on Wolverine, but, as above after Weapon X and the dilution of the character over several titles, they had to try their best to get everything to fit, and we ended up with the "false memories" angle just to write off anything that wasn't right.
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Chris Durnell Byrne Robotics Member

Joined: 26 February 2005 Location: United States Posts: 1234
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Posted: 14 December 2021 at 11:49am | IP Logged | 2
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ron bailey wrote:
I love how the revelation of the Invaders stint explains one of the reasons why "loner" Logan would have been open to later assignments to Alpha Flight and the X-Men. |
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There's always been some oddness on Logan being defined as a loner. We were told that originally Wolverine was pegged to be leader as Alpha Flight and Mac only fell into it because he left. He also spent a lot of time in early X-Men issues wanting to lead that team instead of Cyke. And in both Claremont's run and Elsewhen we see him as a mentor figure to children/apprentice heroes. Doesn't actually fit a "loner", does it?
My impression was that Wolverine fit naturally into the "NCO" role of a team - an older, more experienced veteran who could nurture and mentor the inexperienced soldiers/heroes while supporting and advising the junior officer/team leader.
I think Sam Elliot's portrayal of Sgt Major Plumley in We Were Soldiers was very much what Wolverine was "really" like. Being gruff and no-nonsense doesn't necessarily equate to being a loner.
I attribute his initial dislike to Cyclops to 1) being hot for Jeanie so he saw Scott as a rival, and 2) Cyke's slender build and introspective nature didn't seem "manly" to the more rough and tumble Wolverine. But after he saw Cyclops was a good leader and got over Jean, he was more comfortable following him.
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Mark Haslett Byrne Robotics Member

Joined: 19 April 2004 Location: United States Posts: 6887
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Posted: 14 December 2021 at 12:13pm | IP Logged | 3
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Interesting thoughts, Chris. I see what you mean, but I don't know that "loner" is meant to mean exclusively a person who can't be with groups. It can be a tendency or a bent in a character.
I would add that my experience with guys who act like what you describe is that their "mentoring" comes as a way for the loner to socialize-- it's basically a way to maintain a my-way-or-the-highway attitude in a group.
Also, I find those guys are "loners" in that they protect their alone time viciously and are extremely private -- even if they're often able to be funny and charming about it.
I think the Wolverine story is about a guy who has powerful "loner" qualities and powerful social desires. Kind of a classic Cowboy dilemma -- a man who protects society, but isn't quite suited to be part of it.
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Eric Sofer Byrne Robotics Member

Joined: 31 January 2014 Location: United States Posts: 4789
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Posted: 14 December 2021 at 12:50pm | IP Logged | 4
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That last panel is magnificent.
Proportions - critical to that scene. In a background setting, you made the Hulk and Wendigo look absolutely perfect in height and girth - and SO muscled, as they are! For a little drawing, it is absolutely BRILLIANT!
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Blair Herd Byrne Robotics Member

Joined: 27 April 2008 Location: Canada Posts: 328
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Posted: 14 December 2021 at 1:34pm | IP Logged | 5
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Nobody draws the Wolverine smirk better. That last page was one of the best I have seen in a long time.
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Andrew Bitner Byrne Robotics Member

Joined: 01 June 2004 Location: United States Posts: 7558
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Posted: 14 December 2021 at 4:33pm | IP Logged | 6
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I'll second these last two posts. Wolverine's expression on the verge of his debut AND the Hulk/Wendigo scrap in the background (!) is just brilliant.
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Jason K Fulton Byrne Robotics Member

Joined: 23 September 2016 Location: United States Posts: 770
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Posted: 14 December 2021 at 5:43pm | IP Logged | 7
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Bring back the whisker mask full time! And maybe...with a beard, too?
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Richard Palmgren Byrne Robotics Member

Joined: 31 May 2009 Location: United States Posts: 328
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Posted: 14 December 2021 at 7:00pm | IP Logged | 8
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I love that Logan is hiding behind the same tree he was seen hiding behind in the flashback in UXM 139. Sheer brilliance!
Here's a question though:
When would that little flashback scene (with Logan with his shorter hair) from UXM 140 take place?
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005 Posts: 134310
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Posted: 14 December 2021 at 7:03pm | IP Logged | 9
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In the context of ELSEWHEN, maybe not at all!
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Wallace Sellars Byrne Robotics Member

Joined: 01 May 2004 Location: United States Posts: 17729
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Posted: 15 December 2021 at 6:28am | IP Logged | 10
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I really appreciate the way JB has been consistently portraying Wolverine as shorter than average.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005 Posts: 134310
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Posted: 15 December 2021 at 6:56am | IP Logged | 11
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I really appreciate the way JB has been consistently portraying Wolverine as shorter than average.•• It took me a while, as a reader, to realize Wolverine was supposed to be short. When that sank in, I thought it was kinda cool, playing as it did against the traditional superhero "type".
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Michael Penn Byrne Robotics Member

Joined: 12 April 2006 Location: United States Posts: 12902
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Posted: 15 December 2021 at 7:11am | IP Logged | 12
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And I appreciate that JB included a little tiny intro to the Hulk and Wendigo. I don't know how many new readers ELSEWHEN has, but it's a great thing to see a comicbook creator true to that traditional rule that JB's talked about for a long time, every issue is somebody's first.
It's also neat to see in that first panel JB riff on the original Trimpe/Abel splash page from HULK #181.
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