Okay, I pointed out that Wolverine was looking a lot like Timber Wolf when he was put in this costume. That would be because both this look and Timber Wolf's new look came from the same artist, Dave Cockrum.
Turns out Cockrum and writer Chris Claremont couldn't stand Wolverine at the time and didn't know what to do with him. Had artist John Byrne not taken over when Claremont left, they most likely would have done away with the character in some fashion.
But John Byrne did come along, and the first thing he did was get Wolvie out of that suit:
Apparently, Byrne didn't want to draw all those fangs on the costume over and over (also a common complaint of Spider-Man artists who hate drawing all those little webs in the red area of Spidey's costume), so away it went in favor of the original:
So, why did Byrne push so hard to keep Wolverine? Because Byrne, like Wolvie, is Canadian and didn't want to get rid of the Canadian hero. Yup, that's all there was to it. But Wolvie was spared, and while it is hard to imagine a world without Wolverine (the most overrated and overused character this side of Superman), it dang near happened. Yes, comic book fans under the age of 17, your hero almost met the same fate as Sunfire! Sunfire who? Exactly!
Many geeks still hate Wolvie's yellow-and-blue number because they feel it doesn't make Wolvie look like his namesake (which is probably true) and prefer this thing John Byrne came up with later in his run:
Wolvie wore that for a good chunk of the 80's and the 90's.
And wow, is that dull. I hated this look with a passion, but you aren't really a comic fan unless you hate at least one of Wolvie's looks with a passion. For me, you slap a mask on the "Fang" design, and I think you've got it. Barring that, I go for the classic yellow.
And while we're talking about clothes, check this out!:
-03c+(Ad,+Hardy+Boys+T-Shirts).jpg)
Talk about an invitation to an asswhoop. I can't imagine they sold a lot of these to teenage boys through these comic book ads.
But while I'm on the subject of ads:
-15c+(Hostess+Cupcakes).jpg)
And no, Mom, I'm not gonna explain why that makes my readers giggle.
See you tomorrow!
Posts
9 comments:
Is that Spider-Man ad from a solicit for that mini set in the future that had MJ die of cancer caused by Peter's radioactive bodily fluids?
Yellow and Blue (or as they prefer to call it, "Maize" and Blue) are the team colors for the University of Michigan, whose team name is the Wolverines. Coincidence?
I think the Spidey tagline referred to Peter's cockblocking of Harry Osborn regarding all things MJ.
The Hardy Boys in The Mystery of the Urinal Deuce!
About the only Wolverine costume I really really hated, was when they were ALL wearing the same blue and yellow outfit...including Jubilee and Gambit. It was pretty stupid-looking.
And seriously...the Hardy Boys?
Wolverine also had a habit of ending up NAKED quite a bit. For a while, it was a toss-up to see which X-man ended up naked the most -- Wolverine or Nightcrawler.
I like the ad: Exclusive hardy Boys and Nancy Drew t-shirts (Nancy Drew * not shown). Huh?
Oddly enough, I didn't mind the naked look.
I always favored the earth-toned outfit because, say what you will about the classic yellow and blue eyesore, I could at least see a hunter like Wolvie going with something that stood some kind of chance of blending in with a natural setting. That blue and yellow number, especially when he had the mask on, made him look like a bumblebee impersonating Batman.
And when it comes to gratuitous nudity, how can we forget Storm occasionally ripping off her duds and creating an indoor monsoon?
I remember as a kid when they switched Wolverine to the brown and orange. It was immediately after the Phoenix saga ended so dramatically. (I read those as they came out, issue by issue when i was ten, was riveted.)
So the new costume was a fresh start at the time, as well as Storm becoming leader, Kitty joining etc..
I must agree though, that Wolverine is okay, but WILDly overrated . Being a stabbing machine isn't the coolest superpower out there, kids.
Post a Comment