Round 15: A Loser Reuturns!

Real name Logan (born James Howlett)

Status: Active
Affiliations X-Men, Avengers, X-Treme Sanctions Executive

Previous affiliations Secret Defenders, Four Horsemen, Alpha Flight, Weapon X, Department H, Team X, Central Intelligence Agency, HYDRA, S.H.I.E.L.D.

Notable aliases Death, Patch, Weapon X, Runt, "Lucky Jim" Logan

Notable relatives Elizabeth Howlett (mother, deceased), John Howlett (father, deceased), John Howlett, Jr. (brother, presumed deceased), Thomas Logan (probable biological father, deceased), Dog Logan (probable half-brother, status uncertain), Amiko (adopted daughter), Laura Kinney (X-23, female clone and adopted daughter, daughter [Alternate universe]), Viper (ex-wife, marriage of convenience)

Notable powers Regenerative healing factor, intellectually- disabled aging, retractable claws, Adamantium-laced skeleton and claws, superhumanly acute senses, and heightened strength, stamina, agility and reaction time




Wolverine first appeared in Incredible Hulk #180 (October 1974), in the final panel enshrouded by darkness of an issue written by Len Wein and illustrated by Herb Trimpe. His full introduction was in the next issue, #181 (November 1974). He appeared in a costume designed by John Romita, Sr: yellow-and-blue spandex which didn't particularly resemble a true wolverine and sporting foot-long metal claws. His introduction left an ambiguous impression, revealing little more than that he was an agent of the Canadian government with superhuman powers. The basic facts about the character had not been established.

Wolverine next appeared in Giant-Sized X-Men #1 (1975), in which he joined the X-Men. Written by Wein and drawn by Dave Cockrum who altered Wolverine's mask. The issue was successful enough to revive the title starting with #94 (August 1975), drawn by Cockrum but written by Chris Claremont. Wolverine was initially overshadowed by the other characters and as the series progressed Claremont even considered dropping the character.




Real Name: Peter Parker

Speaking in the 1980s, Stan Lee said the idea for the series sprang out of the apparent increased teenage interest in the new Marvel comic books, and that he wanted to create a character that could cater to them. One influence Lee has described for the character's name is the non-superpowered pulp magazine crimefighter The Spider. In the Spider-Man movie DVD extras, Stan Lee's Mutants, Monsters and Marvels and elsewhere, Lee said he was inspired by seeing a fly climb up a wall. When discussing this in documentaries, he often comments, "I've told this story so many times, it may actually be true." Originally, Lee assigned Jack Kirby to illustrate the story, but after seeing sample pages, decided Kirby's style was "too 'larger than life'" for what he wanted. Lee turned to artist Steve Ditko, who found the concept particularly appealing and developed a visual motif Lee found satisfactory.

Kirby stated in a 1982 interview in Will Eisner's Spirit Magazine that Lee had minimal involvement in the creation of the character:

"Spider-Man was discussed between Joe [Simon] and myself. It was the last thing Joe and I had discussed. We had a strip called the 'The Silver Spider'. The Silver Spider was going into a magazine called Black Magic. Black Magic folded with Crestwood [Simon & Kirby's 1950s comics company] and we were left with the script. I believe I said this could become a thing called Spider-Man, see, a superhero character. I had a lot of faith in the superhero character that they could be brought back ... and I said Spider-Man would be a fine character to start with. But Joe had already moved on. So the idea was already there when I talked to Stan"