Wolverine #304 (2012) - Return of an Alpha Flight member

[Le Messor]

There was really no reason for him to be in that last Loeb story...lupine? Bah!

That's the one thing of Loeb's that I've read that I thought was genuinely bad.
Half of them weren't remotely canine. Confusing cats and apes with dogs? That's worse than calling a chimpanzee a monkey.

- Le Messor
"If we breed like rabbits, in the long run we have we have to die like rabbits."
~ Carlson

[EccentricSage]

I thought that synopsis was a joke at first. **** you Marvel, **** you.

Why the hell would Wildchild even be at a party for Sabertooth? Great, this writer has even less knowledge about the character than the last. I would have liked for him to be brought back in a creative way that makes sense and isn't centered around Sabertooth or Wolverine. You guys remember when Wildchild, for all his inconsistencies, was still at least his own character? *sigh*

I will not touch anything Wolverine is playing a main role in nowadays. He is cancer.

[Flightpath07]

I didn't have a problem with it.

[EccentricSage]

What's nice for you, then. I think the entire concept of it is awful. I'm already in a bad mood today for other reasons, though, so not mentally prepared for an in depth discussion of the pros and cons, though. I just really hoped if it happened, it would have been different. This is just more of the same.

[Flightpath07]

Well, bringing back Wild Child, in and of itself, is a good thing.

I didn't mind the silly, comedic style of the whole issue. Comics all full of darkness and death and grey tones and moody heroes who kill without feeling bad and deaths of heroes off-panel...all that stuff get me depressed. Id' rather see some lightheartedness thrown in there. Comics are SUPPOSED to be fun, after all!

That being said, those who don't like it, i get it, not saying you are wrong in feeling differently about it. To each their own.

[Le Messor]

I'd rather see some lightheartedness thrown in there. Comics are SUPPOSED to be fun, after all!

Me too!

- LM
"If you're ridin' ahead of the herd, take a look back every now and then to make sure it's still there."

[EccentricSage]

I agree with you on that, it's just that the concept of Sabretooth as some top assassin and all these villains hanging around him... and the return of his romance with Mystique? All lovey dovey now? Really? Ugh. I second those who say we can have fun and light without going full on ******.

I would rather Wildchild stay dead than be resurrected just to be Sabes' ***** or Wolverine's punching bag again. And Loeb's make-over has got to go. Nipple rings? Really? I still can't get over how stupid it is, all these years later. I really just can't be happy with what Marvel does anymore. I got some X-Factor, and it's really good, but even there there's the whole Rhane Sinclair issue.

[Flightpath07]

And Loeb's make-over has got to go. Nipple rings? Really? I still can't get over how stupid it is, all these years later. I really just can't be happy with what Marvel does anymore.

Well, i agree with that last sentence, although they keep momentarily sucking me back in. Still reading books such as "Secret Avengers" and "Defenders", and most especially "Wolverine and the X-Men" which i LOVE.

As far as Wild Child's 'new' look (its really kind of old, now), i can roll with it. It came about at the same time as his brand-new kick-arse attitude, and his extreme beat-down of Wolverine; anything that makes Kyle into a great arch-villain, I am all for!

[EccentricSage]

I hate this version of him, though. Yeah, he beat Wolverine, but other than that he's a pretty flat character... just a typical sneering villain with no depth, not a trace of the character I loved. Loeb's whole story was terrible and I'd rather pretend it never happened than glorify it because Wildchild got one feat out of it to add to his list. 'Sides, most fans I've seen online HATE Wildchild now, and not in the good 'love to hate that bastard' way that Sabertooth tends to enjoy, they think he's a lame Mini-Sabe with a bad Hot Topic makeover, and that his sudden overpowered status is uncalled for and remains unjustified and unexplained. It's embarrassing, and I doubt I'll ever see anything good done with him ever again, if Marvel is sticking with this version of him.

[Le Messor]

Yeah, he beat Wolverine, but other than that he's a pretty flat character... just a typical sneering villain with no depth

Agreed.

- Le Messor
"Ignorant?! Ha! I don't even know the meaning of the word!"

[Flightpath07]

'Sides, most fans I've seen online HATE Wildchild now, and not in the good 'love to hate that bastard' way that Sabertooth tends to enjoy, they think he's a lame Mini-Sabe with a bad Hot Topic makeover, and that his sudden overpowered status is uncalled for and remains unjustified and unexplained. It's embarrassing, and I doubt I'll ever see anything good done with him ever again, if Marvel is sticking with this version of him.

I wonder how much of that comes from his Age of Apocalypse appearances and whatnot, as he is 'literally' Sabretooth's lapdog in those issues. I think those appearances, more than any other, ruined his credibility forever; doesn't matter that they take place in another universe/reality/whatever, as the people see them and then associate the character of Wild Child with them (as he wasn't really being used anywhere else at the time that would get him more, and better, publicity).

[EccentricSage]

Nope. They were specifically talking about Loeb and Way's run. I think the only ones who see 616 Wildchild as the same as AoA Wildchild are jaded editors who want to capitalize on the popularity of the AoA universe. Though they committed economic suicide letting some douche kill a whole bunch of the AoA characters off all at once recently, including AoA Wildchild.

Funny enough, I've had conversations with people who liked AoA Wildchild because he was mini sabes in a lovable way, while despising 616 Wildchild because they saw Loeb's version as a lame replacement for Sabretooth. And I agree with them. This isn't Wildchild to me, but then, who IS Wildchild at this point?

[Phil]

I don't fully think Loeb/Way/Aaron's Wildchild is the greatest (or the greatest design) but it fits in with his original Byrne persona more than the Lobdell version did, and I feel it's a better use than the depowered version after M-Day.

[EccentricSage]

We hardly got to know Byrne's Wildchild, though. He was a fantastic character design, but what little we saw of him was while he was under a type of mind control. So we know he was smart, and feral, but we don't know if he was really a bad guy or just Courtney's victim like Lil. Him and Lil seemed pretty friendly at least, which makes me think he was at least sociable some of the time, and then there's that retcon later where Madison says they were best buddies before the flight program was disbanded. And you're ignoring all the character development that happened between Byrne Era and Post-M-Day. His history is convoluted, but there were some lovable parts. Now he has no depth, they treat him as filler. Just something for Wolverine to beat up again.

[Le Messor]

We hardly got to know Byrne's Wildchild, though. He was a fantastic character design,

I always found that version - the original and best - to be unique and interesting; a wild, Wolverine-style character with claws and presumably a healing factor, who looked different, but in a real-world plausible way; and most of all who, despite all this, was eloquent and verbose.
Everyone since has ignored all that and made him just another of those Wolverine clones that cropped up all over the place in the 90s. (I mean that in terms of how he was written, not a literal clone).

- Le Messor
Debbie Jellinsky: I'll be leaving the country very soon.
Ticket Agent: Will you be traveling alone?
Debbie Jellinsky: Yes, I'll be a widow.