The Thamamsat University Library has acquired a new book which helps us understand the popularity of one of the world’s most influential comic strip and adventure film characters. Untamed: the Psychology of Marvel’s Wolverine is by Dr. Suzana E. Flores, a clinical psychologist specializing in pop culture, mythology, and social media addiction. Dr. Flores is based in Arizona. She is also the author of Facehooked: How Facebook Affects Our Emotions, Relationships and Lives (Reputation Books, 2014), which is not in the collection of the TU Library but which may be requested by interlibrary loan. Born in Chicago, Illinois, Dr. Flores earned a master’s degree in counseling from Loyola University, Chicago, and a doctorate in clinical psychology from Argosy University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

Wolverine is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics He often appears with the X-Men, showing off mutant skills. In the X-Men film series produced by 20th Century Fox, Wolverine is portrayed by Hugh Jackman in almost all of the ten films. The TU Library owns two of these films, The Wolverine and X-men Origins. They may be viewed at the Rewat Buddhinan Media Center on the U2 level of the Pridi Banomyong Library, Tha Prachan campus.

As all fans of the comic books and film series know, the character Wolverine was so named because he is Canadian, short, and with a ferocious temper. The animal known as the wolverine, Gulo gulo, glutton, carcajou, skunk bear, or quickhatch is a stocky and strong meat eater, like a small bear. It can attack and kill other animals, even those much larger than itself. The wolverine mostly lives in Northern Canada, Alaska, Northern Europe, and western Russia and Siberia.

Among the famous statements made by the character Wolverine in the X-Men films are the following from X-Men Origins: Wolverine, a 2009 release:

My whole life, I felt like an animal. I ignored my instincts. I ignored what I really am. And that won’t ever happen again.

I’m the best there is at what I do but what I do best isn’t very nice. I’m the Wolverine.

I’m coming for blood; no law, no code of conduct. You put me in the right direction, you get the hell out of my way.

I’m gonna cut your goddamn head off. See if that works.

As we can see, the character is not very pleasant or polite. The informal gonna, a contraction of the words going to, is only appropriate in conversation, text messages to friends, and screenplays. On all formal occasions such as class assignments, exams, theses, or academic research, students should write going to. Contractions in English are sometimes seen as funny. So if writers wish to be taken seriously, it is best to avoid other contradictions such as gotta for got to, wanna for want to, and dunno for don’t know or do not know. Seen first in the 1800s, these contractions were written in this manner to give an idea of how some English speakers pronounced these words.

David Hayter, screenwriter of the X-Men (2000) film, told The Hollywood Reporter last year that the character of Wolverine

is the fulcrum of X-Men. The earlier X-Men group was a brilliant creation of Stan Lee’s, but when Len Wein created Wolverine and they brought him into the X-Men, it was the perfect fulcrum between Professor X’s philosophy and Magneto’s philosophy. The fact that the wasn’t bound by either gave him such a wild, attractive freedom that it was obvious that was the character that the series needed to revolve around.

Among his more admirable superpowers or skills is a rapid healing process. Although Wolverine heals rapidly, he does suffer pain when injured. While this is effective in the drama of the X-Men series, it is different from the findings of some medical research. As students at the TU Faculty of Medicine may know, there have been scientific studies of rapid wound healing. The results of one such study was published in 2001 in Advances in Mind-Body Medicine, a quarterly which explores the relationship between mind, body, spirit, and health; the human experience of health, illness and medical care; and the clinical, social, and personal implications of a medicine that acknowledges the whole person. The abstract for the article, The scientific study of unusual rapid wound healing: a case report, states:

This paper examines in a Western medical setting the claim made by a Middle Eastern school of Sufism that its members can attain unusually rapid wound healing from deliberately caused bodily damage. The demonstration involved a Sufi practitioner inserting an unsterilized metal skewer through one side of the cheek area of the face (lateral buccal) and out through the other side. The insertion was observed by Western scientists. The left facial puncture healed within 2 minutes; the right facial puncture was three-quarters healed after 8 hours. According to the practitioner, the piercing was not associated with subjective pain. Radiological, immunological, and electroencephalograph (EEG) recordings were taken before and after the insertion. A random event generator (REG) was also run during the demonstration. Radiological and axial CT images documented the presence of the metal skewer through the cheeks. EEG findings were inconclusive. Immunological recordings showed no alterations. There was a trend toward REG non-randomness and, therefore, negentropy or increased complexity and order, which may be associated with the re-establishment of tissue integrity. Such rapid wound healing has therapeutic implications for new treatments of serious medical and pain-related problems as well as implications for the study of “paranormal” healing phenomena.

The lesson may be that if Wolverine would learn about Sufism, he might avoid feeling pain, in addition to having rapid healing skills.

Wolverine in Thailand

The Nation reported in May 2013 that a wax figure of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine would be unveiled at Madame Tussauds Bangkok.  As a further sign of interest in Wolverine among Thais of all ages, last year it was announced that the Los Angeles-based companies Hero Ventures and Hero Experience would bring The Marvel Experience to Bangkok. This family entertainment center with interactive multimedia technology in the Bang Na area lets customers interact with Wolverine as well as Spider-Man, Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Black Widow, and Captain America. The Marvel Experience website invites Thais and tourists to

join forces with Marvel’s mightiest Heroes on a mission to save the planet! Your journey will take you through an indoor domed experience as you fight alongside Marvel’s mightiest Heroes. Be amazed by a standing 360-degree, 4-D stereoscopic projection Dome, blast off in a state-of-the-art motion ride, enjoy augmented and virtual reality, multi-person gaming and simulations.

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)