Wolverine’s bone claws caused a storm of controversy among fans when he lost his Adamantium in the nineties, but according to writer Larry Hama, it was nothing compared to what happened behind the scenes at Marvel. Logan’s Adamantium was ripped from his body during the “Fatal Attractions” event in 1993, revealing his claws were actually made of bone. Immediately controversial among fans, Wolverine went without his Adamantium skeleton for the next six years.

Appearing at the “Wolverine: 50-Year Anniversary” at Dragon Con 2024, longtime Wolverine writer Hama talked about how things got quite heated at that year’s X-retreat for the creators of the X-Men family of titles.

X-Men's Feral Wolverine brandishing his bone claws.

“This was the year that they decided that ,” Hama explained, “and the amount of fist-pounding and yelling and screaming about this comic was unbelievable.” Things got so heated among the Marvel creators during the retreat that Hama states “It almost got physical.”

Wolverine’s Bone Claws Were Just as Controversial Among Marvel Creators as Fans

from Wolverine #75 by Larry Hama, Adam Kubert, Dan Green, Mark Farmer, Mark Pennington, Steve Buccellato, and Pat Brosseau

Wolverine Bone Claws

Hama went on to explain that the room was split right down the middle, saying “It was, like, 50/50. There were people who were like, ‘Bone claws. Great idea!’ and there were others who were all, ‘WHAT?!’” Hama revealed that he initially wasn’t in favor of the idea, stating that “the bone claws didn’t make any sense.” Given that he was the writer of the Wolverine title at the time, he had to go along with it, and used the opportunity of Logan discovering his bone claws in Wolverine #75 as an excuse to examine Logan’s relationship with his teammates and ultimately leave the X-Men for a time.

It’s fascinating to learn the behind-the-scenes process for major story decisions like this.

Hama explains that the story he wrote ultimately wound up being one of his favorites, even moving him to tears while writing it:

“I had the scene where he sees the bone claws for the first time, and that led up to the denouement scene where he writes the letter to Jubilee. I actually felt like… Charles Dickens used to start crying when he was writing his stories. I got teary myself [writing that scene].”

It’s fascinating to learn the behind-the-scenes process for major story decisions like this, and also that the creators can be just as ionate as the fans when it comes to controversial plot twists about their favorite characters. The “bone claws” era lasted until 1999’s Wolverine #145 by Erik Larsen, Leinil Francis Yu, Dexter Vines, Marie Javins, and Richard Starkings, where the Adamantium was re-bonded to Wolverine’s skeleton by Apocalypse.

Wolverine’s Bone Claws Era Remains Contentious

Fans Still Debate Its Merits to This Day

That period between 1993 and 1999 was quite tumultuous for Logan, as he devolved into a feral, more animalistic state, which wasn’t well-received by fans at all. While the overall reveal was controversial, the "bone claws" era led to some interesting stories, as it made Logan a more vulnerable character overall. As much as fans and readers can get into heated debates over characters like Wolverine, it’s interesting to learn that comic book creators can be just as ionate behind-the-scenes.

Source: Larry Hama, “Wolverine: 50-Year Anniversary,” Dragon Con 2024