In this feature we examine comic book stories and ideas that were not only abandoned, but also had the stories/plots specifically "overturned" by a later writer (as if they were a legal precedent). Click here for an archive of all the previous editions of The Abandoned An' Forsaked. Feel free to e-mail me at bcronin@comicbookresources.com if you have any suggestions for future editions of this feature.
Today, we look at the surprising way that the story of how Wolverine joined the X-Men was retconned into a story involving BRAINWASHING!
Wolverine made his first full appearance in Incredible Hulk #181...
He was impressive enough that Charles Xavier asked him to join the X-Men in Giant Size X-Men #1 (by Len Wein and Dave Cockrum)...
Even after joining the team, Wolverine was sort of on edge, as seen in this moment from Uncanny X-Men #96 (by Chris Claremont, Dave Cockrum and Sam Grainger)...
and later that same issue...
Pretty soon, though, he was feeling part of a group, as seen when he goes to visit Jean Grey in the hospital in Uncanny X-Men #101 (by Chris Claremont, Dave Cockrum and Frank Chiaramonte)...
Now, that's how we all saw it originally, but that's apparently not what REALLY happened. Want to see what REALLY happened? Go to the next page to find out...
In X-Men: Original Sin #1, Wolverine goes to seek out Professor X, who was on a sort of apology tour, and here (in a scene by Mike Carey, Scot Eaton and Andrew Hennessey), Wolverine confronts Xavier about their past...
The story continued into X-Men: Legacy #217 (by Carey, Eaton and Hennessey), where we discover that Wolverine assaulted Xavier soon after joining the X-Men. Probably sometime around the scene above where Wolverine went berserk (Uncanny X-Men #96), since Moira MacTaggert is already at the X-Mansion...
In the next part of the story, Wolverine: Origins #29 (by Daniel Way and Mike Deodato), we see that Xavier knew of Wolverine's plans to kill him way back when Wolverine first fought the Hulk...
But Xavier let Wolverine in to attack him (Wolverine was ordered to inilftrate the X-Men and kill Xavier at the behest of the evil, mysterious Romulus) because he needed a weapon on the X-Men, so he then brainwashed Wolverine into joining the X-Men...
The plot of Original Sin, other than revealing this stuff, is that Wolverine wants Xavier to do the same thing to his son, Daken, since Daken is an evil little jerk. Xavier actually tries, but it does not work out. In the end, Wolverine forgives Xavier, telling him that basically all he did was make him a hero, so he is grateful really.
Okay, that's it for this installment! If you have an idea for an interesting comic book retcon, feel free to drop me a line at bcronin@comicbookresources.com!