Expert: Justin Case - 5/27/2009

Question
Hi!

Okay, I am fairly new to the X-Men world. My uncle is a die-hard fan, but I hesitate to ask him questions sometimes. Like this one. I know that the dog tags that Wolverine wore in the new movie Origins are NOT his usual style, mostly because they were American tags, and he, traditionally, is a member of the Canadian forces.

So my question is this. If I were to purchase dog tags that most resemble Wolverine's....what would they look like, and what would they say? Several sites offer "Wolverine's Dog Tags", and all look different and have different information on them.

Also...the Canadian style are 2 pieces that appear as if you could 'break' them apart. Is Logan's seperated, or are they still one solid piece?

Thanks for your time!
~Amanda

Answer
Hi Amanda -

That is an excellent question!

Wolverine's dog tags have been portrayed pretty inconsistently in the comic books in which he's appeared so there actually is no 'right' answer.

In fact,the 'Americanized' dog tags were created for the first X-Men movie and (to my knowledge) never appeared in the comics prior to the movie's release in 2000.

Wolverine's origin has been retconned (a comic word for 'retroactive continuity' meaning that differing writers insert details into Wolverine's past as they see fit, that may, or may not have been there before) so many times that it is very difficult to accurately tell what exactly has happened to him.

Various websites claim to have a definitive depiction of Wolverine's life time, but they are always subject to change when some new comic writer comes along and inserts a new detail that wasn't there before.

At different points in his life Wolverine has worked as an agent of both the Canadian and American military, so its 'possible' that he has dog tags from both.

In addition the character has gone by the name Wolverine on numerous different occasions and could have dog tags from his time at Department H (the Canadian government) and while working as an agent of the OSS (an American intelligence agency circa World War II).

You are correct in that Wolverine was originally a Canadian national and has done service with the Canadian military and government at various points in his life.

So, my best advice would be to get the tags that appeal to you the most and go with those.  In truth, either could be correct!

Also, why are you afraid to ask your uncle?  Does he have claws too?

LOL!

Thanks for using the site and feel free to shoot me any other questions you might have!

Hope that helps!

Deran