| Red Wolf | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | (Talltrees) Avengers #80 (September 1970) (Wakely) Marvel Spotlight #1 (November 1971) (Thunderhead) Red Wolf #7 (May 1973) (Wildrun) Fantastic Four Annual #25 (October 1992) |
| Created by | (Talltrees) Roy Thomas John Buscema (Wakely-Thunderhead) Gardner Fox Syd Shores (Wildrun) Mark Gruenwald Herb Trimpe |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | - Wildrun - Johnny Wakely - Thomas Thunderhead - William Talltrees |
| Team affiliations | (Wildrun) The Anachronauts (Wakely) The Sensational Seven (Talltrees) The Rangers |
| Notable aliases | (Talltrees) Owayodata |
| Abilities | (Talltrees) Highly skilled hand-to-hand combatant Experienced wrestler Adept combat gymnast Superb archer Expert marksman with throwing weapons and tracker Skilled animal trainer Superhuman strength and sensory acuity |
Red Wolf is a superhero identity used by several fictional characters appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics. Those who assume the identity are Native American heroes with mystical powers and a trusted wolf companion named Lobo.[1]
Red Wolf is one of the first Native American superheroes introduced by Marvel Comics.[2] The William Talltrees version of Red Wolf first appeared in the story "The Coming of Red Wolf!" published inAvengers #80 (cover-dated Sept. 1970), and was created byRoy Thomas andJohn Buscema.[3] The character appeared also in the next issue.
Shortly afterward, Marvel editor-in-chiefStan Lee began prominently incorporating minorities and female characters into the Marvel lineup. According to Thomas, he and Lee both wanted Marvel to have a book with a Native American hero, but Lee didn't want it to be a modern-day character. "I guess he was trying to see if he could find a way to get a Western to sell, because everybody in the field wanted to write or draw a Western," Thomas speculated.[4] For this reason, when Red Wolf was given the starring spot in the first issue of the tryout seriesMarvel Spotlight (cover-dated November 1971), the character in the Red Wolf identity was 19th Century Johnny Wakely instead of the previously introduced Will Talltrees.[4]
Following his successful tryout inMarvel Spotlight, the character became the star of the nine-issue seriesRed Wolf (May 1972 - Sept. 1973). The stories delved into American Indian culture and were set in the Old West.[2][5] These adventures featured Johnny Wakely in issues #1-6 and Thomas Thunderhead in #7-9, both Red Wolf predecessors of William Talltrees. The Wakely version appeared in subsequent comic books about the Old West. The Thunderhead version, who lives in the 1970s, was never used again.
In 1976, writerJenny Blake Isabella made the Talltrees version and the superheroineTigra a team inMarvel Chillers #3, 5 and 6. In the issue #7,Jim Shooter wrote a story where the two superheroes fought theSuper Skrull. Years later, in the story "You Get What You Need!" published inThe Incredible Hulk vol. 2, #265 (Nov. 1981), writerBill Mantlo and pencillerSal Buscema created the superhero team theRangers, consisting of Western charactersBonita Juarez / Firebird,Victoria Starvin / Shooting Star,Drew Daniels / Texas Twister,Hamilton Slade / Phantom Rider, then called Night Rider, and William Talltrees, the contemporary Red Wolf.[6]
InFantastic Four Annual #25 (Oct. 1992), writerMark Gruenwald and pencillerHerb Trimpe created the Anachronauts,Kang the Conqueror's personal guard. Among them, there was Wildrun, the first of the Red Wolves. The character appeared in subsequent comic books featuring the Anachronauts until his last appearance inAvengers Forever #3 (February 1999).[7]
The Wakely version of Red Wolf appeared in 2000'sBlaze of Glory: The Last Ride of the Western Heroes.John Ostrander, the creator of this comic book series, remade the character as a western vigilante.[8] In 2006, Red Wolf received an entry in theMarvel Westerns: Outlaw Files (June 2006).[9] The same year, writerKarl Kesel and pencillerCarmine Di Giandomenico wrote a story on the Wakely version of Red Wolf inMighty Marvel Western - Western Legends #1 (September 2006).[10]
Johnny Wakely also appeared in 2010'sRawhide Kid: The Sensational Seven. The series includes a mix of actual, real world Western heroes and ones from Marvel continuity.[11] In an interview withComic Book Resources, writer Ron Zimmerman revealed that Red Wolf and his canine companion Lobo would get a bit of a reinvention in the series. He pointed to Red Wolf as his favorite character in the book, next to Rawhide Kid and expressed an interest in writing a spinoff title starring the character. The writer commented on Red Wolf: "I would liken him a little bit to Hank McCoy. He's incredibly well educated and very articulate. This isn't Tonto. This guy will hopefully read as funny, because he's nothing like any other Native American of that day - other than the fact that he's not crazy about white people. He's a little bit of a racist. But still, he's a hero."[12]
In a 2011 interview, writerJason Aaron revealed that in his original outline ofAstonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine, the title characters would have been stranded in the 15th century where Spider-Man would have started theNew World Avengers with Sasquatch, Red Wolf and an Aztec Ghost Rider.[13]
The following year, writerChristopher Yost chose the Texas team the Rangers to come into conflict withHouston's new superheroScarlet Spider in the story "The Second Master" inScarlet Spider #7-9.[14][15]
In 2015, a Red Wolf from an alternate universe of Earth-51920 appears in the series1872. In this universe, the Marvel heroes lives in a Wild West environment, where Red Wolf became deputy of a town called Timely.[16][17] After Secret Wars, this Red Wolf was placed in the mainstream Marvel Universe and has a difficult time remembering his past life.[citation needed] He becomes the deputy of a Santa Rosa Police Department, but later agrees to go with Clint Barton on a cross country trip to help those in need and to find out more about himself in theOccupy Avengers book.[citation needed] The 2015 relaunch was developed byS'Klallam artistJeffrey Veregge.[18]
Wildrun is the Red Wolf of the 19th century in theWild West. In order for the Cheyenne to have a place to live, he drove the Sioux away from the plains. Kang the Conqueror is the only man to have defeated him in battle. As a result, Wildrun swore loyalty to Kang and became a member of his personal guard, the Anachronauts. InAvengers Forever,Libra, who somehow knows Wildrun, described him as "the first of the Red Wolves."[7][19]
Johnny Wakely was the adopted name of aCheyenne man who was raised from childhood by a white couple in the late 19th century.[20] His adoptive parents were killed by Native Americans in retaliation for the U.S. Army cavalry's massacre of their own people. Some time later, a local land baron tried to buy the Wakely property; when Johnny refused to sell, the land baron's hired guns burned down the house. Trying to find his place in this world, Johnny joined the U.S. Cavalry at Fort Rango as a scout, but although accepted by the commanding officer found himself shunned and despised by the soldiers. While on a scouting mission to find a renegade Indian war party, Johnny's position was accidentally given away. Pursued by the warriors, Wakely stumbled into the burial place of a former warrior known as Red Wolf and was visited by the spirit of a Cheyenne god named Owayodata. He was given the ceremonial garb of the Red Wolf, and the coup stick, his totem of power, and became the first known recorded Red Wolf.[21] Red Wolf used his new-found great skills and prowess to promote peace between the white and Native American peoples.[22] He fought and defeated Ursa the Man Bear[23] and Devil Rider.[24]
Later, Johnny Wakely teamed up withRawhide Kid,Kid Colt,Doc Holliday,Annie Oakley,Billy the Kid and TheTwo-Gun Kid to track the villainous Cristo Pike after Pike and his gang kidnapWyatt andMorgan Earp.[25][26][27]
Thomas Thunderhead is the Red Wolf during pre-modern era, 1970s. He helped the police officer Jill Tomahawk.[28] Together, they battled King Cycle[29][30] and later Clayton Bickford.[31][32] Red Wolf was also once assisted byGabriel, Devil Hunter and Dragonfly.[33][34]
William Talltrees is a man born in modern times, born inWolf Point, Montana. He was the son of Rebecca and Thomas Talltrees, a Cheyenne tribal leader, and grew up hearing tales of the legendary Red Wolf.[35][36][37] William witnessed his father being intimidated into selling his property to corrupt businessmanCornelius van Lunt and his enforcer Jason Birch; that night, van Lunt's henchmen killed William's family. William swore vengeance, finding and donning the ceremonial garb of Red Wolf. Owayodata visited him and imbued the young man with his spiritual legacy, granting him superhuman powers. The new Red Wolf found a wolf cub that he named Lobo and trained to be his companion. Following the two criminals back to New York, he was able to gain vengeance on them with the aid of the Avengers.[35][38][39]
Alongside Tigra, Red Wolf battled theSuper-Skrull and the Rat Pack.[40] Alongside Phantom Rider III, Firebird, Texas Twister, andShooting Star, he battled theHulk, and rescuedRick Jones from theCorruptor. Red Wolf joined these other four heroes as part of the first incarnation of the short-lived superhero team, theRangers.[41] Alongside theDefenders, Red Wolf battled some trolls.[42] Alongside the Rangers again, Red Wolf battled theWest Coast Avengers while under the influence of the demon Riglevio possessing Shooting Star.[43]
It was revealed that Will Talltrees was part of a squad of Marines during theVietnam War, along with Willie Lincoln, Josh Cooper,Jim Rhodes and others named Fong and Janes. They were part of an attack on a village that resulted in the slaughter of the parents of TheBengal. As an adult, Bengal resurfaced to take vengeance on those Marines,[44] but has since turned away from his vendetta. Red Wolf suffered a crisis of faith caused by his defeat at the hands of the Bengal.[45][46]
Some time later, Red Wolf adopted a new wolf cub.[45] AlongsideDoctor Strange and theBlack Crow, Red Wolf stopped the Cheyenne pantheon from taking vengeance for the Cheyenne people.[47] Red Wolf later battled false eco-terrorists in the employ ofRoxxon Oil Company. They tried to destroy a Roxxon pipeline crossing a Canadian and an American Blackfeet Indian Reservation, as well as to assassinate Mellisa Sparrow Bear, an Indian negotiator.[48][49]
Weeks after the conclusion to the "Civil War" storyline in 2007, Red Wolf was seen as a member of Texas' new government-sponsored superhero team, the revived Rangers, as part of theFifty State Initiative Program.[50]
During the 2008 "Secret Invasion" storyline, aSkrull poses as Lobo and attacksDelroy Garrett,Eric O'Grady / Ant-Man, and the Rangers.[51][52]
The wolf spirit Owayodata (a god of the Cheyenne pantheon) granted William Talltrees superhuman strength, and sensory acuity heightened to superhuman levels. He is also a highly skilled hand-to-hand combatant, an experienced wrestler, an adept combat gymnast, a superb archer, and an expert marksman with throwing weapons. He is an expert tracker, and a skilled animal trainer. His weapons include a coup stick (a six-foot wooden staff used as a bow or javelin), a tomahawk, a hunting knife, and a bow and arrows.
Wildrun displayed no superhuman abilities, but presumably had the same enhanced senses and tracking skills as his successors. His weapons are a bow, dagger and spear. Sometimes, when he was a member of the Anachronauts, he used explosive arrows.
Thomas Thunderhead was able to cause his coup stick and his wolf companion Lobo to appear from nowhere, and Lobo also possessed the power of intangibility.
Except Wildrun, the three other characters have a wolf companion named Lobo in nearly all their adventures. InMarvel Super-Heroes #2 (1990), William Talltrees used a horse named Ranger.[53]
InRawhide Kid #27 (April 1962), writer Stan Lee and artistsJack Kirby andDick Ayers introduced an Apache warrior named Red Wolf. This character appeared in the issue's second story, "The Girl, the Gunman, and the Apaches!". Red Wolf and other Apaches attacked acovered wagon and brought back a blonde woman to their camp, and encountered her rescuer, theRawhide Kid.[54]
In the story "Red Wolf Stalks the Stars!" published inHercules vol. 2, #2-4 (April–June 1984), written and pencilled byBob Layton, the Greek-demigod superheroHercules adventured with a character named Red Wolf (Rojahn Smythe) in an alternate reality during the 24th century. This Red Wolf has no known connection to the Native American superheroes.[55] The character had come about, Layton later said, when Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter declined to commission a Red Wolf miniseries by Layton, who explained "Red Wolf was another one of those forgotten characters I spoke about — like Hercules. I really wanted to do something fun with that character."[56]
An original, unnamed incarnation of Red Wolf appears in the "Secret Wars" storyline. This version is aCheyenne from theBattleworld domain of the Valley of Doom, which is made from the remnants of Earth-51920. FollowingSteve Rogers' death, Red Wolf becomes the sheriff of the town of Timely.[57][58][59][60]