Ask the Professor #25 — Wolverine's Family Tree

Recently, I was made aware that Wolverine has an older brother.
Can you provide any details?

Sure: The Professor’s willing to take a crack at it, although Logan’s origins have become so convoluted over the years, with all the false memories and take-backs and whatnot, that what’s “real” about Wolvie and his family is kind of hard to know (the Professor remembers back in the Claremont/Byrne era, when Sabertooth was unofficially supposed to be his father, based on their similar healing powers, savagery, and overuse of the nickname “Bub,” but then Marvel apparently decided that was too obvious, and went the whole “Weapon X” route instead…).
Anyway, in Wolverine: Origins we see a tombstone that reads:

John Howlett
Beloved Son
Lost Before HIs Time
1885 – 1897

…and, since Wolverine is James Howlett, this is apparently his older brother (since Mrs. Howlett has scars that suggest she’s been hurt by claws in the past, there’s an implication that older bro had some of Wolverine’s powers, too, but nothing is ever actually said).
In Wolverine: The End, it turns out that John Howlett is actually alive (he and Logan are both old men by then), and in fact is (spoiler warning) the bad guy of the piece — but that only represents one possible future, and so doesn’t count as “true”; as far as the Professor knows, John Howlett has never showed up in current, it-actually-counts Marvel continuity.
There was some speculation that Jeph Loeb might have John in mind as the “Romulus” character, after that, um, not particularly well received arc in Wolverine last year (The Professor is trying very hard to be diplomatic here), but that’s all guesswork at this point, and the less said about that whole sequence, the better.

About Phil

With 40 years of experience in comic reading, collecting and reviewing, English Professor Phil Mateer has an encyclopedic mind for comics. Feel free to ask Phil about storylines, characters, artists or for that matter, any comic book trivia. He will post your questions and answers on the AABC blog. His knowledge is unparalleled! He is also our warehouse manager, so if you are looking for that hard to find comic book, ask Phil!
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