Marvel Comics gains more press for its motion picture and television projects than for the comic books that built the company. Granted, the company is now owned by Disney making the “House of Ideas” closer to a story development division for future entertainment projects than a publishing house. To assume, however, Marvel doesn’t come up with intriguing stories for the current comic book line would be inaccurate. Just look at the new series featuring “Hulkverine.”
As serious comic book fans know, Wolverine did not debut in the X-Men books. His first appearance was in an issue of the Incredible Hulk. Despite the memorable debut, Wolverine seemed poised to be a minor character. He probably would have made a couple more appearances in 1970s Hulk issues before fading away. Of course, that did not happen. Wolverine migrated over to the X-Men title and became an iconic character. Over the years, Marvel has revisited Wolverine’s original appearance in the Hulk books. The “Hulkverine” character represents the newest spin.
The actual title featuring “Hulkerine” is Weapon H. Prior to first appearing on the pages of The Incredible Hulk #180 and #181, Wolverine codenamed “Weapon X.” In time, readers learned the “Weapon X program” involved the development of the mutant Logan into the Canadian government super-asset “Wolverine.” In the pages of Weapon H, long-time Hulk writer Greg Pak brings forth a character that combines the DNA of the Hulk and Wolverine. Hence, he becomes the “Hulkverine.” Tying in with the original Hulk/Wolverine storyline, the old-school Hulk villain named the Wendigo returns to battle Weapon H. In the first face-off between the Hulk and Wolverine, the Hulk also had to contend with the immortal flesh-eating Wendigo.
In Weapon H #2, the combined Hulk/Wolverine being must battle the always dangerous Wendigo. Consider this comic and storyline a weird reboot of a classic story that continues to captivate fans even after four decades. Hopefully, the new story recaptures some of the fun magic of the original series.
