In 1986, Chris Claremont gave readers one of the best X-Men crossover stories ever put together: the Mutant Massacre. While the story gave us many classic moments, the crossover enabled Sabretooth to become a star.
A good story is entertaining and fun in its time. A great story, however, resonates with audiences decades later and has far-reaching implications that last for years. Mutant Massacre is a great story.
In this huge crossover event, the X-Men were decimated with many left on the brink of death after Mister Sinister's Marauders attack the sewer-dwelling, peaceful mutant outcasts, the Morlocks. Everyone springs into action, including Cyclops, Ice Man, Beast, Jean Grey, and Angel, who had left the team to form their own government-sponsored X-Factor. During Massacre, Angel had his wings impaled and was nailed to a wall, which would later give rise to his alter-ego, Archangel. The story was so broad that it pulled in non-X-titles, such as Thor, Power Pack, and Daredevil.
Although there was a wide range of characters involved in this crisis in the New York City sewers, the character who truly ascended into the spotlight was Sabretooth. After Claremont debuted the character as an adversary for Iron Fist in Iron Fist #14, he was initially used to fight Danny Rand and his new best friend, Luke Cage. At that point, he was an interesting villain, but he wasn't particularly exceptional. Then came 1986 when Sabretooth became an X-Men villain. Better yet, by the end of the story, he became Wolverine's arch-nemesis, and he's been loved by fans ever since.
There have been countless issues featuring Wolverine going head-to-head with Sabretooth, but it was in Uncanny X-Men #212 and #213 that their first and best fight took place. Seeing another character hold his own and push Wolverine to his limit in a one-on-one brawl was something new and different. After these two comics, Sabretooth truly became a threat in the Marvel Universe and was ready to be a marquee villain.
As the years went on, his origin was changed depending on the writers, but Claremont has publicly stated that he always intended for Sabretooth to be Wolverine's father. If you want to see what Claremont had planned for Victor Creed, read X-Men Forever #2. In that issue, which is not part of the regular X-Men continuity, it's revealed that what we had thought to be Sabretooth from Iron Fist #14 and up until the early 1990s had been a clone. In X-Men Forever #2, the original Sabretooth returns and is much stronger than his counterpart. Personally, I love this concept of there being a meaner, tougher version of Sabretooth prowling the Marvel Universe, and I wish it would make its way into the normal timeline.
To cap this Sabretooth love letter, here's a handy reading order for his first 13 appearances. Notice how long it took before he was included in the Uncanny X-Men where his legend was made.
