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Multiple Man’s powers essentiall make him a retcon elemental.
Punching pterosaurs is the gift that keeps on giving. (X-Men #114)
Best Worst Reveal (X-Men #114)
“Robes” (X-Men #114)
We really can’t fault Cyclops for giving up on trying to explain Sauron. (X-Men #115)
The final fight of X-Men #116 Dark City.
Remember when we didn’t know everything about Wolverine? (X-Men #118)
Sadly, this story is really low on Sunfire Sass. Misty Knight, however, is AWESOME. (X-Men #118)
Mandroids. (X-Men #118)
Moses Magnum, P.I. (X-Men #118)
Heist stories are the best stories. (X-Men #119)
That’s Mariko Yoshida. She’s going to be really important later. (X-Men #120)
And that’s why you always leave a note. (X-Men #118)
Spoiler: Nope. (X-Men #109)
Alpha Flight. (X-Men #120)
Vindicator is a thoughtful antagonist. (X-Men #120)
Not actually episode-relevant. We just think these panels are hilarious. (X-Men #120)
Wolverine, we are pretty sure the APA would not approve of your approach to therapy. (X-Men #122)
Don’t fuck with Storm. (X-Men #122)
Ugh, THIS guy. (X-Men #122)
Based on the graffiti, this apartment was previously occupied by the 1970s Marvel bullpen. (X-Men #122)
Cyclops comes to terms with dynamic storytelling. (X-Men #125)
This is an awesome reunion, and notable as one of the only times Cyclops has ever successfully completed a hug. (X-Men #125)
Well, that’s portentous. (X-Men #104)
Angus McWhirter has REALLY STRONG FEELINGS about hovercraft. (X-Men #119)
Moira MacTaggert does science in a superhero uniform, because, comic books. (X-Men #125)
Proteus’s secondary mutation is superhuman levels of creepiness. (X-Men #127)
Well, damn. (X-Men #128)
“Well, actually…”
Wolverine’s healing factor was revealed in the Savage Land arc, #116, p11. He gets bitten by a dinosaur and then tells Storm not to worry (“It’s okay babe – I heal real fast.”).
Also, X-Men 122 was the first X-Men comic I ever owned. I found it in a junk pile and within weeks I had dozens of issues and was a full on Marvel zombie. Wolverine’s little pep talk to Pete is still, 30+ years on, a favorite moment for me.
Love the show.
I’ve always taken that as still being before the “official” reveal in the Brood’s first appearances – in 116, that line struck me as just being part of the Wolverine-as-a-tough-little-bastard concept. You could absolutely interpret that as referring to a mutant power, though, especially given Claremont’s tendency to reference stuff way before directly addressing it.
Glad you’re digging the show, and glad your first comic was such a good one!
I continue to love the show.
I’m curious; I know you guys have to pick and choose and yes, the Savage Land arc is pretty much just not a big deal, but there was one other thing I thought was, for the time, pretty monumental: Wolverine straight-up kills a dude off-camera. I remember being shocked as a kid at that scene and I think it was the first time we saw a hero do something like that; it was, natch, the start of the whole ‘killer hero’ craze that seemed to take over the early 1980s (and was lampooned in Sims’ Cerberus).
Did you feel that moment was relatively light in the scheme of things? Or just that you only have so much time and it’s better introduced later as part of another discussion (i.e. talking about that topic or Wolverine, versus the greater narrative in play)?
Keep up the good work!
Okay, I hadn’t listened to the full podcast yesterday, but did today. And Miles specifically mentions Wolverine straight-up killing some dudes, so there you are. I do think this was the first time he did so blatantly.
It’s also interesting to me how much material is implied in the margins during this portion of the run. Wolverine kills mostly off-camera and Moira’s abuse is more implied than stated…enough that you could miss it if you were a young reader.
One thing I noticed when I dug down into the roots of the X-men as an adult was how skewed my childhood perceptions were of Wolverine as a killer–but in the opposite way to what you’re describing. Like, I came of comics age around the start of the 90s, and the idea got entrenched in my head that Wolverine and the Punisher were the “cool” superheroes because they KILLED DUDES unlike those dumbass losers like Spider-man or the rest of the X-Men. My first X-men-related Comic was Wolveringe (ongoing series) #1, where he simply slaughters a huge heaping pile of Madripoor pirates for 22 pages.
When I went back to the classic material, I saw a Wolverine who is def billed as a killer, but DOESN’T DO IT MUCH. Each time he does, agruably up to the end of the Claremont run, it’s a big shocking deal; like in X-Men (new series) #1 he slashes Magneto and everyone is OMG THAT WAS A KILLING STRIKE. I found that Savage Land moment you reference super memorable because Storm and Nightcrawler are like “Oh dear god(dess) did he just do that HE JUST DID THAT”.
This is why I now argue that solo wolverine stories <<< x-men stories with wolverine in them. Because wolvie works well as part of a team dynamic, as Rachel and Miles point out about the Cyke/Wolvie authority clash. And more importantly he works well as part of an ensemble cast dynamic, where HIS deal is "the guy who kills people" but that's reined in by the X0men's mission, and clashes beautifully with OTHER characters' deals. That makes wolverine killing a stgruggle and source of legit drama, rather than just being an "edgy" affectation.
In one of your early episodes you talk a little bit about obvious entry points for X-Men novices. I thought you should know that this podcast is actually the thing that I’m going to start recommending to people. My spouse (who is not normally a comic book person) and I (recently returned to comic books) are making plans to go back through all of the Claremont stuff together after listening to the last few episodes. Exciting!
My heart! It is warmed! That’s seriously awesome to hear.
I always wondered Wolverine’s talking to Zabu before approaching the dome in #116 was a Claremontian unrevealed power hint, or Storm and Nightcrawler were just impressed that Wolverine even trying to order around a Sabretooth.
proteus sadly did come back in that horrible “kings of pain” annual crossover event in the 90s that included x-factor, the new mutants and the new warriors. talk about creepy stories (although that one just doesn’t work)