Byrne Robotics: John Byrne’s Wolverine

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Mark Haslett
Byrne Robotics Member

Joined: 19 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 6931

Posted: 29 September 2025 at 4:17pm \| IP Logged \| 1	post reply

Those three words in that order have held a special place in my heart since I
first said them long ago. There was a particular magic in the way Wolverine
emerged from the background during the first 30 issues of New X-Men.
Being there felt like being in on a secret and that lasted until the Wolverine
Mini made it clear that the trajectory of this character was potentially
astronomical.

And by that time, “John Byrne’s Wolverine” had been essentially abandoned.
He became a ninja, wise-man, warm-hearted, cool-guy caricature of his
former self. But that magic time when the character was just emerging
potential and surprise revelations still feels great to revisit. Elsewhen did the
impossible by getting Wolverine back to that state of mystery.

Question for John: Do you have a favorite Wolverine moment from your
initial time with the character?

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John Byrne

Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 135038

Posted: 29 September 2025 at 5:19pm \| IP Logged \| 2	post reply

Several. Gimme a minute to isolate one.

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Peter Hicks
Byrne Robotics Member

Joined: 30 April 2004
Location: Canada
Posts: 2063

Posted: 29 September 2025 at 5:46pm \| IP Logged \| 3	post reply

Also a question for JB, did you have an opinion or input one way or the other at the way the original X-Men gradually crept into the lineup?

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Craig Earl
Byrne Robotics Member

Joined: 13 July 2019
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 1595

Posted: 29 September 2025 at 6:00pm \| IP Logged \| 4	post reply

One of the first UXM issues that I picked up was 133 - 'Wolverine - Alone!'

That made the character an instant favourite.

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John Byrne

Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 135038

Posted: 29 September 2025 at 6:06pm \| IP Logged \| 5	post reply

Also a question for JB, did you have an opinion or input one way or the other at the way the original X-Men gradually crept into the lineup?

•••

Oh, you bet!

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Vinny Valenti
Byrne Robotics Member

Joined: 17 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 8354

Posted: 29 September 2025 at 6:35pm \| IP Logged \| 6	post reply

I'm going to credit ELSEWHEN for my 2 favorite Wolverine scenes

1) When Wolverine takes several bullets for Cyclops:

Cyclops: You....saved me?

Wolverine: Yeah well, you tell anyone, and I'll kill you myself!

(full disclosure: It seriously was one of my favorites anyway, but as it happened, I was able to buy it!)

2) Dark Phoenix perpetually roasting Wolverine from the inside by heating up his Adamantium skull and skeleton. That was a genius move, and a very unique injury - I could completely buy why how that could cause lasting brain damage, just from the trauma alone!

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James Woodcock
Byrne Robotics Member

Joined: 21 September 2007
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 8176

Posted: 29 September 2025 at 7:21pm \| IP Logged \| 7	post reply

When I was a kid, I loved Wolverine.
The last page of 132 promised me that the next issue
would be the best issue I had ever read.
And man, did 133 deliver. It was everything I wanted from
Wolverine.

While I did like the mini series, it did clearly cement
the move away from that character - he wasn't as short,
his claws became blades and he went full on ninja.

There were later stories that I also liked, such as
Weapon X, but things like Origin killed the character for
me - and he became the fictional James Howlett, who is
NOT Wolverine to me.

Elsewhen brought back the Wolverine that I loved, a
character I never thought I would see again.

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Mark Haslett
Byrne Robotics Member

Joined: 19 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 6931

Posted: 29 September 2025 at 9:39pm \| IP Logged \| 8	post reply

For me, the first 3 issues with John Byrne art set a wonderful pattern that
just kept slowly rolling in what felt like a very dependable vein. First,
Wolverine’s over confidence got him punched into orbit, without dying (!)
THEN Wolverine felt misjudged because (among other reasons) he only
hunted deer to touch them (!), THEN the totally defeated X-Men were saved
by the iron will of the hairiest superhero ever slowly but endlessly pressing
against his chains until they snapped and he was free to threaten lives with
his claws (!)—

This back-bencher was clearly able to bring delight from the edges of the
story.

And it fit with what had come before -particularly when Wolverine was first
to see through the X-Men Sentinels and “killed” the Marvel Girl robot.

There are few opportunities in comics to pull off this kind of development. It
almost required Wolverine to sstart with the kind of original reluctant
struggle he got from Chris and Dave in order to set Logan up as a potential
surprise hit.

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Joe Smith
Byrne Robotics Member

Joined: 29 August 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 6720

Posted: 30 September 2025 at 4:21am \| IP Logged \| 9	post reply

I swear I’m not just being purposely contrarian, but my favorite scenes JB
penciled with Wolverine were when he was around Mariko. Even I could
sense the vibe they were broadcasting.

Edited by Joe Smith on 30 September 2025 at 4:24am

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