As a longtime member of the X-Men and the Avengers, Wolverine is one of the most popular superheroes in the Marvel Universe. Fully debuting in Len Wein and Herb Trimpe's Incredible Hulk #181, very little was known about Wolverine's origin until 2001's six issue Origin mini series, which finally gave the details of the mutant hero's childhood and family.
Penned by the team of Bill Jemas, Paul Jenkins and Joe Quesada and featuring art by Andy Kubert and Richard Isanove, Origin provided an in-depth look into the early life of Wolverine, offering insight into his real name, his parentage and the origin of the name Logan, the name he has used for the majority of his heroic career. Through this series, some of the mystery surrounding the character was removed, allowing fans a look at who he was prior to being inducted into the Weapon X Program that forever changed his life. Now, we're going to take a closer look the members of Wolverine's family that comic introduced and how they're connected to Wolverine.
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John Howlett, Sr.
In the late 1800s, John Howlett, Sr. was the inheritor of the Howlett estate, and he was married to Elizabeth Howlett, the mother of James Howlett, the boy who would become Wolverine. John was a kind and caring man, a stark contrast to his overbearing father who insisted on treating others as inferior. John's acts of gentleness toward the less fortunate were a bane to his father, and the two often clashed as a result of their differing personalities.
Although John believed that James was his son, it came to light that his wife had been unfaithful and had an affair with groundskeeper, Thomas Logan. John was tragically killed in a confrontation with Thomas Logan, still unaware that he was not James' biological father.
Elizabeth Howlett
Elizabeth Howlett was the mother of Wolverine, and she was sent to an asylum after being attacked by her first son, John Jr., with bone claws that left a series of three slashes on her side. She had an affair with groundskeeper Thomas Logan, who was the biological father of James, and began to neglect her remaining son. When Logan was fired from the family's plantation, he retaliated by barging into the family's home and killing John Howlett. Upon the shock of seeing his father murdered, young James revealed his own set of bone claws and attacked Logan. Distraught by the fact that James was the same as his brother and all of the death around her, Elizabeth banished James from the farm before killing herself.
Years later, it was revealed to Wolverine by Nick Fury that Elizabeth's maiden name was Hudson, and that members of her family had been constantly present in Wolverine's life, including his time in the Weapon X program. In a later adventure during which Wolverine was killed, he met his mother in the afterlife and made peace with her.
Thomas Logan
Thomas Logan was the biological father of Wolverine, having had an affair with his mother Elizabeth Howlett while working on the family's plantation as a groundskeeper. Logan was an alcoholic and abusive to his other son, who he called "Dog" and treated as such. However, he was expelled from the plantation for being unable to control his son, who was beginning to adopt his father's abusive ways. Logan and Dog broke into the Howlett's home, and Thomas tried to talk Elizabeth into leaving with him. John Howlett walked in on the exchange and was killed by Logan. Young James witnessed the killing, and the trauma caused his latent mutation to manifest in the form of bone claws extended from the back of his fists which he used to kill Logan and permanently scar Dog's face.
Wolverine grew up to strongly resemble his father, took his name and lamented about having killed his father once he regained the memories lost during the Weapon X project . In Jason Aaron and Renato Guedes' Wolverine #4, Wolverine traveled to hell, finally having a face to face conversation with his father, which didn't go particularly well.
John Howlett, Jr.
John Howlett, Jr. was the first son of Elizabeth Howlett and is Wolverine's older brother. After being born in 1885, John survived until 1897, when his bone claws first emerged. He sliced his mother in the side and was subsequently killed.
In the alternate world pinned by Paul Jenkins and Claudio Castellini in Wolverine: The End, it was revealed that John slashed his mother in rage after learning of her affair with Thomas Logan. Later in the series, John returns as the White Ghost and battles Wolverine to the death. With his last breath, John tells his brother that he was always proud of him.
Dog Logan
Dog Logan is the son of Thomas Logan and the older half-brother of Wolverine. His face is permanently scarred due to being sliced in the face by his younger brother when his powers first manifested. While it is unknown whether or not Dog ages slowly like Wolverine, he is able to travel through time via "time diamonds" he discovered in the Yukon, and has hunted Wolverine with a shotgun and an assortment of futuristic weaponry.
Wanting initially to prove himself better than his younger brother, Dog later turned from his ways and accepted a coaching position at Hellfire Academy. The academy came into conflict with Wolverine's Jean Grey School, and afterwards Dog leaped into the Siege Perilous, and he hasn't been seen since.