DEADPOOL versus WOLVERINE

It's D-D-Deadpool, Folks! (Marvel)
Where: Wolverine #88 When: December 1994
Why: Larry Hama How: Adam Kubert & Fabio Laguna

The Story So Far...
Wolverine heads to San Francisco to look-in on one of the newest generations of Weapon X graduates. He promised old Alpha Flight acquaintance, James Hudson, he would, but if he thought there'd be tea and biscuits waiting at the home of Garrison Kane -- he was dead wrong!

The door has already been blown off its hinges -- and Wolverine is in for a fight as his house call brings him face to face with yet another Weapon X subject turned mercenary: Deadpool!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Wolverine 3 (Athlete)
Intelligence: Wolverine 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Deadpool 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Wolverine 6 (Generator)
Agility: Deadpool 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting: Wolverine 6 (Warrior)
Energy: Deadpool 4 (Arsenal)
Total: Draw 26 (Metahuman)

Their connections through Weapon X have made them natural rivals, but just how deep does the conflict between Deadpool and Wolverine run? They've teamed up on the big screen for the Deadpool & Wolverine movie, but let's see what happened the first time they crossed sword & claw in Marvel Comics!

The truth is: Wade Wilson doesn't exactly have any big problem with Wolverine. If there's any bad blood between them -- it's the genetic tampering of Weapon X, who managed to graft a version of Wolverine's healing factor to the future Deadpool.

Wilson was part of a later iteration of the joint US-Canadian experimental super-human research & development program. He didn't serve alongside Wolverine, so their interactions were minimal prior to today's meeting.

If Deadpool has beef - it's with scumbags like Ajax, who tortured him during his stay at The Hospice, after cancer relapse interfered with his healing factor, and he was left hideously disfigured, and discarded as an ineligible failure by Weapon X.

In a classic case of departmental government incompetence: Deadpool did just fine -- leading an escape from Dr. Killebrew's ethically dubious experiments at the Hospice facility. This allowed Wade to go out on his own, applying his skills as a marksman, hand-to-hand combatant, and manic street preacher, becoming the ultra-agile, quick-witted Merc' with a Mouth you know and love!

Taking Wolverine on is a pretty big assignment, but DP's never been afraid of a challenge! He stared down the Juggernaut without flinching, and even scored a surprise upset win over the Hulk! That's something even Wolverine struggled with!

Don't be fooled by his goofy demeanor. His incessant quipping speaks to a quickly adapting approach to fighting, and deliberate distraction tactic, formulating unconventional strategies that have bewildered highly-skilled opponents like Taskmaster, Batroc The Leaper, Daredevil, and Punisher.

Deadpool might not share the razor-sharp claws or adamantium-laced metal skeleton Wolverine has, but he does carry an array of convenient and lethal weaponry, such as twin katanas, sophisticated high-powered guns, and a personal teleportation device. Oh, and on the subject of bones, he's catching Wolverine with his adamantium down -- still suffering the aftermath of Magneto stripping it.

The Tape: Draw Ranking: Wolverine (#5)

What Went Down...

Finding the front door of Garrison Kane's apartment dangling from its hinges like splintered salvage wood -- Wolverine rips away his civilian clothes and prepares for trouble inside. He soon finds it. Kane isn't home!

Deadpool leaps down the stairs and opens fire with a high-powered gun!

Heckuva greeting.

Wolverine hunkers down deep on one knee, ducking the blast and setting himself for a rising uppercut. He comes up right beneath Deadpool -- ripping through his mid-section and right bicep with a slash of bone claws!

Deadpool wants to know where Kane has gone with his former favourite girl -- but Wolverine sure as hell isn't telling if he knows.

The mercenary trades clumsy barbs with rhyming names, yapping about his fully functioning healing factor as he leaps over Wolverine's claws -- swinging his out-stretched leg back around to kick the solo X-Man in the face!

Deadpool draws a sword in each hand and lets Wolverine know he's fully aware that the X-Man's healing factor isn't what it used to be since the adamantium was ripped from his bones. Wolverine talks tough.

"Aww! Did mean old Deadpool make liddle-biddy Wolvy-wiggums all upset? Wait'll I slice and dice your face -- that oughtta take the sunshine outta your day and twist your mad dial up to ten!"

They charge at each other. Deadpool twirling his swords overhead, Wolverine with his claws out stretched. Neither weapon is a direct factor when they connect.

Wolverine sails through the air -- his boot blasting Deadpool on the jaw.

It seems to silence the Merc' with a Mouth for a moment, but it's all just a cunning act. A gambit to position himself beneath Wolverine's descent -- so twin swords can swing overhead and stab through his torso and puncture his lungs!

A twinge of wide-eyed realization hits Wolverine as the blades exit and the wound proves severe enough to drop him like a sack of potatoes.

The Hammer...

We recently put the first fight between Sabretooth & Wolverine under the microscope, and while it wasn't the flesh-ripping main event showdown you might imagine for such a famous vendetta -- it at least has a palpable sense of heat - building towards a high-stakes rematch in fast turnaround.

It successfully lays the foundation for decades of future rematches to come.

Not so much for Deadpool and Wolverine...

If it wasn't for the boldly iconic, silhouetted graphic design of the Adam Kubert cover, and the accumulated mainstream cult interest of the Deadpool character -- I'm not sure this first fight would warrant anywhere near as much attention, or exaggerated value on the secondary market.

It all depends on how much stock you put into the Deadpool/Wolverine rivalry.

Disney and Marvel Studios are clearly investing big: the characters are hitting the big screen, with novelty popcorn bucket, in a highly anticipated headlining sequel, Deadpool and Wolverine -- but where did it all start?

It took four years for Deadpool to find his way to Wolverine. Four nineties years. Deadpool had already been through two of his own mini-series at this point [see; Sins of the Past], as well as a litany of X-Force appearances, and odd guest spots. He shared the page with Doctor Druid and Black Knight before he met Wolverine!

Sure, names were thrown around, and a Weapon X connection was clearly established early, but when you get right down to it -- Wolverine and Deadpool themselves just didn't have that much to do with each other. A connection was there, but the depth was largely imagined, living in the minds of hopeful fanboys.

Wolverine #88 offers insight into how flimsy and inconsequential the relationship between Deadpool & Wolverine was. What compelling reason finally brought them together on the page? We might speculate it was a basic need for material for a monthly issue, and a chance to capitalize on a fan-favourite dream match, but the grand story presented in this issue was...

They're basically just two ships passing in the night. Incidental opponents. Just a day in the life of Wolverine: out doing a favour for a mutual acquaintance he famously doesn't get along with, by looking in on another character he has very little to do with, but is inevitably associated with in the minds of readers: Garrison Kane, aka; "Weapon X".

Deadpool's entire motivation here is jealousy over Kane shacking up with his ex-girlfriend Copycat. We remember her from Deadpool's first appearance in New Mutants #98, where she was disguised as Domino. This plot continues when the series is relaunched as X-Force, and develops mutual ties amongst the three players with Cable. A character with more reason to be here than Wolverine.

Which isn't to say any of this shouldn't be happening! I was on board with Deadpool back in those days, and the thought that he would fight Wolverine tickled me pink! In fact, my ties with this issue go back to its release on the racks, when I spotted it in pride of place below the counter of a local service station, but passed it by. Every reader has their 'one(s) that got away'. I guess this is one of mine. Although becoming more familiar with the material lessened the blow.

I enjoy when comic book plotlines and characters weave through unexpected places, and create unexpected new bonds and relationships. I like that we have a bombastic fight between Deadpool and Wolverine as a result. It's just that it serves as a reminder that these two characters just don't have any business being as closely associated as rivals, or "frenemies", as people think they are. That came so much later, and arguably only because people thought it was a thing.

I dunno. It kinda smacks of some of the shoddier writing that came out of Rob Liefeld's reign with these X-characters, putting desire ahead of delivery, cart before horse, tail before dog, but you gotta take the bad with the good. I don't think the impulse to get the characters together is a mistake. It's worth doing.

Adam Kubert's layouts, especially for the Deadpool fight sequences, are positively Liefeldian, losing a little bit of focus in the skinny paneled chaos, but just barely holding it together enough to make the wild, frenetic action enjoyable. It makes selecting panels for discreet scanning difficult, but [Kubert] does return to more conventional panel grids for some of the in-between stuff, so it's not a bad read.

Page 1 is an Adam Kubert special: with iconic Wolverine basically in-costume (complete with mask), but still in the process of shredding his shirt and undoing his pants. He's standing at what's left of Kane's front door - a twisted and split assemblage of wooden planks and metal accessories. Smoke swirls at Wolverine's feet, framed to look up at him for heroic impact. Yeah, it's silly, but kinda cool.

I don't know if this issue is really the most compelling case for it, but I miss those days of a quick, simple, action-packed monthly issue I can grab from the rack, cheap and dirty. Anticipation for next month, even when the results are mixed.

There is more fighting to be found in this issue, and since that's kind of our thing, I'm not entirely putting this issue to rest. I'd also really like to get to some of those stranger skirmishes Deadpool found himself back in those days, too.

If you'd like to help make this work more possible, I would really appreciate it if you would consider becoming a supporter on Patreon. I'm currently experiencing some very difficult circumstances in my personal life, and if you've found yourself enjoying the site over the years, your support would certainly go a long way to help making my on-going survival possible, and fresh entries more plentiful.

Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has featured well over 700 fights and ranked more than 1,000 characters! You can find them all by diving into the Secret Archive for a complete index of battles in order of publisher, series, and issue -- or by hitting links to your favourite characters, series, and topics found throughout each entry.

Get free daily links to fights inspired by the topics of the day by subscribing to Twitter! Don't forget to smash that like, fave, and share -- and keep your eyes peeled for the week's top trending battles every Sunday on Twitter & Discord! The lively Discord chat is one of the bonuses of becoming a Patreon subscriber.

Winner: Deadpool
#23 (+7) Deadpool
#5 (--) Wolverine

SABRETOOTH versus WOLVERINE

The Last Run (Marvel)
Where: Uncanny X-Men #212 When: December 1986
Why: Chris Claremont How: Rick Leonardi

The Story So Far...
Secret tunnels that twist & wind deep beneath the surface of Manhattan run with blood! The Morlocks who live there are hunted and slaughtered by an unforgiving mob of self-proclaimed Marauders! These vile killers are responsible for enacting a terrible event -- the Mutant Massacre!

The X-Men join a desperate bid to save the surviving Morlocks from their unprovoked extermination, but for Wolverine the search will uncover more than injustice. One who stalks these tunnels is familiar to him. An old enemy who may just be better at him at what he does -- Sabretooth!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Sabretooth 4 (Enhanced)
Intelligence: Draw 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Sabretooth 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Wolverine 6 (Generator)
Agility: Draw 3 (Acrobat)
Fighting: Sabretooth 7 (Living Weapon)
Energy: Draw 1 (None)
Total: Sabretooth 28 (Metahuman)

It's one of the best known, most vicious and violent rivalries in comic books -- and it's about damn time we gave it a closer look! Where better to dig deeper into the blood feud between Sabretooth and Wolverine than with their very first fight?

Backstory developed in the years following would establish a long and complicated history behind their bitter hatred, but in 1986 they came face to face, claw to claw for the first time right here in Uncanny X-Men #212: part of the Mutant Massacre crossover that unleashed Mister Sinister's Marauders on the Morlocks.

Sabretooth was already established as a bloodthirsty killer, and mercenary, during his brief tenure as an Iron Fist villain. It started with his first appearance and deadly face-off on the snow-covered mountains of Canada, and later expanded to a slasher-like bloodlust that compelled him to kill on the streets of New York City.

We'd see friction between Sabretooth and his employer shortly after the Massacre, but he was more than happy to go on a killing spree beneath the streets, as part of Sinister's grand plan for genetic cleansing of the subterranean mutant Morlocks.

This almost led to the first throwdown with Wolverine in Power Pack #27, but a collapsing roof in the Morlock tunnels blocked Sabretooth from the kid heroes right as they were discovered by Wolverine. That left him to stalk toward a historic face-off in the main X-Men series, which launched many memorable rematches!

Alas, we've been negligent when it comes to this most obvious of match-ups, only featuring the beginning of their purported final battle in Wolverine (Vol.3) #50. That was a lackluster opening round to a generally disappointing showdown, but it did demonstrate the violent and spiteful measures each was willing to take to get one over on the other. After a lot of dragging it out, the conflict ended in Wolverine #55 with Sabretooth's apparent decapitation with the legendary Muramasa Blade. (It was actually a clone).

By that point Wolverine and Sabretooth had both developed pretty rampant healing factors that allowed them to endure and quickly recover from wounds that would be fatal to any ordinary man. Loose stakes that weren't quite as evident in their earlier encounters, where every injury took a more serious toll.

So who has the edge in their Morlock Tunnel showdown?

Wolverine had already been established as "the best there is at what he does" with his evisceration of the Hellfire Club guardsmen, smackdown of The Black Rook, and most compellingly, back-to-back victories over Lady Deathstrike during this same year, in Alpha Flight #34 and the legendary Uncanny X-Men #205.

He'd also been humbled, though. Reduced to a mere plaything when Magneto controlled his metal skeleton, fought to a stalemate by Black Panther, and caught by surprise in a crossover with DC's Deathstroke. Does Sabretooth have the goods to join this elite class? Those last two might just make a case for it! Let's find out.

History: Wolverine (2-0-0)

The Tape: Sabretooth Ranking: Wolverine (#5)

What Went Down...

Stray scents bombard his highly-sensitive nostrils with multiple trails. Morlock survivors and their would-be killers. Familiar signatures of the original X-Men too -- except now they're government manhunters called X-Factor. For all he knows they have blood on their hands too, but there's a lot Wolverine still doesn't know.

Suddenly another scent clues him in -- a woman. Impossible. Jean Grey is dead! A shock to the system that consumes his thoughts so thoroughly he doesn't even notice the Marauder coming for his back!

A rapid flurry of slashes rips through his costume and skin!

"You ought'a be ashamed, bub! I've had more trouble takin' out rank amateurs! From a pro like you, Wolverine, I expect better."

Cutting through the pain is a voice Wolverine knows all too well. A voice whose stock and trade makes him an obvious attendee to a massacre.

Sabretooth looms over Wolverine -- pinning the unconscious body of the Morlock Healer to a tunnel wall with one hand. Healer's hurt, but not bad. Wolverine knows if he can bring him back alive it will be a boon to the mutants who've suffered.

He does his best to disguise the importance of the Morlock and plays along with Sabretooth's sick sense of humor. The cold-blooded killer claims he and Sinister's Marauders are "the very best" at what they do. That he could've killed Wolverine without a second thought. Talk is cheap. The X-Man invites a hands-on approach.

They collide! Wolverine leaping to come in over Sabretooth's head -- or is it the taller Sabretooth hoisting him upward with a hook of his muscular arm? In the tangle of limbs, it could go either way!

Sabretooth grabs Wolverine's wrists, keeping his razor-sharp adamantium claws away from their target. Sabretooth gloats that he's faster, stronger, and more of a killer than Wolverine. As they tumble to the ground -- he might even be right.

Sabretooth's talons rake across Wolverine's chest, ripping through his uniform.

Wolverine rolls through the landing -- putting distance between he and Sabretooth as he reaches his feet, hunched over with claws bared and ready to strike.

Sabretooth aims to make Wolverine's healing factor a non-issue by removing his still beating heart. The feral killer lunges to make good on the threat, but Wolverine effortlessly vaults over his shoulders!

The X-Man continues his path towards the tunnel wall, attacking stone and mortar with his unbreakable claws. They make light work of the crumbling structure!

For a moment Sabretooth is confused -- but it quickly becomes apparent Wolverine isn't fighting for the win.

His attack causes a collapse of the decrepit tunnel. If it doesn't bury Sabretooth alive, it at least creates an impenetrable wall of rubble and debris that blocks the killer off from Wolverine -- and the vulnerable Morlock Healer.

The Hammer...

Was their first battle everything you imagined it would be?

If you were following the entire event in sequence, including its Power Pack tie-in issue, you might've been a little disappointed to see them using the same gimmick to keep the bad guy at arms length. Not to worry, though. This may be deep into the Mutant Massacre crossover, but as it says on the cover -- this is just "Round 1" for Wolverine and Sabretooth!

The X-Man chooses the greater good in an outcome that fails to separate the two as combatants, but divides them as individuals, literally and figuratively, by clearly demonstrating that for all his violent and animalistic tendencies -- Wolverine is fighting for more than himself - and his willingness to do whatever it takes to get the job done goes well beyond just casually taking lives.

Rescuing the Morlock Healer is a tactical boon for the heavily besieged mutants and X-Men, but the Mutant Massacre isn't over yet, and Wolverine & Sabretooth will have another chance to establish their bitter hatred before the crossover ends!

1982 and 1985 are often fondly looked back upon as two of the greatest and most important years in American comics, but I can't help but note how significant 1986 was for X-Men, and Wolverine in particular. Even though they factored in to some of the highlights of those aforementioned years!

The December cover date of today's featured issue is just a few months removed from the introduction of another of Wolverine's most famous and fearsome arch-foes: Lady Deathstrike, who ditched DD to begin a blood feud in Alpha Flight #34, followed by the legendary Uncanny X-Men #205.

For a character famed for his fighting rivalries -- these two adversarial acquisitions are a pretty big deal for ensuring his sustained relevance, and elevation to becoming one of the biggest icons in comics in the 80s and 90s!

With today's featured battle from Uncanny #212, Wolverine gains one of the most important pieces of his entire existence. To this point there was a fog of mystery surrounding Wolverine, but through his vendetta with Sabretooth, key connective tissue and backstory will be established, coming to define both characters through the ensuing decade, and to this very day.

Interesting that Sabretooth was already a tenured villain at this point, much more so than Lady Deathstrike. He was entering his tenth year when he finally met Wolverine on the page, transitioning to the X-books under writer Chris Claremont, who had introduced Sabretooth as an Iron Fist villain with artist John Byrne, and set him on a trajectory as a recurring foe for the martial arts hero.

As with Wolverine; Sabretooth's savagery & bloodlust reflected back upon the discipline & honor of Iron Fist, continuing through subsequent encounters, but eventually drifting from the mercenary origins of the character, towards an almost horror movie, slasher villain level of murderousness. Traits that set him adrift through the Marvel Universe until settling nicely in the Mutant Massacre.

It's interesting how well these established tendencies intuitively fed into a collision with Wolverine, and as eager as I am to finally document more of this legendary comic book rivalry, I'm equally as interested in tracking the movements of Sabretooth through his earliest appearances. Something Marvel Comics actually did in 1994 with their Sabretooth Classic reprint series.

I happen to be fortunate enough to have a lot of Sabretooth's early appearances in original issues, but with Deadpool & Wolverine on the fast track to cinemas this month, I'm also hoping to look more closely at some of the other famous fights involving Wolverine and the X-Men. It's really been the year for it!

As we return to Sabretooth, it will be interesting to see if his results challenge his present status as the lowest ranked character on Secret Wars on Infinite Earths. It's fair to say that his win/loss ratio will always skew towards defeat, but it just doesn't feel right that he's ranked quite so low. The price of villainy? We'll see.

If you'd like to help make this work more possible, I would really appreciate it if you would consider becoming a supporter on Patreon. It's always a pleasure coming back to add to our special little corner of the web, and I intend to continue doing so for free, but it's been very difficult to work on regular updates this year, and your patronage will go a long way to helping make it more possible.

Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has featured well over 700 fights and ranked more than 1,000 characters! You can find them all by diving into the Secret Archive for a complete index of battles in order of publisher, series, and issue -- or by hitting up links to your favourite things found throughout each entry.

Get free daily links to fights inspired by the topics of the day by subscribing to Twitter! Don't forget to smash that like, fave, and share -- and keep your eyes peeled for the week's top trending battles every Sunday on Twitter & Discord! The lively Discord chat is one of the bonuses of becoming a Patreon subscriber.

Winner: Inconclusive (Draw)
#5 (--) Wolverine
#1087 (--) Sabretooth