Marvel’s First Female Wolverine Was Actually a Complete Joke

Fans of Marvel’s Wolverine are sure to know about his female counterpart, Laura Kinney, aka X-23. X-23 is the clone/ biological daughter of Logan, with many of the same abilities, but sports two retractable claws on each hand and one on each foot. For years now, she has been referred to as the “female Wolverine,” but this character actually existed long before X-23 ever did.

The original female Wolverine, conveniently named “Wolverina,” appeared in the pages of What The..?! #11 from Scott Lobdell, Rurik Tyler, Kelly Corvese, and Jade Moede. Marvel’s What The..?! is a similar line of comics to What If…, taking place in alternate realities apart from the mainstream Marvel continuity. Unlike What If…, which focuses on telling stories about what could or might have happened, What The..?! is a joke universe, focusing on self-parodies of characters and storylines. It touts itself as “The Marble Universe” and ran from 1988 to 1993 before being cancelled.

Wolverina is featured on the front cover of What The..?! #11 and includes a story about her origin. At a New Year’s party at a pub called “Bud’s Suds,” many Marble characters are enjoying themselves. Working as a waitress, Wolverina goes around collecting drink orders, while Bud the Bartender laments amount his long-lost daughter. Behind the scenes, a villain known as Mr. Hide is planning to bomb the place. After revealing himself, Wolverina and Mr. Hide engage in a pun-filled battle that Deadpool would be proud of, and it’s revealed that Wolverina is actually Bud’s daughter. The bomb goes off, but thanks to Death being in good spirits, everyone survives and celebrates the reunion of Wolverina and Bud.

This short comic was a whole lot of fun and featured a slew of other character parodies, such as Thighnos, a version of Thanos, and Bulk, a beans-loving parody of the Hulk. Unfortunately, this is the only appearance that Wolverina would ever have in comic book history. She was meant to be a one-off Wolverine parody, and she did her job very well. It would be another 13 years before X-23 made her comic debut, and Marvel was properly graced with another female Wolverine.

Unlike Wolverina, X-23 resonated a lot better with writers and fans, and therefore there are many more stories about her. While X-23 gets the most credit for being the first female Wolverine, Wolverina still remains the first iteration of the character.

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