From Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 1) #213 (1987)
This page features the first true confrontation between Sabretooth and Wolverine. Wolverine had been a member of the X-Men for years, stretching back to Giant-Size X-Men #1 in 1975. Sabretooth made his debut in 1977 as an antagonist in the pages of Iron Fist. Originally just an assassin with a gimmick, Sabretooth was eventually made into a full fledged mutant.
Chris Claremont, the longtime writer of the X-Men’s adventures, brought the two into conflict here where he heavily hinted that some sort of past existed between the characters. While Claremont has since said that he intended for Sabretooth to be revealed as Wolverine’s father, current continuity appears to be that they aren’t, in fact, related at all. However, they were both a part of Weapon X, the program that developed them into becoming amazing warriors and also tampered with their memories. In any case, Sabretooth’s agility, viciousness, and his ability to get under the skin of his enemies are all on display in this page.
The art on this page is by relative newcomer Alan Davis and inker Paul Neary. Davis had just left DC Comics prior to penciling this issue where he had a run on Detective Comics. He would go on to make his mark in the mutant community by working on Excalibur, but here he shows off his fantastic character work in this early battle between old foes.
Find us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Subscribe to our RSS Feed
Some rights reserved.
This reminds me fondly of the days when I actually liked Sabertooth.
I started with UNCANNY around #230, but I do have this one as an unread back-issue. Maybe I’ll finally get around to reading it, looks interesting.
Looking forward to Alan Davis on WOLVERINE.
Another good Alan Davis issue of X-Men was the Giant Sized Annual #11. A great focus on Wolverine in that issue.
Was that the Annual with Horde? That was a great issue.
You nailed it. I feel old being able to vividly recall an issue from 1986/87.
An excellent time for Uncanny X-men!!! Marvel Secret Wars giving us fanboys great moments, NY Giants winning the SB, the miracle Mets. 1986/87 was just magic for my 15 yr old self!!
I actually just reread this issue about a week ago. Sabretooth comes across so smug and arrogant, I really like the way he’s written. Is it earlier in this issue or the issue before that they fight in the Morlock tunnels? This is the first true square-up fight though. It marks the humbling of Wolverine in the pages of X-Men and the reunion seems to affect him for awhile. Good stuff!
Good stuff.
I miss that old brown Wolverine costume!
That version of the character (Frank Miller’s lim. Series) will always be my favorite. Mysterious background, take no s****, ready to unleash his inner beserker all in the KICKASS brown get up!!
I loved this X-men era so much.