Secret Wars on Infinite Earths: The Comic Book Fight Club

WOLVERINE & HULK versus WENDIGO

And Now... The Wolverine! (Marvel)
Where: Incredible Hulk #181 When: November 1974
Why: Len Wein How: Herb Trimpe

The Story So Far...
The rampaging Hulk has been lured from his usual stomping grounds in the United States to the frigid wilds of northeast Quebec. The purpose: to use him to subdue and cure the supernatural beast known as the Wendigo!

The Canadian government officially considers Wendigo a matter of myth & local superstition, but the Hulk is something they take very seriously. To deal with the border-crossing behemoth they've sent their very best agent: a feral force at home in the forest, ready to track & terminate any threat -- The Wolverine!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Hulk 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Wolverine 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Wendigo 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Draw 6 (Generator)
Agility: Wendigo 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting: Wolverine 6 (Warrior)
Energy: Draw 1 (None)
Total: Hulk 26 (Metahuman)

Everyone knows Incredible Hulk #181 is the first full appearance of Wolverine, but not as well-known is the fact that it doesn't start with a full-fledged fight against Hulk. It's actually an impromptu team-up - so that's where we're starting.

There is stated hostility between the headlining pair, but Wolverine & Hulk find themselves positioned against a mutual threat: Paul Cartier, who has succumbed to the curse of the dreaded Wendigo.

Cartier was trapped in a cave during a hunting trip in the Canadian wilderness, and resorted to an act of cannibalism to preserve his own life. This act of consuming human flesh was said to have cursed him in the eyes of elder gods, unleashing a supernatural transformation into the bestial Wendigo.

Covered in white fur and baring sharp fangs & claws, the Wendigo possesses greatly enhanced size, strength, speed, stamina, and healing ability. It is even said the Wendigo is immortal, damned to wander the Earth until the curse is lifted.

When it comes to warring with animalistic Canadian enemies, Sabretooth might draw some broad comparisons, but the Wendigo is a supernatural threat, and that's something Wolverine has faced many times as well.

When the X-Men went up against Dracula, Wolverine was ready to do what was necessary. Even though things didn't quite go to plan, he made light work of the Lord of Vampires in the alternate reality of What If...? #24. His adamantium claws also did damage to a Dormammu-enhanced Hood years later, but the most direct comparison we have is Captain America's time as a werewolf -- which actually saw Wolverine come up second best.

Hulk had a memorable run-in with Jack Russell, aka; The Werewolf (By Night), when his own Fixit transformations were tied to the rise & setting of the sun. Their first encounter ended with a time limit draw brought about the coming of the day.

Wendigo's ferocity no doubt matches The Werewolf's, but his fighting skills are unlikely to match Captain America's. Hulk is in a dopier, classic phase himself, but that also means he probably has the muscle to overpower The Wendigo given time. They fought briefly in the previous issue -- time to find out what adding the wildcard of the Wolverine does to change this situation!

The Tape: Wolverine & Hulk Ranking: Wolverine (#5)

What Went Down...

The sight of a stocky man in yellow - launching himself towards them - causes Hulk and Wendigo to pause their fighting. Neither beast is quite sure what to make of the small challenger, staring slack-jawed as he races in to attack.

The leap takes Wolverine sailing onto the Hulk's mighty shoulders and the green goliath is still slightly confused: "Huh? Little man attacks Hulk!"

Wolverine introduces himself as an agent of the Canadian government charged with taking care of Hulk. The behemoth tries to face his back-mounted opponent, insisting he'll smash if he doesn't stand still. Wolverine isn't about to comply!

The clawed fighter vaults over Hulk's head to keep the advantage of moving quickly around the battlefield.

Having already found his claws failed to easily pierce Hulk's tough hide -- he maintains his momentum and dives across the face of The Wendigo with a slash of his claws. This time the blades cut through their hairy target!

The stinging blow stuns Wendigo and Wolverine presses his advantage -- vaulting into a dropkick to send the backstepping creature off the edge of a cliff!

Hulk is irritated that the Wolverine isn't staying to fight, but the 5'5" fighter has his savage sights set on the more manageable of his two prospective opponents.

He's unfazed by the revelation that he's fighting a Wendigo -- a creature he was told was mere myth. Its towering 8' dimensions don't bother him, either. All the better to duck the Wendigo's wild swinging claws -- and strike back with a stab of his own!

As the Wendigo begins to weaken from his wounds, Hulk grapples with the confusion of his supposed attacker now fighting his enemy. In his own addled mind, he perceives Wolverine's actions as confirmation of a friend. A friend in need!

Hulk tenses his powerful leg muscles and launches himself into a horizontal jumping dash that carries right into the staggering Wendigo!

The Hulk makes a bigger target. Wendigo instinctively throws his arms up to block the airborne beast and strikes him across the jaw with a stiff forearm!

It's Wolverine's turn to be confused by Hulk's shift in allegiance, but he doesn't question it. Instead, he seizes the opportunity to launch himself onto Wendigo's furry shoulders and cause a distraction for his unlikely tag team partner!

The Wendigo tries to get the tiny man off his back, but Hulk is quick to intuit what his impromptu ally is thinking. He charges in to hoist Wendigo off the ground, shaking Wolverine off to protect him from the beast's impending fate!

With a mighty heave the Hulk sends Wendigo hurtling through the air and smashing through mighty trees dotting the Canadian glade!

The devastating impact snaps the trees like toothpicks and impress Wolverine, but still the Wendigo stirs! Wolverine knows it's up to him to finish the job!

Without any hesitation Wolverine leaps onto the giant woodbeast -- brandishing his razor-sharp metal claws with an animalistic ferocity equal or greater to the creature itself! With a sickening "thwuck" the deed is done!

The Hammer...

How about that? It's another famous first, but just like the inaugural battles with Sabretooth and Deadpool that we recently covered -- Wolverine's first encounter with the Hulk might not have gone exactly how you thought it would. In this case: it isn't even as straight-forward as open conflict!

Yes! Our main event competitors actually team-up at the beginning of the issue to vanquish a different foe! Sometimes Wendigo is the forgotten third-wheel in this first full appearance of Wolverine, but don't worry. The action doesn't stop here!

Hulk takes a moment to admire Wolverine's handiwork, and the Canadian agent observes that his supposed killing blow has actually only rendered the Wendigo unconscious. It's an impermanent state, but one that will serve them well as other conspiring forces converge to deal with Paul Cartier, and the Wendigo curse.

This development allows Wolverine to resume his original mission, and Incredible Hulk #181 to pursue what has grown into one of the most popular Marvel Comics hero-on-hero rivalries: Wolverine versus Hulk!

Like a lot of the big fights in comics history, I've always kinda taken for granted that we'd get to it eventually. I like to keep things interesting for myself and not necessarily always go down those obvious roads. In this case, I thought it would be nice to deal with the first conflict of the issue, before the fight on the marquee.

We get a lot of great action in this portion of the issue. Herb Trimpe's layouts tell a clear story and really go a long way to establishing Wolverine's fighting style from Day 1. I particularly love the classic image of Wolvie perched on larger opponent's back & shoulders -- in this case, Hulk's -- with one hand's claws raised in the air. How many times have we seen that over the decades? It's right here on Page 2!

Of course, there are refinements. Len Wein's narration notes that Wolverine is 5'5", which will generally be accepted to officially scale down to 5'3", even if artists get a little loose with those proportions by the time Hugh Jackman is playing the role.

There's also the original "whisker" version of the mask, which is drawn with the unusual detail of a very square piece over the nose. It connects with a pronounced brow and the shorter, more discreet version of the mask's fanning eye pieces. In close up, it reads more like a rigid helmet with a nose guard. A conceit the live-action films have finally gone with after avoiding it for a quarter of century.

The theatrical release of Deadpool and Wolverine, which includes a nod to the long-running Hulk rivalry and Todd McFarlane's later cover art from Incredible Hulk #340, is inspiring a lot of prospective choices right now, so I can't necessarily promise I'll get to it immediately. If you'd like to elevate the Hulk/Wolverine match-up in priority, or just generally support the trove of reference material we're accumulating here, you might consider becoming a member on Patreon.

I'm currently experiencing particularly challenging circumstances in my personal life, and regular entries are proving especially difficult to produce right now. Your support will go a long way to helping keep me in the fight and get back to working on more superhero smackdown for our special corner of comics culture!

I have to admit, even though we literally have dozens of entries involving the Hulk, it's been feeling like he's a little neglected, so it's nice that we're getting to more milestone match-ups. Those who enjoy watching the updating ranks at the bottom of every entry will note that he's ranked #6, right behind Wolverine, with a small gap in wins now separating them. There's a small gap separating them now, but with more data we can continue to test who is truly the best!

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 and topics found throughout each entry.

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Winners: Wolverine & Hulk
#5 (--) Wolverine
#6 (--) Hulk
#1029 (new) Wendigo (Paul Cartier)