Super-Blog Team-Up: X-Men/Avengers 60 Wolverine Style.

SUPER-BLOG TEAM-UP is back!! This time out, our mighty band of brothers and sisters tackle two of Marvel’s comics’ ultimate properties…X-Men and The Avengers. Join me as I dive in fashionably late with a fun ride discussing the highs and lows of Canadian Wolverine style! When you are done, check out more work by the remaining members of our team by clicking links at the bottom of this post for much more fun!!

Welcome, Satellite Subscribers, to another exciting transmission from The Superhero Satellite! Today, we delve into the ever-evolving fashion worn by Marvel’s iconic team of mutants, the X-Men, more specifically…Wolverine through the ages.

From his early appearances in comic books to their on-screen adaptations, the X-Men have showcased a wide array of stylish costumes that have captivated fans for decades but Logan has been there the entire time making the most drastic changes of them all. So, strap in and get ready to explore the fashionable journey of the X-Men through the ages!

Begin Transmission: July 26, 2023

I was born in 1974 along with one of comics’ most popular characters, Marvels Wolverine. Busting out of the last panel of Hulk issue 180, this Canadian  hot tempered claw weilding anti hero would become at one point Marvels most bankable character. When people say the line “You’ve come a long way baby,” it applies to Logan and his fashion choices. Let us dive into the ever evolving looks of Wolverine.

1974 The Original Blue and Yellow debut costume. Wolverine appeared smaller and more compact in his debut incarnation. More feral in design this classic look came from the brainchild of John Romita Sr. The curious addition of the whiskers and claw embedded gloves was a starting point for future iterations of the character. It all started here, folks. The shoulder fins were much less defined then they would come to be later, and the headdress featured a lower profile eye Finn than what we know of Wolverine in his most popular incarnation. This was a good start, though. The barebones of what was to come were here. 7/10

1975 Classic Wolverine. This is it. Minor tweaks equals huge gains. This suit still maintains the basic color and design elements of his 74 debut costume. This is considered his classic look. Changes included enlarged shoulder blades. The higher profile gives the costume that additional aesthetic that really works. The bright yellow mixed with blue matches what the X-Men as a group would all end up looking like. The biggest change would be the mask and the elongated eye fins that really give Wolverine his vintage look. This design is revisited many times later with different additions and subtractions.An apparent Gil Kane illustration error on Wolverines Giant Size X-Men#1 team debut would lead to permanent design changes by popular X artist Dave Cockrum who ran with Kanes interpretation and we could not have been happier with a screw up than this one. Near perfection achieved. The pointed headpiece would reach it perfect final form many years later, but this was it genesis. 9/10

1977. The often maligned “Fang” Wolverine costume was considered the middle finger to the new creative team that would replace Dave Cockrum on The Uncanny X-Men, which had been showing promising sales under the Cockrum era. Dave Cockrum preparing his departure on the book and possibly filled with sour grapes took the popular Yellow and Blue suit to a modified tribal animal style suit with a muted yellow suit framed down the middle with a black/Grey look complete with teeth necklace, arm bands, belt, and boot trim. Gone was the classic cowl/helmet, and an unmasked Logan showed his face and stylized hair. Not considered a fan favorite, the Fang teeth costume remains unpopular with fans and was one of the first thing new X artist John Byrne would annihilate upon his entrance to the book. Gaudy, strange and ugly. Total misfire…maybe intentionally so. 4/10

1980. The Byrne costume. Despite 6 back the classic 75 suit, Byrne hated the color of the suit and changed up the color scheme to a muted mustard yellow and….brown!!? Yes brown..with a red belt!!?. Guess what? It works. The Byrne 1980 edition introduced an element of the character that would live on to this day..body hair. His arms were depicted with a healthy or unhealthy one, depending on your grooming preferences and abundance of arm hair. A very popular and enduring costume, this costume ranks number two in the best designs old Logan would ever wear. I am deducting a point and a half for color scheme, though. The evolution of the mask continued here. 8.5/10

1988. Patch. For context, Wolverine was at an all-time popularity high. People ate up his X-Men Appearances. Wolverine was crossing over in all the titles you could imagine. Our favorite Canadian was at the top of all top 10 lists. It was safe to assume that his solo series was gonna be great….until we met patch. Without his classic costumes or look, stripped of his core supporting cast and X buddies, Logan was sent to Madripor for adventures. Straight talk..it sucked. Dressed in a plain black sleeveless costume, pointy hair and face makeup, you could not have disappointed a fan base craving the Wolverine that they made into a million dollar property. Illustrated by legendary John Buscema Logan could not have been less intriguing. Major fail. 2/10.

1991. The Jim Lee. Worry not..good times were here again!! Despite not wearing his head gear, hot X artist Jim Lee relaunched X-Men in a major way, breaking records in his path. It was the 90s and everything was burning hot including Wolverine who even in his own solo book had ditched his sad Patch look but Lee put him back in a familiar Blue and Yellow costume…along with the entire team. Yes, Blue and Yellow were once again the classic official color for the X Men!!  The suit was ablazomed with a stylish red “X” belt, and the design harkened back to the original yellow and dark blue/black OG X costumes from the long ago. It was a choice adopted responding positively by the fan base and myself. Despite no headpiece returning, this looked as “Wolverine-ish” as possible. Much ballyhoo and merch was created with this design. I am still a massive fan of this costume. 9.5/10

1992-1994. With some Art Adams headpiece inspiration, Wolverines costume reaches perfection in 1992. The bold yellow and blue..the red belt..the shoulder fins with the high boots. Perfection was achieved pulling for all popular incarnations. This was known as the Classic look 2. The team of Byrne and Lee wrote this “Real Costume” back into existence. This was a merchandise and advertising bonanza. Fans applauded the final form Wolverine and the fan based rejoiced….until 1994 when Magneto pulls Wolverines adamantium out of his body. Then it is replaced with Bone claws…yes..bone claws. Sounds cool, right? Nope..it sucked and fans hated it. The costume was still there, but the clincher were the claws, and now they were jagged and not pleasing to the naked eye. 

1992 10/10 Perfection Achieved.

1994  8.0/10 Bone claws costed this perfect costume points.

1996. The Noseless era. We make choices in life. Some good.. some bad. This creative team made such a mess of the character’s visual depiction. Fan response to Bone claw Wolverine was muted. Fans begged for the adamantium to come back, and sure enough, here it was.. but creative wouldn’t allow it to happen smoothly. No, sir. You see, his body would partially reject the metal, and as a result, he would basically lose..his nose!!?? Yes. Wolverines looked resembled that of a cave man like appearance facially. His nose flattened out and simply looked..well..stupid. Creative eventually tried to cover it up with a blue mask/ do-rag combo. It didn’t matter. This would be the second time in the character’s history where fans outright rejected his visual. Fortunately, a well-timed X-Men movie would make sure the universe re-connect this disaster away and sent it back from hell from whence it came. 3/10. Three points for basic classic costume elements.

2000. Hugh Jackman Wolverine. The 2000 X-Men live action film spawned a whole new era of our claw poppin Canadian. From his Civilian look sporting tight jeans and cool leather jacket to the black leather X ladder X-Men uniform, how about 2009s White tank top and tight jeans to basically ripped and shirtless in 2013 The Jackman era Cinematic Wolverine became the inspiration for many of his modern looks. His face structure, hair, and even clothing elements from the films found their way into the comics. Hugh Jackman …like Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury…was Wolverine!! 6.5/10

2000/2002 Evolution Wolverine. The updated X-Men movies also say our X-Friends head back to the animated screen. Taking major inspiration for the Byrne era Brown uniform, this Orange and Black look really worked.

Two seasons later the show was running on fumes and took a decidedly different turn taking movie elements in their stories swapped the orange and black for a spin on the Cinematic Hugh Jackman style black costume with some subtle yellow add ons for color differentiation on screen. The 2002 era Evolution 2 suit would be seen again in the comics .. but not right away.

2000 Orange and Black 8/10

2002 Black w/ Yellow accents 6/10

2001/2003 Ultimate Wolverine. With Jackmans live action, Wolvie tearing up the screen and the animated Evolution Wolverine, making the kids happy at home.. Marvel brought change to the comic with an all new revamped simplified origin Wolverine deemed to be more accessible. The 2001 Ultimate Wolverine suit looked quite simply.. hideous. Black pants, fore arm guards, and yellow bodice. This Wolverine looked like a Cirque Du Soleil performer.

Fortunately 2 years later they corrected their ways and directly aligned his costume with the animated series mirroring his Evolution season 3 uniform with some modified yellow accents including a bright belt for contrast compared to the animated series suit that inspired it. A big improvement. The Ultimate suits were a gesture to align costumes with the Wolverine from other media, and they figured it out.

2001 Ultimate Costume 4/10

 2003 Ultimate Costume 6.5/10

2004 Astonishing. The Astonishing X-Men was another massive volley for Marvel to bring back the glory days of the 80s Byrne/Claremont era or The Lee/Byrne 90s era. It was moderately successfully but its biggest win was the costuming. This suit is a take on the very first Wolverine costume, and it cleans up its mistakes. Gone are the Cornball whiskers..the mask ears are smaller in scale, giving the mask a whole new vibe yet feeling very retro. This was a massive hit for X fans who applauded Whedon, and Cassadays attempts to reimagine our favorite mutants with visually stunning looks. Wolverine was the standout out of all the various retooled x-costumes.

Astonishing. 8/10

Finally…our last version..

X-Force Stealth Costume. A classic Art Adams/ John Byrne suit in two-tone grey and black. This suit was in use for 58 months and really made an impression as Wolverine finally made his signature break out mark on an entire new team. It was met with a very positive response and garnered a longer run than expected.. 

X-Force stealth. 7.5/1

Well, folks, that’s a wrap for another edition of Super-Blog Team-Up! But don’t stop here. Our fun continues with the rest of our blogging brigade!! Be sure to check the links below and keep the X and A love going! Tell em Hero sent ya!

Between The Pages Blog

Avengers & X-Men 60th Birthday Party

https://www.betweenthepagesblog.com/2023/07/avengers-x-men-60th-birthday-party.html

*51: You Can Do That in a Superhero Comic?!? (Uncanny X-Men #297)
https://asterisk51.blogspot.com/2023/07/uncanny-x-men-297-you-can-do-that-in.html

SNAP Material (podcast): Marvel SNAP On-Air Battle – “West Coast Avengers (Evan) vs. X-Force (Jesse)”

https://www.spreaker.com/episode/56204747

Source Material Comics Podcast: “Ultron vs. Nimrod: An AI Perspective”

https://www.spreaker.com/episode/56192307

Dave’s Comics Heroes Blog:

X-Men And Avengers Beginnings

https://davescomicheroes.blogspot.com/2023/07/x-men-and-avengers-beginnings.html

Super-Blog Team-Up: X-Men/Avengers 60. Wolverine Style.

A deep dive into the ever evolving Canadian Claw Poppers Fashion. His most popular looks ranked for your pleasure!! 

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