Warning! Spoilers ahead for X-Men #11
In the latest issue of X-Men, Marvel reminds fans that there's actually a mutant who's been a Wolverine for much longer than the original. While Logan's impressive healing factor has granted him an unnaturally long life, the beauty of comics and the superhero genre's frequent manipulations of time has resulted in the first Wolverine coming in second place when it comes to the length of time he's wielded claws as a living weapon. Instead, that honor goes to an X-Man who isn't even part of Wolverine's perfectly-named Snikt Family.
In recent issues of Marvel's X-Men, Krakoa's heroes have been fighting a war on two fronts, the first one being extraterrestrial. Ever since the X-Men terraformed Mars and turned it into the mutant world known as Arakko, the frequency of alien attacks and incursions has greatly increased. Getting a lead that the threats have been originating from Gameworld, several of the X-Women have ventured out into the stars to investigate and bring a stop to the attacks. Meanwhile, the other battle the X-Men have been fighting has been with the new villain Dr. Stasis who publicly killed Scott Summers, forcing Cyclops to take up the Captain Krakoa identity to keep the X-Men resurrection protocols a secret from the rest of the world.
Obsessed with the mutant genome and exposing the X-Men's ability to resurrect themselves on Krakoa, Dr. Stasis is undoubtedly a major threat to the X-Men who's also a member of the anti-mutant organization known as Orchis. As such, it makes sense that Cyclops and Synch would be looking to track him down in the new X-Men #11 from Gerry Duggan and Pepe Larraz. Having copied Laura Kinney's powers as Wolverine, Synch is able to find Bornan, Dr. Stasis' tiger-headed servant who wasn't impressed by the mutant pretending to be Wolverine. Slicing Bornan in half with claws of his own, Synch notes that he's been Wolverine longer than any other hero alive (including Logan), a bold but very true claim thanks to the Synch's time in the Vault with Laura's Wolverine.
Seeing as how the passage of time worked differently in the Vault, Synch spent centuries with Laura's healing factor to keep himself alive, becoming a Wolverine in his own right with the addition of claws too. As such, it makes sense that his abilities and experience would be just as good if not greater than the original Wolverine himself. While Logan has lived a long time in the Marvel Universe, his tenure doesn't hold a candle to Synch due to his decades upon decades in the Vault.
At any rate, it's certainly strange that an X-Man who can copy mutant powers has more experience with the powers of Wolverine than Logan, Laura, or any other identifiable Wolverine with claws and a healing factor such as Daken or Gabby. It's also an interesting wrinkle in regards to the tragic romance between Synch and Laura's Wolverine, seeing as how they loved each other in the Vault with Laura forgetting their life together after she was resurrected. Having copied her powers to keep himself alive, it's likely that Laura taught him how to be the impressive Wolverine he is now in the Marvel Universe.
X-Men #11 is available now from Marvel Comics.