Happy Canada Day!

It’s the 157^th anniversary of Confederation, so honour the treaty lands and grab yourself a maple cookie. Also this July is the 50^th anniversary of the first appearance of Wolverine, whether you look at his initial final page cameo or his first full adventure. Marvel’s first Canadian hero, short in stature, surly, and full of beer. Granted, most of what would make Wolverine a lengthy, enduring character was n’t introduced in his initial appearance, but it was still apparently enough for him to catch on.

“–I’m afraid we have no choice but to mobilize–Weapon X!”

The introduction to Wolverine comes in The Incredible Hulk #180 – 181 by Len Wein, Herb Trimpe, Jack Abel, Glynis Weinand Artie Simek. It’s largely a two-part story about the Hulk landing in Quebec and dealing with the Wendigo, but it includes the Canadian government sending out their Weapon X to counter the Hulk.

The tale follows the basic structure of Wein’s run on the title, basically episodic issues with a serialized flow from one issue to the next. With the Hulk careening from location to location. It’s a bit different here with the main arc flowing over two issues, but not too dissimilar. It picks up a thread of the Wendigo tale from almost twenty issues before, with the beast’s sister trying to concoct a plan to transfer the curse to the Hulk. Why exactly her magic requires horns and a furry dress is never clear. The Hulk bouncing to Quebec also brings about a new governmental initiative in the Wolverine to combat him. It’s just a panel in his first appearance, but the second part of the tale is full of action, including a team-up brief.

Working from a design by John Romita, Herb Trimpe’s depiction of Wolverine is a bit different from what he’d become, though still fairly close. His mask is a bit more compact and has whiskers. His claws don’t look like they’re retractable. But it’s unmistakably Wolverine, even if he didn’t announce himself. Trimpe’s overall artwork is great. His style on the Hulk always reminds me a bit of John Buscema, but with a more streamlined, squarer character composition. His action sequences deliver a lot of bombast to the story.

There’s a nice thick outline to the inks provided by Jack Abel. Brought out further by the bright primary colors in Glynis Wein’s palette. All still popping out from under the weight of dialogue and narration that Artie Simek tries to keep off the action with his letters from him. It is interesting to see all of the prose in these stories and how the storytelling has really changed over the years.

“The Wolverine asked for six hours to bring in the Hulk single-handed–and he’s going to have those six hours.”

The Incredible Hulk #180 – 181 by L. Wein, Trimpe, Abel, G. Wein, and Simek is an old school action-packed adventure. While continuing Hulk’s erratic bouncing around the globe, it ties up a thread from an earlier story and introduces our new Canadian character, Wolverine.

Classic Comic Compendium: THE INCREDIBLE HULK #180 – 181

The Incredible Hulk #180-181
Writer: Len Wein
Artist: Herb Trimpe
Inker: Jack Abel
Colourist: Glynis Wein
Letterer: Artie Simek
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Release Date: July 2 – July 30 1974 (original issues)
Available collected in The Incredible Hulk Epic Collection – Vol. 7: And Now…The Wolverine