Fang has the misfortune to meet Wolverine just after most of Wolverine's clothes have been burned away. Logan needs a new outfit, and the fur-faced Guardsman in front of him is…

Fang has the misfortune to meet Wolverine just after most of Wolverine's clothes have been burned away. Logan needs a new outfit, and the fur-faced Guardsman in front of him is close enough to the right size. It is a wonderfully undignified introduction to an imperial champion. Fang belongs to the force defending D'Ken, but for this particular opponent he has also become a solution to a practical problem. The animal features and tooth-like decorations give his design an immediate connection to Wolverine's own rougher appearance. The yellow-and-dark costume, fringed with pale fangs around the neck, wrists and waist, turns the idea into something much more literal. He looks like somebody who ought to be comfortable in a close fight. Wolverine is still hurting from Starbolt's attack when he picks him out. That detail keeps the scene from becoming a painless costume change. Logan is forcing himself through the injury because the battle is continuing and he has no intention of sitting it out. The confrontation ends with Wolverine wearing Fang's clothes. For a character making his debut, that is an unusually memorable way to lose. His design gets carried through the rest of somebody else's adventure, even after he has been beaten. It also captures something about the difference between an imposing group introduction and an actual fight. The Guard arrives as an overwhelming collection of alien champions. Once the action starts, each of them has to deal with the particular person coming at them. Fang gets a clawed, furious opponent who is already thinking about the next thing he needs. Whatever Fang expected from the encounter, it probably wasn't to finish it as Wolverine's wardrobe department.