Wolverine: Superfrog?
Wolverine is one of those characters who has been presented dozens of different ways over the years, from the tightie-whiteys and metal helmet days of Weapon X to the crotchety senior years of Old Man Logan. One thing we haven’t seen until now, however, is Wolverine in his… amphibian years?
Thanks to a team of Harvard University biologists led by David Blackburn, science reports everywhere are turning an eye to the comics scene and comparing a species of African frog to the most popular Marvel Comics mutant.
From Science Magazine:
When the comic book warrior faces a fight, metallic blades spring forth from his hand. A new study concludes that certain African frogs are similarly equipped, having sharp, claw-shaped bones that pierce through their own fingertips when the animal is threatened.
While researchers think the "bone claws" might be more useful for climbing than for fighting, they also speculate that amphibians’ well-known ability to regenerate tissue also comes into play when sending their own bone fragments through layers of skin as these species do — "just like Wolverine."
Of course, the hardcore comic geek in me really wants to point out that these frogs might be more like another Marvel character, Marrow (who can grow extra bone mass to use as a weapon), than everyone’s favorite Canucklehead — but I appreciate what you were trying to do there, scientist-people.
And on a quick side note, anyone remember the frog version of another popular Marvel character — namely, Thor? Now that was a superfrog.
Rats. I thought this was going to be like Walter Simonson's run on THOR.