Proper credit has long been a highly contested issue in the world of comic books, and it's now Wolverine at the centre of a dispute over who deserves those all-important "Created by..." acknowledgements.
The hero first appeared in the pages of Incredible Hulk #180 in 1974, a comic written by Len Wein and illustrated by Herb Trimpe. John Romita, Sr. designed Weapon X's now-iconic costume, under the auspices of Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Roy Thomas.
Wein and Romita are typically credited as Wolverine's creators, though Trimpe and Thomas' involvement is also usually mentioned (as is the work of Chris Claremont, John Byrne, Frank Miller, and more, all of whom helped make Logan the character he is today).
Recently, it was revealed that Thomas' name has been officially added to Wolverine's creator credits, and it's not gone down well.
Longtime comic book editor Bobbie Chase took to Facebook recently to say, "My friend and Len Wein's widow, Christine Valada, got a call from Marvel executive David Bogart, informing her that in the upcoming Wolverine & Deadpool movie (coming out this July), Roy Thomas will now be credited as the co-creator with Len Wein and John Romita Sr., and David said it’s a done deal."
"I was standing in Christine’s kitchen this past Sunday as she told me about the phone call. Of course Christine is seriously concerned about Len’s legacy. Len was profoundly important to the comic book industry, and that legacy is being changed for the worse, six years after his death."
Many comic book creatives have since chimed in, including an unhappy Rob Liefeld, prompting Thomas to make his position on the matter clear.
"This situation is unfortunate because I am only trying to finally get credit for something where the facts have been known for many years, and I’m being portrayed as a ghoul trying to rob the corpse of Len Wein for credit and money."
"First and foremost, this is not a financial issue. I’m not getting a penny, as far as I know, and it in no way takes away from whatever Len [Wein] and John [Romita]’s families may be getting, if anything," he explained. "I don’t know what their financial arrangement is with Marvel. I’m already getting money from my other contributions to Marvel; I don’t need Wolverine money, thank you very much."
Thomas would later add that, "I had four requirements for the character: that he be named 'Wolverine,' be Canadian, be fierce because wolverines are fierce creatures, and that he be short, because superheroes are usually tall."
"I could have assigned it to a different writer using my four parameters and John [Romita’s] design. Wolverine would have been something different because it wasn’t Len writing it, but I still would have been co-creator."
You can hear more from Thomas over at Forbes, but the main source of upset has been the prospect of an editor stepping in to take credit from the writing and art teams employed on a freelance basis.
Still, the former EIC makes an undeniably compelling case for why he should likely be billed alongside Wein and Romita as he clearly played a significant role in Wolverine's creation.
Stay tuned for updates.