"Critical Kate" Willært — More Wolverine Costume Trivia

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More Wolverine Costume Trivia

While researching the Wolverine costume infographic, I ended up with more trivia about his early looks than I had room for. Here’s what ended up on the cutting room floor:

Telescoping Claws

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Not only were Wolverine’s claws originally intended to be a part of his gloves, Len Wein also imagined them to be retractable via telescoping.

 You might wonder, though: wouldn’t trying to cut through something tough result in the claws being torn right off the gloves? Wein figured the gloves would be made of a flexible adamantium-based material. (Source: Nerdist Writers Panel: Comics Edition #4)

The Haircut

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The first time Wolverine appeared without his mask was in X-Men #98 in 1976. The way Cockrum originally drew his hair, you can tell that he appears to have sharp bangs combed down over his forehead (hairlines typically don’t extend down to the brow line). 

In the early ‘80s, Flock Of Seagulls frontman Mike Score showed up with a very similar hairstyle. The official story is that Score – who had worked as a hairdresser before starting the band – had done up his hair in a poofy Ziggy Stardust-inspired hairdo, when a bandmate put a hand on his head and flattened the middle.

But I still wonder…could he just too proud to admit he used to read comics? Or perhaps he’s trying to protect Wolverine’s reputation?

Timber Wolf

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But X-Men #98 wasn’t the first time Dave Cockrum had drawn that haircut. Before taking over on X-Men, he did a run on Superboy (Starring The Legion Of Superheroes), during which he redesigned various characters’ costumes.

A prototype version of the iconic Wolverine hair – minus sideburns – appeared on Cockrum’s redesign of Timber Wolf. I haven’t been able to find any interviews where the artist is asked why he reused the hairstyle, but I have a feeling it had to do with how perfectly it mirrored Wolverine’s mask.

Some say Cockrum’s “Fang” costume for Wolverine was also a callback to the Timber Wolf costume he’d designed.

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