Trigger Warning: Sabretooth’s publication history includes stories of child abuse, sexual assault, and graphic violence (often perpetrated against women and children).
Longstanding personal rivalries have been a staple of American superhero comics for almost as long as they have existed. Some heroes have become so inextricably linked to their chief nemeses that it has become almost impossible to talk about one without discussing the other. Batman and Joker. Superman and Lex Luthor. Spider-Man and Green Goblin. Captain America and Red Skull. Comic book fans (and even the general public) are overwhelmingly familiar with the relationships between these characters. Of all of these historic rivalries, the nastiest of them all just might be the one between Wolverine and Sabretooth. These two animalistic adversaries have plagued each other’s existence for nearly forty years at this point. They are currently (at the time of this writing) engaged in a ferocious ten-part arc in the pages of Wolverine called “Sabretooth War” from the creative team of Ben Percy, Victor LaValle, Cory Smith, Geoff Shaw, Oren Junior, Alex Sinclair, and Cory Petit. Through two issues it might already be the most gruesome and horrific chapter in the rivalry ever published. While the hatred between these two has become iconic, their path to becoming sworn enemies on the page took a very uncommon path. The majority of the most infamous feuds in comics began early in the characters’ histories. Batman was created in Detective Comics #27 in 1939, and Joker first appeared as his enemy in Batman #1 in 1940. Superman debuted in Action Comics #1 in 1938, and Lex Luthor first showed up as his antagonist in Action Comics #23 in 1940. Spider-Man swung onto the page in Amazing Fantasy #15 in 1962, and Green Goblin emerged as his villain in Amazing Spider-Man #14 in 1964. Captain America and Red Skull both made their debut in Captain America Comics #1 in 1941. Wolverine made his first full appearance as an antagonist for the Hulk in Incredible Hulk #181 in 1974 through the combined efforts of Roy Thomas, Len Wein, John Romita, Sr., and Herb Trimpe. He wouldn’t become a protagonist in a comic until 1975 when he joined the X-Men in Giant-Size X-Men #1 by Wein and Dave Cockrum. It wasn’t even known that he was a mutant with actual superhuman abilities until that issue. In fact, his claws were originally intended to be part of the gloves he wore and not part of his own physiology. Meanwhile, Sabretooth wouldn’t make his first appearance until Iron Fist #14 in 1977 by Chris Claremont and John Byrne. You read that correctly. Sabretooth originated as an enemy of Iron Fist (and Luke Cage by extension). While it certainly isn’t unheard of for a villain to start off in one character’s book before moving to another, it is certainly rare for a hero’s archenemy to be a character with an already somewhat lengthy publication history. Sabretooth and Wolverine wouldn’t encounter each other on the page until Uncanny X-Men #212 by Chris Claremont and Rick Leonardi in 1986. That means Sabretooth had existed as a character for over nine years before becoming a Wolverine villain. Now the two are practically inseparable. So how did Sabretooth go from a random street level villain to the arch-nemesis of one of Marvel’s most popular characters? Let’s jump into his publication history and take a look.
The Early Years
As previously mentioned, Sabretooth first appeared in Iron Fist #14 (1977) by Chris Claremont and John Byrne. Considering those two are best known for their collaboration on Uncanny X-Men from 1977-81, it probably shouldn’t be surprising that he would eventually find his way into that book. He’s basically just a hired thug in this first appearance who has been paid to take out a lawyer. There’s nothing too remarkable about this initial appearance aside from his look and manner of speaking. As with Wolverine, Sabretooth is a Canadian. For Chris Claremont, that means he needs to say the word “bub” at least once per sentence. He also refers to women as “frail.” This has carried over to every appearance he has made since. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone use that term as a euphemism for women other than Wolverine, so Claremont is nothing if not consistent with his Canadian characters.
Sabretooth’s character design from John Byrne is pretty fascinating. His tan costume (I think it looks orange, but the internet tells me it’s tan) is supplemented with animal fur around the shoulders, wrists, and ankles, and his own blonde hair forms some sick mutton chops and bushy eyebrows. The irony here is this design was originally Byrne’s idea for what Wolverine would look like under his mask. The idea was ultimately scrapped, so Byrne just recycled it as a brand new character. I have to imagine that this knowledge sat in the back of Claremont’s mind for when he would eventually bring the character into Uncanny X-Men as a Wolverine villain. Though Sabretooth is clearly going with an animalistic theme with his name and costume in this issue, there are no indications that he actually has any superhuman abilities. He’s big and strong, but he is only big and strong in the way that someone who works out is big and strong. He has claws, but they could easily be explained away as just being part of the gloves he’s wearing like with Wolverine’s first appearance.
Sabretooth would next appear in Power Man and Iron Fist #66 (1980) by Mary Jo Duffy and Kerry Gammill. In this issue, Sabretooth is now partnered with the supervillain Constrictor, and they get into a fight with Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Misty Knight, and Colleen Wing.
The key development here is that Sabretooth is now explicitly given animalistic attributes. He now attacks not just with claws but with razor sharp teeth as well. Iron Fist also acknowledges his impressive speed and ferocity. Sabretooth would pop up again in Power Man and Iron Fist #78 (1982) from the same creative team where we learn he is also a serial killer who has been preying on women in New York City that the local media has dubbed the Slasher. If you’re keeping track at home, it has only taken three appearances for Sabretooth to go from a run of the mill thug without any clear powers to a bloodthirsty serial killer with superhuman abilities. Not bad. He pops up again in Power Man and Iron Fist #84 (1982) from Duffy and artist Denys Cowan. Sabretooth is once again with Constrictor, and this time he’s targeting Misty Knight for putting an end to his serial killing spree. He accidentally finds Luke Cage’s girlfriend Harmony instead, and he proceeds to disfigure her with his teeth and claws just to get his kicks. If it isn’t clear by now, Sabretooth is a truly despicable person. Luke Cage and Iron Fist end up beating the holy hell out of him, and the issue ends with news that Harmony’s horrific injuries are actually no big deal and easily fixed with plastic surgery. I feel like the editors may have had some input there.
His last appearance before being folded into the world of the X-Men came in Spectacular Spider-Man #116 (1986) by Peter David and Rich Buckler. He’s working for a villain named the Foreigner in this issue, and he’s hunting down Black Cat. Unsurprisingly, this leads to him fighting Spider-Man and getting his ass kicked so badly that Spidey feels bad and takes him to the hospital. The only real development for the character in this issue is he reveals that he can track people by their scent. At this point we know that he has sharp teeth and claws, he can move with unnatural quickness, and he has an incredible sense of smell. What has not been mentioned at all up to this point is how he has these abilities, but that will be changing very soon.
Sabretooth and the Marauders
This is what you’ve been waiting for. It’s the birth of one of the most vicious rivalries in comics. Sabretooth was brought into the X-Men line of comics via the “Mutant Massacre” event that ran through the entire line of X-Men comics (and even Thor, Daredevil, and Power Pack) in the summer of 1986. The basic premise of the event is that a team of mutant assassins called the Marauders have been ordered by Mister Sinister to exterminate the society of mutants known as the Morlocks who inhabit tunnels under New York. It’s an extermination campaign, and the X-Men, X-Factor, and New Mutants are doing their best to stop it. This is the first time that we learn that Sabretooth is a mutant as he is a member of the mutant death squad carrying out this massacre. Though he pops up in X-Factor, Power Pack, Thor, and Daredevil, I’ll be focusing on his appearance in Uncanny X-Men for this event. Uncanny X-Men #212 by Chris Claremont and Rick Leonardi starts with Wolverine looking for survivors in the tunnels and finding only scores of dead Morlock men, women, and children instead. While conducting his search, he comes across Sabretooth instead.
It becomes immediately apparent that these two know each other, and they are not friends. There are plenty of barbs and insults hurled at each other before Wolverine ends the fight by causing a tunnel collapse to temporarily bury his foe. I really enjoy the way Claremont establishes that they have a history through their interactions without a huge exposition dump. I also like the minor tweak to Sabretooth’s costume by removing the black stripe down his torso and black trim around his neck. I think the solid tan upper body is a better look.
Round two of their fight picks up in Uncanny X-Men #213 by Claremont and artist Alan Davis. The previous issue was the appetizer, but this issue is the main course. This issue sees Sabretooth infiltrate the Xavier mansion with the intent of eliminating the X-Men. He makes short work of Rogue after ambushing her outside, and then he proceeds to hunt Psylocke through the halls of the mansion. We get yet another glimpse at a new ability for Sabretooth as he demonstrates his super strength by catching a barbell and crumpling it into a ball with his bare hands. What follows is one of the best illustrated fights you will ever see courtesy of Alan Davis.
The way he conveys their speed and agility is truly a sight to behold. It’s just two of the meanest, toughest, most vicious characters in comics cutting loose on each other. It’s such an obvious pairing in hindsight that it’s almost baffling that it took over nine years for these two to meet on the page.
It’s a phenomenal fight that ends once Psylocke successfully hacks Sabretooth’s mental defenses, and Wolverine tackles him off of a cliff into a lake below. It’s hinted at that Sabretooth may have been killed. Spoiler alert: he’s not dead.
Sabretooth and the rest of the Marauders would turn up again in Uncanny X-Men #219 (1987) by Claremont and Brett Blevins where it is revealed that Polaris has been possessed by the villain Malice. He then turns up in Uncanny X-Men #221-222 by Claremont and Marc Silvestri where he and the Marauders are attempting to assassinate Madelyne Pryor before the X-Men show up to stop them. We get a rematch between Wolverine and Sabretooth where we get the first ever evidence that Sabretooth has a healing factor like Wolverine. I say that because Wolverine literally stabs him in the heart, and he doesn’t die.
Sabretooth wouldn’t show up again until the “Inferno” event of 1989 in Uncanny X-Men #240 and #243 from Claremont and Silvestri, X-Factor #39 from Louise Simonson and Walt Simonson, and New Mutants #75 by Louise Simonson and John Byrne. There isn’t anything terribly groundbreaking for the character in these issues aside from Cannonball seemingly murdering him in New Mutants #75. Don’t worry. He gets better.
Wolverine’s Nemesis
Sabretooth becomes much more tied to Wolverine specifically instead of the X-Men generally following the conclusion of “Inferno.” That begins with Wolverine #10 from Chris Claremont and John Buscema (inked by Bill Sienkiewicz). The comic alternates between a story set in the present and a story set in an unspecified time in the past. It’s revealed that Sabretooth had murdered Wolverine’s girlfriend (an indigenous woman named Silver Fox) on Wolverine’s birthday in the past prior to Wolverine getting his adamantium skeleton and claws. It is implied that Sabretooth also sexually assaulted her. It’s really despicable stuff. The two engage in a brutal fight that Wolverine barely manages to survive. This was clearly all just fun for Sabretooth. In the present, it’s revealed that it’s once again Wolverine’s birthday. He had been dealing with some criminals in Madripoor only to find them dead and strung up with a note from Sabretooth that only he is allowed to kill him. This would become the start of a tradition in which Sabretooth would show up on Wolverine’s birthday every year to antagonize him (preferably by killing a loved one). Also, I just want to point out that this utterly horrific story was adapted in the ‘90s animated series aimed at young kids.
Sabretooth would pop up in a few different comics here and there before turning up in New Mutants #90-91 (1990) by Louise Simonson and Rob Liefeld. He enters the Morlock tunnels to “finish the job” he started back in the “Mutant Massacre” event. He ends up fighting the New Mutants and Caliban before being left for dead.
The story is continued in Wolverine #41-43 and 45-46 (1991) by Larry Hama and Marc Silvestri. Sabretooth spends some time reminiscing about how he murdered Silver Fox on Wolverine’s birthday until the two meet up and start fighting once more. While doing so, Sabretooth tells Wolverine that he’s his father. This is obviously a massive bombshell, but Wolverine is rightfully dubious of the claim knowing that Sabretooth loves to torment him. It should be noted that Chris Claremont is on the record saying that he had intended to eventually reveal Sabretooth to be Wolverine’s father. It was going to be the reason for why their powers were so similar and why they had so much shared history.
Hama doesn’t dwell on that revelation for long as the two end up getting separated at the end of Wolverine #42, and Nick Fury tells Wolverine that Sabretooth is not actually his father. So much for that. They end up converging at Times Square along with Lady Deathstrike which leads to a brief but entertaining battle royale between the three before a fourth beast known as the Hunter in Darkness joins the fray.
It is admittedly pretty badass (especially with Silvestri’s art), but it doesn’t really advance Sabretooth’s backstory any further. He also pops up in a flashback story in Wolverine #48-49 (1991) from Hama and Silvestri and in a backup story in Marvel Comics Presents #98 (1992) by Len Kaminski and Clark Hawbaker. That story is only eight pages and doesn’t really tell us anything new about the character, but he fights the Werewolf by Night in it. That is just objectively cool.
Redesign and Redemption?
Sabretooth has essentially been wearing the same costume up to this point since his introduction in 1977 with only minor tweaks along the way. That finally changed in 1992 when Jim Lee gave him a redesign in X-Men #6. The tan costume with fur on the wrists and ankles was replaced with a brown and tan costume that featured a kind of headgear that was very popular in the ‘90s (ask Gambit). Fortunately, the mane of fur around the neck and shoulders as well as the mutton chops and bushy eyebrows remained. Ironically, the color scheme was much closer to the one Wolverine had worn for most of the ‘80s and into the ‘90s up until a few issues ago when Jim Lee had him go back to the traditional blue and yellow (objectively inferior to the brown costume). As far as Sabretooth costumes go, I’m not sure which one I prefer. I think they’re both visually striking and aesthetically pleasing.
Beyond the costume change, additional backstory was given to Sabretooth in X-Men #5-7 by Jim Lee and Scott Lobdell. For starters, Sabretooth was finally given a real name: Victor Creed. Before now he had only ever been referred to as Sabretooth. It’s also revealed that Sabretooth was once a member of a covert strike force operating under the CIA known as Team X along with Wolverine and a mutant named Maverick. Sabretooth also now has a sidekick named Birdy. She’s a telepath who can soothe his murderous impulses to make him behave more rationally.
This is where things start getting complicated. In Wolverine #60-64 (1992) by Larry Hama, Dave Hoover, Mark Texeira, and Mark Pacella, it is revealed that Sabretooth and Wolverine have false memories implanted in their brains from their time on Team X and later in the Weapon X program. We also learn that Silver Fox was also a member of Team X, and she is apparently still alive. Also, she works for HYDRA now? This is all (intentionally) very confusing. Neither the readers nor the characters really know what’s real and what isn’t when it comes to what we know about the histories of these characters. Regardless of what is true or fiction in the past, Sabretooth ends up getting mind controlled by the villain Psi-Borg and kills Silver Fox again. Or for the first time? It doesn’t really matter since the end result is the same either way, so why did this retcon even happen in the first place? I’ve never read where a reason was given, but I have my own theory. I suspect this was all part of the movement towards rebranding villains as antiheroes to cash in on the “grim and gritty” era that was so prevalent in the ‘90s. I’ve written extensively about Venom being rebranded as an antihero instead of a Spider-Man villain and given his own solo comic in 1993. Morbius the Living Vampire (another Spider-Man villain) was also rebranded as an antihero and given his own comic in 1992. I think Marvel editorial wanted to rebrand Sabretooth as an antihero as well, but there was simply no way that they could do so with the knowledge that he was a sexual predator on top of being a killer. By undoing that portion of his past and providing him with a sidekick who could keep his bloodlust in check, it would now be theoretically possible to give this monster a face turn. Maybe I’m just being cynical, but it sure feels like this was the goal. Anyway, Sabretooth was given his own limited series in 1993 by Larry Hama and Mark Texeira.
The series mainly functions as a way to provide more backstory for Sabretooth. We learn that he once had a relationship with Mystique, and she gave birth to their son. That son was somehow born without the X gene, so he is a normal human. His name is Graydon Creed, and he grew up to become an anti-mutant bigot who founded a fascist paramilitary organization called the Friends of Humanity to go around murdering mutants. What a guy! The four-part series concludes with Graydon killing Birdy, so Sabretooth no longer has a way to keep his murderous impulses at bay.
The X-Men end up capturing Sabretooth in X-Men Unlimited #3 (1993) by Fabian Nicieza and Mike McKone, and Professor X begins the process of attempting to rehabilitate him. This becomes a plot line throughout X-Men #28-41 by Nicieza and Andy Kubert and Uncanny X-Men #310-316 by Scott Lobdell, John Romita, Jr., and Joe Madureira that ran from 1994-95 before being interrupted by the “Age of Apocalypse” event. It appears to be working as Sabretooth actually comes to the aid of some young mutants during the “Phalanx Covenant” event in 1994 that I previously covered. That four-issue story serves as a bit of a test run for Sabretooth as an antihero, and then he becomes a full blown hero and member of the X-Men in the “Age of Apocalypse” alternate timeline. I’m not going to go in depths into this massive event here, but I’ll likely cover it in the future.
Just before we get to that event, we get one more classic battle between Wolverine and Sabretooth in Wolverine #90 (1995) by Larry Hama and Adam Kubert. This fight comes basically because Wolverine is tired of having Sabretooth locked up in the mansion, and he wants to settle old scores. He lets Sabretooth out, and the two tear into each other in one of the most ferocious fights that they have ever had on the page. It ends with Wolverine popping his claws through Sabretooth’s chin and up through his brain. Then we go straight into the “Age of Apocalypse” event for a year without a payoff! Instead we get to see Sabretooth be a hero and member of the X-Men in this alternate timeline.
Sabretooth’s true hero moment comes in Astonishing X-Men #2 (1995) by Scott Lobdell and Joe Madureira where he stands up to the insanely powerful Holocaust (the extremely unfortunately named son of Apocalypse in this timeline) in order to buy time for others to escape with some vital information needed to bring down Apocalypse.
When we finally get back to the normal timeline, Sabretooth is recovering from the effects of his temporary lobotomy courtesy of Wolverine. His mind is more childlike than before. Gambit decides to force him to watch holograms of his previous victims explain to him how he killed them in Uncanny X-Men #326 (1996) by Lobdell and Madureira. We learn that he committed his first murder when he was nine and killed his pediatrician. We’re then told he went on a murder spree at the age of thirteen. He has been doing monstrous things for a very long time.
The supposed redemption arc for Sabretooth meets an abrupt end in Uncanny X-Men #328 by Lobdell and Madureira. We learn that Sabretooth really hasn’t made any progress whatsoever, and this whole thing has been an act to dupe his enemies. He tricks Boomer into letting him out of his cell, and he proceeds to get into a brutal fight with Psylocke. She attempts to knock him out by stabbing his brain with psionic energy, but he reveals that Wolverine’s claw through his brain has had the side effect of making him immune to psionic attacks. Uh oh.
He then proceeds to maul Psylocke and leaves her on the verge of death as he escapes into the night. So much for being an antihero! Truth be told, I think this was the right move. It was never going to sit right to make this unrepentant serial killer into a good guy. He is subsequently hunted down and handed over to the authorities by the X-Men in Sabretooth Special #1 (1996) by Fabian Nicieza and Gary Frank.
Of course right after his capture, he’s fitted with an explosive collar and forced to serve as a member of the government sponsored X-Factor team in X-Factor #119 (1996) by Howard Mackie and Steve Epting. I guess you could call this his Suicide Squad era. Do as you’re told, or your head will explode. This status quo lasts all the way until X-Factor #136 (1997) by Howard Mackie and Jeff Matsuda when he is freed from his collar and promptly becomes X-Factor’s villain for the next few issues.
Sabretooth nexts pops up in a three-part story in Wolverine #126-128 (1998) by Chris Claremont and Leinil Francis Yu. It’s important to note that Wolverine at this point no longer has his adamantium claws and skeleton. They’ve been composed of just normal bones dating back to 1993’s “Fatal Attractions” event. This becomes especially problematic in this arc as it is revealed that Sabretooth has somehow had his own skeleton fused with adamantium. This makes him virtually unkillable. It’s a very temporary situation; however, as Apocalypse ends up removing the adamantium from Sabretooth’s skeleton and putting it back into Wolverine whom he has chosen to be his new Horseman of Death in Wolverine #145 (1999) by Erik Larsen and Leinil Francis Yu.
To Hell and Back
The next important bit of development for Sabretooth comes in the pages of Wolverine #50-55 (2007) by Jeph Loeb and Simone Bianchi. I’m just going to go ahead and apologize now because things are about to go off the rails. This arc starts with Wolverine once again thinking back on the rape and murder of Silver Fox that I’m pretty sure was retconned out of existence, but now it’s implied that the retcon actually never happened. So the retcon has been retconned? I have no idea at this point what actually happened. Regardless, Wolverine goes and confronts Sabretooth yet again. The two fight each other all the way from New York to Wakanda, and Wolverine keeps having nightmares/visions of wolf people fighting cat people. This will lead Wolverine and Black Panther to have a chat where they theorize it’s possible some humans evolved from wolves and big cats instead of primates. I’m not kidding. Wolverine would then come into possession of a mythical sword known as the Muramasa that prevents mutant healing factors from working. He uses this to decapitate Sabretooth and finally kill him.
The next time we see Sabretooth is in Wolverine #3 (2010) by Jason Aaron and Renato Guedes where he is quite literally in Hell and being kept on a leash by Satan. Once again, I am not making up any of this.
This status quo is fortunately short lived as it is revealed in Wolverine #20 (2011) by Aaron and Guedes that the Sabretooth that was beheaded and sent to Hell was actually just a clone of Sabretooth created by Romulus. Who is Romulus? He’s just Wolverine but bigger, and he evolved from a wolf instead of primates. Yes, that ridiculous conversation between Wolverine and Black Panther had a payoff. I vow to never do an “X-Men X-Plainer” on Romulus, so this is the most you’re going to get.
I jumped ahead a little bit there because I just really wanted to get that out of the way, and I didn’t want to drag out the Romulus and Hell stuff. There was a comic published in 2009 called X-Men Origins: Sabretooth #1 by Kieron Gillen and Dan Panosian that helps fill in some gaps in Sabretooth’s backstory. In this issue, we learn that Victor had a brother growing up named Luther. On Luther’s birthday, Victor demanded that he let him have a bite of his pie. When Luther refuses, young Victor attacks him. His father (a religious fundamentalist) punishes him by chaining him up in the basement and pulling his teeth out with a pair of pliers. Each day his teeth would grow back, and his father would return and yank them out again. This is probably not the best way to discipline a child. Victor escapes by chewing his own hand off, and then he proceeds to go and murder his parents. Years later as an adult, Sabretooth meets Wolverine who is in the midst of a bar fight. He takes a liking to Wolverine who reminds him of his brother. Because Sabretooth is a total sociopath with no moral compass whatsoever, he decides to surprise his new little brother on his birthday by murdering his girlfriend Silver Fox and starting a vicious fight (the same one from Wolverine #10). So I guess that did actually happen? I just don’t know anymore, man. Years later, Sabretooth and Wolverine both show up at CIA offices being recruited by Team X. They get into another fight before getting their memories wipes. A couple years later, the two are having drinks at a bar when Wolverine mentions it’s his birthday. As soon as Sabretooth hears this, he immediately attacks Wolverine and the two get into a brawl. A few years after that, the two are once again having drinks at a bar as Wolverine chastises Sabretooth for killing a woman while they were on a mission for Team X (remember that they are repeatedly mind wiped while employed by the CIA). Sabretooth reveals he did so because it was Wolverine’s birthday, and the two duke it out once more. Things then flash forward about a decade, and Wolverine is once again at a bar. This time he is by himself. He tells the bartender it’s his birthday, and he pays her to leave and empty the place out. Of course Sabretooth shows up shortly thereafter and is ready to fight. Wolverine insists that he’s done playing this game, and he’s not going to fight him anymore. As Wolverine leaves, Sabretooth taunts him about Silver Fox. As you might expect, this sets Wolverine off. The comic ends with the two fighting once more.
The 2010s saw Sabretooth pop up in quite a few comics, but most of them weren’t pivotal moments in his development. The most interesting thing spun out of Avengers & X-Men: AXIS #3 (2014) by Rick Remender and Leinil Francis Yu when a spell from Scarlet Witch and Doctor Doom inverts all heroes and villains within range so that the heroes become evil and the villains become good. Sabretooth becomes good and joins a new X-Men team in Uncanny X-Men #1 (2016) by Cullen Bunn and Greg Land. His “good nature” slowly dissipates throughout the series.
The Krakoan Age
Sabretooth appears in the very first issue of House of X (2019) by Jonathan Hickman and Pepe Larraz as a member of a strike team led by Mystique attempting to steal some files on behalf of Xavier and Magneto. Sabretooth disobeys orders not to kill any humans, and he is ultimately captured by the Fantastic Four in the process. While standing trial for his numerous crimes in House of X #3 (2019) by Hickman and Larraz, Emma Frost retrieves him as a citizen of the newfound mutant nation-state of Krakoa and brings him back to face justice there. In House of X #6 (2019) by Hickman and Larraz, the Quiet Council of Krakoa (the governing body of Krakoa composed at that time of Xavier, Magneto, Apocalypse, Mister Sinister, Exodus, Mystique, Sebastian Shaw, Emma Frost, Storm, Jean Grey, and Nightcrawler) decide that Sabretooth is to be banished to a pit inside of the living island of Krakoa where he will remain indefinitely where he will never bother anyone ever again. Yeah right.
The next time we see him is in Sabretooth #1 (2022) by Victor LaValle and Leonard Kirk. This is a five-part series that explores the nature of the carceral state and whether even the worst people deserve this kind of treatment. It’s an incredibly ambitious series that deserves to be read. The series ultimately concludes with Sabretooth and his fellow prisoners in the pit making an escape.
His story continues in Sabretooth & the Exiles (2022-23), another five-part series from LaValle and Kirk that sees Sabretooth take on a multiversal variant of his son Graydon who has been killing Sabretooth variants from across the multiverse. Sabretooth assembles a team of Sabretooths (Sabreteeth?) from across the multiverse to stop Graydon (including an army of decapitated Sabretooth drones). After succeeding and with a new army assembled, Sabretooth remarks that an old friend has a birthday coming up. Uh oh.
Spoiler alert for comics that have just come out within the last month!
Thus begins the “Sabretooth War” story in Wolverine #41 (2024) by Ben Percy, Victor LaValle, Cory Smith, and Geoff Shaw. The cover promises that it will be “the most violent Wolverine story ever told!” Through the first two issues? They ain’t lying. This first issue sees Sabretooth assemble his team of multiversal Sabretooths that include “Pretty Boy” Sabretooth from Earth-12 (a Sabretooth that became a movie star), “Camo” Sabretooth from Earth-33441 (a Sabretooth with shapeshifting abilities), “Savage” Sabretooth from Earth-1912 (a female Sabretooth from the Savage Land), and “Captain” Sabretooth from Earth-203 (a Sabretooth that became Captain America). Their first order of business is to go to Krakoa to find Wolverine, but they’re disappointed to find the island abandoned. Luckily for them, they find Kid Omega (one of Wolverine’s protégés) and promptly tear him to pieces with their claws and teeth. Brutal. They then manage to track Wolverine and a bastion of mutant refugees to the North Pole. They come across Wolverine’s son there (Akihiro who has similar powers to Wolverine), and Sabretooth fights him one-on-one. Akihiro never had a chance. When Wolverine walks outside to check on his son, he sees his dismembered body parts spelling out “HAPPY BIRTHDAY” in the snow.
If you thought that was bad, things only get worse in Wolverine #42 by Percy, LaValle, and Smith. Wolverine is beaten into unconsciousness by the Sabretooths and strung up with adamantium restraints. They then proceed to storm into the refuge and begin slaughtering every man, woman, and child inside.
Remember when they toyed with making Sabretooth an antihero? I don’t think we’ll be seeing him making another face turn anytime soon. Wolverine ends up tearing free of his restraints by tearing his hands and feet off at the wrist and ankle joints and charging into battle on his bloody stumps. Metal as hell. “Pretty Boy” Sabretooth gets decapitated by Wolverine (Laura Kinney, not Logan) before she is overcome by “Savage” Sabretooth and “Camo” Sabretooth. Eventually the base’s defenses are activated, and the Sabretooths retreat. Unfortunately, they have absconded with Laura.
That’s where things currently stand with Sabretooth! I’ll be honest. I did not realize what I was getting myself into when I decided to do a deep dive on Sabretooth’s publication history. I was well acquainted with the character up through the end of the ‘90s, but I had not kept up with the character throughout the ‘00s and ‘10s. To say the character got a bit complicated over the years is a bit of an understatement. Fortunately, the character has since been restored to the heinous monster he was always meant to be with only murder and revenge on his mind. I cannot wait to see where things go from here courtesy of LaValle and Percy.