1872 #1

There’s nothing like updating a character for a modern audience. After spending countless hours working with your artist to find the perfect new design, and thinking deeply about what their new motivations will be, the next obvious step is have them getting lynched on page five, only to have Steve Rogers step in and save them. Okay, maybe that last step is just for Native American characters.

Thus begins 1872 #1 and the reintroduction of Red Wolf to the modern Marvel Universe.

Gerry Duggan begins the issue by introducing us to Red Wolf’s conflict in Timely. The settlers in Timely have erected a dam which diverted a river. Without that river, the native territories have become drought-ridden and inhospitable. While this sounds like it could be a historically accurate scenario, addressing the consequences of American imperialism, it’s not. Timely is a part of the Valley of Doom, a domain within…