Wolverine is the best there is at what he does, and readers have gotten to see that in the all-new volume of Wolverine. The book kicked off with the introduction of a new villain called the Adamantine, changing everything readers know about adamantium, bringing back classic Wolverine villains like Cyber, Lady Deathstrike, Donald Pierce, and Romulus. Wolverine #400 ended with a massive change to Wolverine’s history — his long thought dead mother Elizabeth Howlett is somehow still alive. This has sent Wolverine on a mission to hunt her down, pitting him against Harpoon and Vertigo, two of Mister Sinister’s Marauders, and he he quickly figures out who is holding his mother — Wolverine’s greatest foe Sabretooth. This brings Wolverine back to the Howlett Estate where he grew up over a century before, all to save his mother from the enemy who has hurt him the most of the years.
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Wolverine and Sabretooth’s rivalry is one of Marvel’s greatest. Since the ’80s X-Men epic “Mutant Massacre,” the two of them have been trying to kill each other, and readers have learned more about the origins of their decades-spanning enmity. Sabretooth is not only an important part of Wolverine’s history, but also of the X-Men as well. Sabretooth’s return, though, is quite surprising. “Sabretooth War” closed out the Krakoa Era for Wolverine, pitting him against his old foe. This return could mean several things, and we’re going to take a look at them.
“Sabretooth War” Seemed to Put an End to Wolverine and Sabretooth’s Blood Feud
Like all mutants, Sabretooth moved to the mutant nation of Krakoa. He went on a mission for the nation where he killed several guards, and was imprisoned for his actions. It was a highly hypocritical move, and meant to show what happened to mutants who didn’t follow the rules. He was thrown into the Pit under Krakoa, and used the softness of Doug Ramsey and other prisoners to escape the island. He was captured by Orchis and escaped again, this time using Orchis’s multiverse-traversing tech to assemble an army of Sabretooths to go after Wolverine and X-Force, getting some revenge on his racist human son Graydon Creed. Sabretooth was able to kill Wolverine’s son Daken and his friend Quentin Quire, and Wolverine had to reach deep down to defeat his foe. Sabretooth was even able to take away Wolverine’s healing factor for a time, forcing him to don adamantium armor and use the Murasama blade to battle his foe. Wolverine was able to kill Sabretooth before rejoining the battle against Orchis. It was a pretty explicit death, too, with Wolverine carving up his foe. Readers expected that Sabretooth would eventually return, but not this soon.
However, I think there might be some kind of clues about why Sabretooth is back right now. May’s Wolverine #9 pit Wolverine against Harpoon and Vertigo first. Sabretooth was a member of the Marauders with these two mutants. The Marauders were Mister Sinister’s team of henchmen, and it has long been established that the non-Sabretooth Marauders are cloned and re-cloned by Mister Sinister. So, there’s a good chance, basically a hundred percent honestly, that these are clones. Now, Sinister didn’t really clone Sabretooth very often over the years, but there’s a clue that this version of Sabretooth isn’t actually the real deal. This Sabretooth is wearing the same costume as he wore as a Marauder, but this is a costume that the character hasn’t been in since the early ’90s, when X-Men artist Jim Lee gave him a fantastic new costume. While Marvel bringing Sabretooth back to life wouldn’t be a shock, I don’t think they’re going to do it a little over a year later. Adding Harpoon and Vertigo to the whole thing is another clue that this may be a clone. There’s also the chance that it’s a surviving multiversal Sabretooth from “Sabretooth War,” who escaped the fate of the rest of them. However, regardless of how Sabretooth is back, he’s back to do his favorite thing — torment Wolverine by going after a woman he loves.
Sabretooth’s Return Is Going to Get Really Bloody
There is one more possibility of where this Sabretooth came from — Elizabeth Howlett. Elsewhere in Wolverine #10, Wolverine is attacked by ghosts of his father — the man he thought was his father John Howlett and the man that his mother cheated on John with, Thomas Logan — and she calls them off. Elizabeth’s powers may have something to do with death, which would explain how she survived her own suicide. Maybe Sabretooth holding her prisoner is a trick, and instead she’s trying to manipulate Wolverine. Or, her powers are illusion based, and she can create solid ones.
Wolverine hasn’t been perfect since it started. In fact, calling it a good comic is a bit too far; at best, it’s an alright book with a lot of problems, starting with the writing. Bringing in Sabretooth is a step in the right direction, because every Wolverine fan loves a Sabretooth/Wolverine fight. It’ll be interesting to see how all of this shakes out.
Wolverine #10 is on sale now.
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