Wolverine's Claws Erupt Into Extreme Body Horror in 'Death' Cover Art
As mutations go, Wolverine has things pretty easy. He’s effectively “human-passing” apart from the fact that he ages at a much slower rate. And the world of Marvel Comics has always chosen to highlight the miraculous over the macabre, but make no mistake: there are a lot of potential horror stories in its universe. As a character whose abilities rely on the deformation of his skeleton, Wolverine is ripe for more bloodcurdling depictions as Declan Shalvey recently revealed in a nightmarish vision of what the hero might look like should his mutation ever spiral beyond control.
Writer Benjamin Percy has been putting Logan through some dynamic paces in his interconnecting series X Lives of Wolverine and X Deaths of Wolverine. The bookended narrative sees two versions of Wolverine engaged in seemingly independent time travel missions. One is his present day self on Krakoa, body hopping through his past consciousnesses to protect the Xavier family from Mikhail Rasputin (in a story that feels heavily inspired by the Days of Future Past movie adaptation). The other is a Phalanx-infected “Omega” Logan, traveling back to the present to hunt and kill Moira MacTaggert. It’s convoluted enough, but then Declan Shalvey posted his variant cover for X Deaths of Wolverine #4 that is equal parts monstrous and intriguing.
Shalvey showed a full view of his variant cover on his Twitter account. The image turns Wolverine’s adamantium skeleton against him. In it he is shirtless and frenzied with his claws popped, seemingly ready for a fight. The disturbing element is how the rest of his skin bulges with jagged bones that seem to be on the verge of breaking through. His torso is a maze of angles, and his face is that much worse. As a final flourish, his hideous form casts a mangled shadow on the crimson wall behind him.
Shalvey’s caption indicates that it is a “spoiler” but nothing in the actual issue indicates this level of body horror. Perhaps it could stand as a metaphor, especially given the way this series has sought to explore Wolverine’s past and self-image. In many ways, this variant cover is likely how Logan views himself—a serrated beast that can’t even embrace someone without bleeding them, who brings death and danger to everyone he loves.
Whether it is meant to be literal or allegorical, the idea of Wolverine’s mutation devolving has been explored before. Warren Ellis’ satirical miniseries Ruins depicted a variant only called “Little Canuck” who, in place of Logan’s imposing claws, possessed only blunt metacarpal bones sticking up through his rotted flesh. Plus, most of Logan’s enemies are simply deadlier versions of himself, so he’s always contesting against his darker side in some way. This art makes it clear that the inhabitants of the Marvel Universe should consider that as monstrous as Wolverine may seem at times, he could be a lot worse.
Source: Declan Shalvey