Wolverine: Origins #17 (Nov 2007) – “Our War, Part 2”
Writer: Daniel Way; Artist: Steve Dillon
In referencing the U.S. declaration of war on Japan and Germany after the Pearl Harbor attack of December 7, 1941, Logan mentions that Canada had already been at war with Germany for two years. Logan further explains, “Even though I was marchin’ under the Canadian flag, I wasn’t exactly a Canadian soldier. My orders, though they came through the Canadian military, originated from somewhere else. We were called the Devil’s Brigade… an’ just like in the First World War, we did the Devil’s work. Also like in WWI, Cyber was my commanding officer.”
There are two major problems with the assertion that Logan fought against the Germans as early as 1939. First, Canadian troops did not see any action until the Dieppe Raid in August 1942, and for most Canadian troops, not until the summer of 1943. Second, there was a historical Devil’s Brigade that fought in World War II, a joint American-Canadian commando unit. The 1,800 strong First Special Service Force was founded on July 9, 1942 and trained in parachute, ski, mountain and amphibious mountain techniques near Helena, Montana. The Devil’s Brigade spearheaded the 1943 invasion of Kiska in the Aleutian Islands and led the breakout in Anzio during the first half of 1944. In order to accommodate the assertions made in this issue, we need to treat this ‘Devil’s Brigade’ as a different top secret force, running missions clandestinely before the rest of the Canadian military engaged in combat.
Logan #2 (Jun 2008)
Writer: Brian K. Vaughn; Artist: Eduardo Risso
Logan reveals to a Japanese woman that the men in the barracks called him, “badger, ferret, skunk. Said a real woman would never make time with someone who’s all hair and stink,” like him. Perhaps the camaraderie he desperately sought was not to be found in the Devil’s Brigade.
Wolverine/Hercules: Myths, Monsters & Mutants #1 (May 2011)
Writer: Frank Tieri; Art: Juan Roman Cano Santacruz
Wolverine and Hercules reminisce about the days shortly before the occupation of France when Hercules, posing as the Sub-Mariner, battled a Nazi robot in the streets of Paris and unwittingly provided Logan with the diversion he needed to assassinate a Nazi bigwig. As the invasion of France did not commence until May 10, 1940, Logan needs to have run this top secret mission while with the Devil’s Brigade.