The world's greatest comic book character exists, and he is Canadian!

Yes, that slightly turned phrase is usurped from the legendary writer Alan Moore. Quoting Moore might seem an odd way of introducing The Wolverine, but Wolverine was ushered into this world by writer Len Wein, creator of Moore's first noted vehicle—Tales of the Swamp Thing. Wolverine first appeared in The Incredible Hulk, where Wein initially envisioned him as a footnote adversary for the Hulk. However, the World's First and Greatest Canadian Superhero was quickly snapped up in the revamped Giant Sized X-Men in 1975. From there, Wolverine was put into the hands of Chris Claremont at Uncanny X-Men where he began to carve his pedestal atop the comic Pantheon. Though commonly found in the #4 spot in mainstream polls, Wolverine even surpasses Batman, Superman, and Spider-Man among genre enthusiasts. But how has this tiny, hairy, eyesore of a creature (and a Canadian!), become one of our most beloved comic creations?

A chance to get from under the red tape and rigmarole eh? All right professor— you've found your man!

Wolverine is a product of the Bronze Age of comics, the early ’70s to mid ’80s, and just like the aptly named era that saw the genre begin to darken as bronze itself tarnishes, Wolverine became the first of many anti-heroes. As mistrust in government, anti-conformity, and irreverence became the words of the day, comics were quick to reflect these themes. While most comics were at best mirroring culture and at worst clumsily aping it, Wolverine hearkened back to an older, distinctly American anti-hero: the hard-boiled detective.

From the ashes of the past there grow the fires of the Future!

In the 1930s, Dashiell Hammett brought us the iconic detective Sam Spade. As epitomized by Humphrey Bogart's portrayal in 1941’s The Maltese Falcon, Spade is a small, tough, hyper-confident scoundrel, usually on the right side of the law, and if not, doing his damnedest not to stray far from it. Since then, the private detective has fallen from his iconic place in the American imagination, becoming a parody of itself. (Remember the late Phil Hartman’s 1-800-Collect commercials?) Instead, superheroes have become our modern private eyes, both the people we turn to when conventional authority can't help us and the characters with whom we love to escape reality. Wolverine is to the superhero what Spade was to private detectives. In his introduction to the 1934 publication of the Maltese Falcon, Hammett wrote of Spade,

A perfect summation of Wolverine, 40 years before his creation.

The Wolverine strikes but once! But in his case, once is plenty!

As Sam Spade worked in a partnership with Iva Archer before his death, so too Wolverine begins his heroic career working with the X-Men. In his ongoing tenure with the X-Men Wolverine never aspires to lead, leaving that to the loyal and wooden Cyclops and later, the serene and noble Storm. Instead, Wolverine is the short-spoken backbone of the team. A ubiquitous presence in their exploits, the X-Men count on Wolverine for two things. He serves as a dark moral compass for the X-Men, a character with both great moral convictions and cunning. He is also “the muscle” of the X-Men. As a physical asset his contributions are unparalleled. His great strength is his ability to heal and regenerate. Because of this mutant ability, Wolverine’s bones are able to be fused with adamantium, a mythical metal second only to vibranium (the metal composing Captain America’s shield). And of course, Wolverine has claws, bonelike projections also fused with adamantium. The man who can be beaten, but not put down—barring, perhaps, decapitation as posited in the Xavier Protocols—is a wild card played to great effect when all seems lost.

Wolverine is hesitant in his use of deadly force, easily seen in such occasions as Claremont and Miller's original Wolverine spin-off. Here the Wolverine is in Japan trying to win his lover back from her domineering and manipulative father, Lord Shingen, who attempts to kill Wolverine in a sword-play exhibition. Wolverine has little choice but to respond in kind. Out-matched in swordplay by a master of the katana, he uses his claws—shaming himself in the eyes of Marikio, his lover.

I'm the best there is at what I do, but what I do isn't very nice!

Though popularly known for his place in the X-Men, Wolverine, like Marlowe and Spade, is most interesting as a loner. He spends most of his time in isolation in the wilderness, searching for signs of his past. Chronically plagued by government agencies both various and sundry—and often as redundant as this saying—manipulating his life and his mind, Wolverine was in a perpetual search of the story of his origin. Though it was eventually revealed, quite disappointingly (son of wealthy Canadian plantation owners, raised after by wolves and Blackfoot Indians? Fans were happier in the dark, leaving his shadowy origins to their boundless imaginations), the archetype was set for Wolverine's exploits. Mysteries to solve and obstacles in the way, the Wolverine does what he does best.

All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.

Born a mutant and enhanced by science, Wolverine's abilities may set him apart from the rest of us. Even so he remains the most human of our heroes. He doesn't maintain a cover identity, eschewing the double life that hems and limits other superstar superheroes, the likes of Batman, Superman, and Spider-Man. Instead, he lives in the shared public plane and avoids the narcissism that maintaining a secret identity leads to. Ignored by the press, free to follow his own quests, harassed only when he crosses lines of authority: in many ways, Wolverine is like us. On his own, Logan, as his friends call him, can usually be found in some form of lumber-jack regalia. A man in plaid who smokes cheap cigars and has a temper. With the exception of extruding claws, Wolverine's powers—animal senses, miraculous healing ability, and an indestructible skeleton—are little more than enhancements of the average human body. He struggles not with the burdens of an enlightened superman, but with the base desires and instincts of an animal.

I’m the only one standing. The only one able to. They’re lucky they’re still breathin’. I lost control. I feel sick. I feel great.

Wolverine is a torn and wounded beast, made whole by his fantastic healing abilities. Because he is one of the few comic characters whose unnatural longevity (35 years in print come September) is succinctly explained by his own mutant powers, Wolverine is guaranteed to be around as long the medium persists. But his longevity owes itself to more than the character’s mythical lifespan. Wolverine will live on because we can relate to him, because unlike Superman, we can relate to the battle to be a good man.

Samuel Yorke is a writer living in New England.

Quotes taken in respective order:

The Watchmen Issue #4 Page 13 December 1986 Moore & Gibbons. Paraphrased.

Giant Size X-Men Issue #1 Page 6 August 1975 Wein & Cockrum

Giant Size X-Men Issue #1 Page 2 August 1975 Wein & Cockrum

The Incredible Hulk Issue #180 Page 18 October 1974 Wein & Trimpe

Wolverine Issue #1 Page 2 September 1982 Claremont & Miller

Animal Farm George Orwell via Wolverine: The End Issue #1 Page 2 January 2004 Jenkins & Castellini

Wolverine Issue #3 Page 20 December 1982 Claremont & Miller