Arnabas |
07-25-2003 09:11 AM |
Some of this is no longer valid, due to Barry Windsor-Smith (I'll get to that in a sec), but I still stick to this version of things:
For over 15 years, Chris Claremont wrote X-Men. He is responsible for the success it has today. He took a book that wasn't doing very well and made it Marvel's #1 book. He is the one behind the Phoenix saga, the Days of Futures Past story and many other classic moments.
Chris made Wolverine the most popular Marvel character and was revealing his past bit by bit. He had his whole history and background, but wanted to reveal it slowly. This drove fans nuts, but also kept them hooked. Many years ago, Marvel put out a book called Marvel Comics Presents, which ran weekly (as I recall) and had 2 or three short stories in each issue, with a continuing story as the main seller of the title.
An artist named Barry Windsor-Smith decided he wanted to try writing and presented his ideas for a story involving Wolverine. This became the whole Weapon X storyline. He decided that he would be the one to reveal Wolverine's past. He admitted in an interview (paraphrased): "I don't care about continuity. This is my story and I will write what I want."
Chris Claremont was naturally upset that a character he had been developing for 15 years now had this new origin that did not relate to anything he (Claremont) had been planning. He complained about it and the X-Men group editor said basically "The story was popular and sold well. This is how it is. Change your plans, or if you don't like it, quit."
He quit, ending his almost two-decade run on X-Men...
Now, back to the question. Chris said a few years later that his plan had been to eventually reveal that Sabretooth was Wolverine's father. Wolvie had fought him many times, sometimes winning, sometimes losing. Sabretooth seemed pretty inconsistant in strength. Chris said that this was because every time Sabretooth was seen, it was actually a clone of the original, made by Mr. Sinister. The real Sabretooth only appeared in Wolvie's life once a year, on his birthday. There was a story which revealed that every year on his birthday, Wolverine was attacked by a mysterious, unknown assailant, who would always beat the crap out of him. Wolvie didn't know who it was and was never able to beat him. This was the real Sabretooth, coming to show his kid that *he* is the best there is at what he does, and what he does isn't very nice...
I still support this storyline-- even though Marvel seems to have abandoned it-- because I support Chris Claremont and am still irritated by the way he was treated after all he did for them.
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