The Real Wolverine-Franco Columbu
So…I’ve been thinking about this for many, many, many years. Since the Wolverine character first joined the X-Men in fact. Not that first appearance, fighting the Hulk, but when he actually was brought into the X-Men. At the time I was what you might call a “child bodybuilder” in that I had a membership at the YMCA, collected bodybuilding magazines and pretty much wanted to look like the people in comic books. Two of the most popular bodybuilders at the time were Arnold Schwarzenegger and Franco Columbu. Take a look and you’ll see why…

franco columbu maybe wolverine?

LOOK at the guy! I mean when I saw Wolverine I thought, this is Franco. A very ANGRY Franco, but Franco none the less.
And in my mind, to this DAY, every single time I look at a Wolverine comic book I imagine him as Columbu. Especially if they draw him from the back. In fact, it was the back muscles that first brought this to my mind.


Did I mention that Franco was considered to be a “little guy” as a bodybuilder? He was competing at 5 foot 5 inches, but he beat tons of people and twice won the Mr. Olympia title. There’s actually a nice articles over here. One of the things that makes comics fun is imaging the real life version of characters and for me Franco’s the guy.
Click the picture to check out this book
Click the picture to check out this book
Franco was amazing, in his time. But these days you’ve got to admit-this guy is a MONSTER.





