Recently, Marvel has revealed that they have plans to kill off Wolverine, which should come to few as a surprise as they have been slowly but surely killing off much of who is over the course of the last few years, destroying much of who he was little by little. Although the plan is still in the works for his death this Summer, and although it just means he will be joining the pantheon of other great deceased heroes, (Superman, Batman, Barry Allen (Flash), Captain America and many others) who have all since returned from the dead, it reminds me that long ago, in 1988 when I first understood what it meant to have a favorite hero. I saw a man struggling to keep his humanity despite having an alien try to take over his body. As his "healing factor" fought off the parasite, he continued to help free his teammates from mental control of the undead alien monsters. Later on in the issue he and his team take out the alien menace invading Earth and subsequently save the world from invasion.
Although over the last few years his character has been reduced to a shadow of his former greatness, and even though has been treated shabbily by many writers and the very company who he has helped make prosperous; Wolverine has been my favorite character since I saw in him both the monster as well as the man he fought to be. Working tirelessly to control his berserk rage, he trained with a group of young mutants and helped them keep that group and the dream of Charles Xavier alive, even carrying the mantel of leadership in the X-Men several times, which was more often than not thrust upon him in times of danger and in the midst of chaos.
He would later fund his own school from the ashes of the Xavier institute, carrying on Charles' legacy and becoming the mentor Xavier always knew he could be. In creating the Jean Grey School For Higher Learning on the land once occupied by Xavier's institute, Wolverine sought to create a safe haven for youngsters who he felt were not yet ready to join the battle for mutant rights but rather needed a home and safe haven from the outside world where they can learn to control and master their powers.
Wolverine’s character has always embodied the discovery of human growth as he began with only the name Logan, knowing little of who he was or how he came to be. Over the years, he's fought the best of the best (Hulk, Sabretooth, Omega Red, to name a few) and win lose or draw, always put up up a heck of a fight. He later regained his memories and his name James Howlett after the events in “House of M” over the years regained an understanding of his past including the discovery of his son who he eventually killed to protect those he loved.
Now, like most super heroes who have been over-exposed due to their popularity Marvel will soon kill the character many readers, including myself, grew up loving as a child. And although many would say the character that would say the Wolverine that that I new growing up had long since perished, he was always actively alive on the pages of many X-Men titles, The Avengers, his own self-titled comic: Wolverine, and had several guest appearances each month in the pages of other comic book heroes. His passing, although temporary, will signal an end of an era for the gritty, cigar smoking, claw wielding samurai who in my eyes will always be "the best" at what he does, even if it "isn't very nice."
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