He's the best there is at what he does, and what he does isn't very nice. Wait, what are we talking about? We're not sure, because Wolverine has gotten up to all sorts of nasty business in both his comic book and on-screen incarnations. He's killed a lot of people, that's for sure, and continues to do so. We reckon he has a bit of a sordid sexual history, concealed only by PG-13 ratings. The other thing Logan's known for is being impossible to kill himself, despite the high number of people who've tried - probably a lot of the same people he eventually ends up sticking with his own infamous claws - and inevitably failed. Owing to a skeleton reinforced with a made-up metal and a healing factor that lets him recover from most wounds, Wolverine is all but indestructible. Which is why everyone's got in such a tizzy about Marvel's announcement that they're killing off their cash cow. Used to be that Logan was the premier mutant of their vast comic book universe, to the point that his ubiquity (he was on every X-related team and various Avengers, whilst having solo adventures and guest starring in random other titles, all at once for a while) became a bit of a running joke, off and on the page. When better to go out than on top? That's the premise behind next month's aptly name Death Of Wolverine crossover, which will see the ole' canucklehead properly dead and buried for the first time. Because he's had his healing factor taken away, y'see, and that was pretty vital to the whole "indestructible" thing that he's the best at. Well, as a matter of fact Logan might not quite be the best there is at what he does after all. We're not quibbling with the killing, or people trying to kill him, but with his supposed immortality. The big hook of this event is he's never been killed before - except he totally has. A bunch of times, actually. In fact, even for a genre well known for treating the concept with little to no respect, Wolverine has died and been brought back more than most superheroes. To the point that we actually had to pick and choose in order to put together this list of ten times Wolverine has died. Bit morbid, like.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
