Fun Facts About X-Men Character, Wolverine

He's been one of the most sought after comic book superheroes for a long time now. He's the guy with the strange hairdo and retractable, razor-sharp claws. He's Wolverine or should I say, Logan.

I believe what made this great character so loved by so many comic book readers is his personality. He's basically a mercenary who usually plays for the good team as opposed to the bad guys. With an attitude like his, you'd expect Wolverine to be the ultimate villain. Instead, Logan is one of the X-Men, a group of mutant superheroes, trying to save the same people that fear them, humanity.

In the new film, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, we're given some insight into Wolverine's past. But I thought I'd take it upon myself to fill readers in on a few facts that they might not have known about this iconic superhero. I figure you might need as much info on Wolverine as you can get to better appreciate his character in the new movie.

Let's just be clear on a few things. I've never been much of a comic book reader myself. Every fact you read will be just that, facts. I can't give opinions or observations on some of the things listed below.

Fact #1: Wolverine was born James Howlett in the comic book, Origin. Later, it was revealed that he was born in Northern Alberta, Canada in the 19th Century. He would later, adopt the name of Logan.

Fact #2: That issue of Origin was published 27 years before the character of Wolverine was first introduced.

Fact #3: Along with his retractable claws, Wolverine has the senses of an animal, including keen hearing and smell.

Fact #4: Wolverine's best power is his ability to heal any wound, and fend off any disease or toxin rapidly.

Fact #5: Wolverine first appeared in the final teaser panel of The Incredible Hulk comic, #180. Given that both of those characters are basically indestructible, that could've been a very interesting fight.

Fact #6: Finally, after doing some advertisement, Wolverine was unveiled in #181 of The Incredible Hulk comic. His character nothing more than a superhuman agent of the Canadian government at that time.

Fact #7: When he was first introduced in '74, Wolverine's costume was blue and yellow. It's evolved quite a bit over time.

Fact #8: Wolverine got his major break in the 1975's Giant-Size X-Men #1. In this comic, Wolverine was first drawn without the mask, revealing the landmark horn-like hairstyle. The artist, Gil Kane had made the mistake of giving Wolverine larger headpieces. Dave Cockrum, one of the writers on the comic loved the mistake. Wolverine's mask or headpiece and hairdo reminded him of Batman's look.

Fact #9: Finally, the X-Men comic was brought back in August of 1975. The first issue was Uncanny X-Men #94.

Fact #10: In that comic, Wolverine seemed to be overshadowed by the rest of the team.

Fact #11: From the beginning, Wolverine has had a crush on Cyclops's telekenetic girlfriend, Jean Grey.

Fact #12: Later on as the comic progressed, Cockrum was about to drop Wolverine's character in the story in favor of the Nightcrawler character when his Canadian successor, John Byrne stepped in and saved the Canadian superhero. It's kind of strange to think how quickly such an iconic character could've just faded away long before becoming an icon.

Fact #13: Byrne gave Wolverine a brown and tan costume.

Fact #14: In 1982, Wolverine got his very own limited 4-issue comic series simply called, Wolverine.

Fact #15: Wolverine was born with bone claws. He was later given adamantium (basically one of the most indestructible metals) claws. He had the metal grafted to his skeleton.

Fact #16: I guess Logan is old enough to have served in World War II. He was actually teamed up with Captain America at one point.

Fact #17: Wolverine has the temper of an enraged animal when he goes into combat. Given the fact that he has an indestructible metal for bones and rapid healing abilities, he is definitely no character you want to mess with.

Fact #18: Wolverine has appeared in video games and TV shows. I grew up watching the X-Men animated series on Fox. Then, when they finally put the X-Men on film, Wolverine got his big movie break.

Fact #19: Played to perfection by Australian actor, Hugh Jackman, Wolverine has appeared in 3 sequels to X-Men (2000), including the newest, X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Fact #20: Wolverine likes cigars, motorcycles and women.

I'm sure I made a few mistakes, comic book fans. Don't hesitate to correct or add to these fun facts about this awesome character.

By the way, even though characters like Magneto (with his ability to bend and manipulate any metal) can cripple Wolverine at will, his greatest nemesis has always been Sabretooth.