X-MEN #104 (September 2000)

Painted Ladies

Credits: Chris Claremont (writer), Lenil Francis Yu (penciler), Mark Morales (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters), Liquid! Graphics (colors)

X-MEN #102 (July 2000)

The Cruelest Cut

Credits: Chris Claremont (writer), Lenil Francis Yu (penciler), Mark Morales (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters), Liquid! (colors)

Summary: Wolverine and Dani Moonstar investigate the remains of Mr. Sinister’s base in Sage, Nebraska. Using her powers, Moonstar recreates Domina’s assault on Sinister and Sabretooth. In Brooklyn, Cecilia Reyes attempts to fight off the Neo with the aid of the drug, Rave. Rogue’s team of X-Men arrives as backup, soon joined by Archangel and Wolverine. Domina channels the powers of her fellow Neo, embarrassing the X-Men in battle. The Neo known as Barbican seals up the church complex, forcing the X-Men to escape through a disappearing tunnel, leaving Reyes and Charlotte Jones behind. Elsewhere, Senator Kelly visits his wife’s grave. Tessa appears, broaching the subject of his presidential run.

X-MEN #101 (June 2000)

Hard Landing

Credits: Chris Claremont (writer), Lenil Francis Yu (penciler), Mark Morales (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters), Liquid! (colors)

X-MEN #100 (May 2000)

End of Days

Credits: Chris Claremont (writer), Lenil Francis Yu (penciler), Mark Morales (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters), Liquid! (colors)

Summary: Praying inside his church, Nightcrawler is ambushed by Rax, a member of a mysterious collective known as the Neo. Wounded, Nightcrawler locates Dr. Cecilia Reyes, unaware another Neo, Jaeger, is now hunting him. Reyes, panicked, shapes her forcefield into a spike and impales Jaeger. Elsewhere, a team of X-Men has joined Dr. Peter Corbeau’s crew in repairing the High Evolutionary’s orbital base. Seth, an undercover Neo, plants explosives and destroys the base. Combining their powers, Psylocke and Thunderbird rescue the crew inside a shuttle. Left behind, Shadowcat uses Seth’s spare space suit to return to Earth, certain it will take her to the Neo.

You Say You Want an X-Men Revolution?

Okay, I'm relenting. I'm submitting to the public's demand of...2014 or so and finally delving into the rather infamous return of Chris Claremont to the X-Men in the year 2000.

Or am I?

The truth is, I've avoided looking back on these titles for a reason. I felt the comics internet of the time had already thoroughly dissected the aborted run...and wasn't eager to look into comics firmly not associated with the 1990s anyway.

As time has passed, I've noticed much of the commentary of that era has disappeared. And we're now approaching the twentieth anniversary of these comics. Also, I can't deny I've felt an increased desire to revisit this failed launch. To examine why it didn't connect, the context of the times, if there was anything of merit the cool kids overlooked...

There is a catch, though. I am an independent novelist. With a new book out. As such, I am in need of reviews for my novel, Black Hat Blues.

Amazon forbids bribing readers for reviews. Meaning, I can't promise to email you some exclusive story or blog post in exchange for leaving an Amazon review.

What I can do is predict a feeling that I'd be willing to post a review of an X-Men Revolution comic, for free for all to read, for every Amazon review of Black Hat Blues I receive, as of this date. These will be posted in appreciation -- to the universe -- sometime in May.

At the time of this writing, I'm at ten reviews. Amazon's algorithm apparently ignores books that have under 15 reviews. (Some people say you need as many as 50 reviews for Amazon to notice you.) To review the entirety of Claremont's return, that would take around thirty blog posts. So, that would mean 40 reviews on Amazon, given that I'm already at ten. But, hey, I'll throw in five freebies.

Understand you're not being obligated to purchase anything. My book is available for free to Kindle Unlimited members. Which itself offers a free trial membership. And you're not obligated to pretend you love the book if you don't.

I do think the novel is of interest to comics fans (you can read more about it here.) But everyone has different tastes and I respect that. All I can ask is for an open mind.

So...to sum up. Expect at least five X-Men Revolution reviews in May. Whether or not there are any more after that...this depends on forces beyond my control. But for everyone who's supported me in the past, you do have my appreciation.

WOLVERINE #143 - October 1999

Rebirth

Credits: Erik Larsen & Eric Stephenson (writers), Leinil Francis Yu (penciler), Dexter Vines (inker), Marie Javins (colors), Comicraft (letters)

Summary: Wolverine helps Vindicator and his duplicate escape, while Kane is sent to stop them. Wolverine battles Kane as Vindicator frees the rest of Alpha Flight. During their escape, they discover that AIM has Snowbird’s body in suspended animation. With the help of Vindicator’s duplicate, AIM is chased away. Unfortunately, the battle suit Vindicator’s duplicate stole from AIM during the battle is severely damaged. The ensuing explosion kills the duplicate.

Continuity Notes: Snowbird’s resurrection was controversial at the time, apparently because Sasquatch was living in her old body by the end of Alpha Flight. Her teammates somehow forget this throughout the story.

Approved By The Comics Code Authority: Heather Hudson’s revealing costume is toned down again, as her exposed flesh is colored gray throughout the issue.

Review: Larsen and Stephenson’s ham-fisted revival of the original Alpha Flight continues, as the teenage Vindicator from Steven Seagal’s run is killed, Snowbird’s previous continuity is ignored in favor of a quickie resurrection, and the team is reunited to face once again the shadowy elements of Department H. I think the only people really invested in this would be hardcore Alpha Flight fans, and as I mentioned earlier, they all seemed to hate this arc. Wolverine has rarely interacted with Alpha Flight since the early ‘80s, so the only element of the story that might interest X-fans of this era would be the appearance by Kane. Instead of carrying on Nicieza’s characterization of the reluctant soldier, Larsen and Stephenson present him as a mindless drone for AIM. And Leinil Francis Yu has seen fit to give him a spiky ponytail. It’s obvious the story is hinting that he’s been brainwashed, but no confirmation is given and he simply disappears when it’s time for the fighting to be over. So, more “MYSTERY!” instead of an actual plot.

Loose Ends

Credits: Eric Stephenson (writer), Rob Jensen (penciler), Bob Wiacek (inker), Gina Going (colors), Comicraft (letters)

Summary: Alpha Flight studies the reanimated body of Snowbird. Sasquatch theorizes that Snowbird’s mystic body has a healing factor similar to Wolverine’s. Vindicator suddenly realizes why AIM was so interested in Snowbird; he suggests they’re exploiting her as the connection between science and the supernatural.

Review: This is a backup story designed to fit in all of the exposition that couldn’t be worked into the main story, which was mainly concerned with poorly choreographed fight scenes. I was a bit relieved to see Jensen take over as artist for a few pages; there’s nothing flashy about his work, but his figures are well-constructed and his storytelling is clear. The story is just there to hint at horrible things this faction of AIM is supposedly up to, and I’m going to take a shot in the dark and guess that none of these hints are paid off before Larsen/Stephenson leave the book.

WOLVERINE #142 - September 1999

Reunion!

Credits: Erik Larsen & Eric Stephenson (writers), Lenil Francis Yu (penciler), Dexter Vines & Scott Kiblish (inkers), Glynis Oliver (colors), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters)

Summary: Wolverine teams with Alpha Flight to rescue Mac Hudson and his synthoid duplicate from AIM. Wolverine escapes as the team is gassed, and soon locates Mac and his duplicate in a lab. MODOK refuses to send more AIM agents after Wolverine; instead he calls upon the current Weapon X, Kane.

Continuity Notes: Inexplicably, Alpha Flight now consists of the original team. A throwaway explanation reveals that the previous incarnation of Alpha Flight has been downgraded to the training team Beta Flight. Heather Hudson also reveals that her relationship with Puck is now over, although they remain friends.

Creative Differences: Notice that the colorist has given Heather Hudson a more modest costume on the cover.

“Huh?” Moments: Wolverine uses “Crikey!” as an exclamation. Slightly more defensible is his use of “Criminey!” later in the issue, but that’s bizarre, too. MODOK also has this dialogue in his opening appearance: “Leadin’ them…that is the mutant Wolverine, is it not?” Since when does MODOK drop “G”s?

Review: Erik Larsen was pretty open about how much he hated almost everything Marvel did in the ‘90s, so it’s not a big surprise that he’s revived the original lineup of Alpha Flight (more famously, he wanted to reveal that the ‘90s Elektra had been a Skrull in a throwaway gag in Nova). Going about it in such an indolent manner is a mistake though, considering that a lot of continuity work would be required to fix all of the ridiculous changes forced upon the original cast. In this issue, we’re just supposed to accept the new-old team, which makes about as much sense as the X-Men suddenly reappearing in their 1963 forms next month. And even if you’re a hardcore Alpha Flight fan and don’t care how exactly the original members have returned, I doubt you’re too thrilled with the formerly demure Heather Hudson prancing around in an outfit straight out of a Penthouse cover. The only redeeming factors in the issue are Lenil Francis Yu’s intricate renditions of AIM technology and the striking new outfits he’s designed for AIM’s soldiers. Unfortunately, he doesn’t give the fight scenes the same attention, so many of them are poorly choreographed and hard to follow.

WOLVERINE #140 - July 1999

Vengeance

Credits: Erik Larsen (writer), Lenil Francis Yu (penciler), Dexter Vines (inker), Joe Rosas (colors), Comicraft (letters)

Summary: Wolverine and Nightcrawler investigate a Magneto sighting at a junkyard, only to learn that “Magneto” is one of several animated junk-robots. They defeat the robots but never discover their creator. Later, at a diner, Wolverine fights a group of unruly patrons before Solo and Cardiac suddenly appear to demand a rematch. Nightcrawler stops the fight by informing them of Wolverine’s possession during their initial brawl. Upon returning home, Wolverine questions Xavier’s new obsessive attitude but receives no answers.

Continuity Notes: This story explicitly takes place after the X-Men’s outer space adventure in X-Men #89, which means the Wolverine appearing in this series for the next several issues is a Skrull impersonator.

Creative Differences: There was speculation at the time that Larsen didn’t write the final two pages of this story (which have an irritated Marrow walking away from Xavier and Wolverine questioning his relentless training exercises). I don’t recall Larsen confirming this, but this may be one of the editorially scripted scenes he cited in a few interviews at the time.

“Huh?” Moment: Solo is wearing a giant X-Men style “X” belt-buckle when he debuts in this issue. The belt buckle is obscured in every panel featuring him after this, so maybe someone was trying to cover it up but just happened to miss that first (giant) panel.

Review: Larsen’s first arc was largely a misfire, but luckily Lenil Francis Yu has returned as artist, and the story isn’t a multi-part space epic. On the other hand, calling this a “story” is a little generous. The issue opens with a fight scene with no resolution (and there won’t be one until Larsen’s final issue), followed by a pointless bar diner fight, then a largely meaningless fight with two Larsen co-creations that he’s somehow managed to sneak into the book again. After that, the editors have decided that we need two pages to remind everyone of the “Shattering” crossover in the main books. The pages that aren’t filled with gratuitous fights hint at Wolverine going over the edge again, and while Nightcrawler is a good choice to play the role of Logan’s conscience, the dialogue is too clunky and the overall plot is too disjointed for this to work.

WOLVERINE #141 - August 1999

Broken Dreams

Credits: Erik Larsen & Eric Stephenson (writers), Lenil Francis Yu (penciler), Dexter Vines (inker), Marie Javins (colors), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters)

Summary: At Xavier’s behest, Wolverine performs a computer test at Gen X’s school. Gateway materializes and abruptly teleports Wolverine and Jubilee to the Swiss Alps. They find sanctuary inside Cable’s chalet, unaware that it’s now occupied by Donald Pierce, who’s used Cable’s technology and database to build a suit of adamantium armor. Wolverine attacks, but their battle is interrupted by the mysterious Khyber. Khyber targets Pierce, destroying Cable’s chalet during their fight. He emerges with Pierce’s body and teleports away. Wolverine and Jubilee are left in the cold, waiting for Gateway to create another portal.

Continuity Notes:

· Pierce discovered Cable’s Swiss hideout after Sebastian Shaw left him for dead in Cable #53. He claims that he stumbled upon Cable’s abandoned sky cycle, which carried him to the chalet.

· Synch leads Generation X (sans Jubilee) in an impromptu attack on Wolverine. Synch claims it was merely a training exercise, but Jubilee has a suspicion that something else was going on. I have no idea if this was ever resolved, but it’s quickly forgotten this issue.

Review: Larsen’s entered a pattern of one-issue action stories that pair Wolverine with members of the various X-teams. This could work, but it runs the danger of quickly turning the book into a series of disposable Wolverine Team-Up stories, which is what this issue mostly feels like. Of course there’s nothing wrong with pitting Wolverine and Jubilee against Donald Pierce, especially if another book has already gone though the effort of reviving him. As this issue points out, he’s the villain Wolverine and Jubilee fought against during their first meeting, so using him as the antagonist elicits emotions that, say, a Sauron fight probably wouldn’t produce. And, while I’m not sure who exactly is responsible for writing the first-person captions, I’ll give them credit for doing a nice job with Jubilee’s narration. Her boredom with high school life and desire to return to the X-Men was dropped ages ago in Generation X¸ but I’m glad someone thought to revive it.

The problem is that this is yet another issue that has Wolverine randomly running into trouble with another X-character, trouble that somehow involves a mysterious figure sneaking away with no explanation. Khyber is…apparently a cyborg that maybe looks like Wolverine…I guess? (Yu’s art isn’t very clear.) He’s also wearing a costume reminiscent of the one Wolverine will be wearing a few months from now when he’s brainwashing into becoming Death…so is that significant? Who knows. All we know is that he hates Donald Pierce, which conveniently leads to him finishing Wolverine’s fight and then teleporting away. Add this to the pointless Gen X fight in the issue’s opening, which the story goes out of its way to point out as odd, and you’re left with a comic that seems to be killing pages and lazily concluding stories with no explanation outside of “MYSTERY!” Although the dialogue is much less painful, this is far too reminiscent of the stunts Howard Mackie was pulling on X-Factor during that series’ nadir.

WOLVERINE #139 - June 1999

The Freaks Come Out at Night

Credits: Erik Larsen (writer), Lenil Francis Yu (penciler), Dexter Vines (inker), Joe Rosas (colors), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters)

Summary: Cable checks in on Wolverine, who’s drinking in a bar owned by his friend Hardcase. Suddenly, the mercenary Longbow crashes into the bar. She’s returned from Madripoor, investigating the disappearances of several people. Wolverine and Cable look outside and discover a man mutated into a lobster. They follow him, and are soon assaulted by more genetic anomalies. They’re lead by Arnim Zola, who quickly kicks Wolverine and Cable out of his ship. Two of his creations also fall to the ground, but Cable neutralizes them with the control device he snatched from Zola. Unbeknownst to Wolverine, Zola has another captive -- his wife, Viper.

Continuity Notes: Hardcase first appeared in Wolverine #5, while the full team of his Harriers debuted in Uncanny X-Men #261. Although nothing in his initial appearance indicated this, Chris Claremont apparently decided by his second appearance in UXM #261 that Hardcase and Wolverine were old friends. The fate of most of the Harriers is disclosed by Hardcase to Wolverine this issue: Blindside “mostly works solo these days,” Warhawk and Deacon are married and living in Bermuda, while Timebomb “got into a bigger spot than he could handle.”

Three of Arnim Zola’s genetic anomalies are given names: Monkey-Boy is a man with two ape heads growing out of his chest, Doughboy is the organic ship Zola uses for transport, and Primus…doesn’t seem to do anything, but he looks like the Silver Surfer. The lobster man is never named, nor is the freak with a giant mouth growing out of his stomach. After their fight, Wolverine comments that his healing factor hasn’t repaired his wounds yet, which is apparently supposed to be significant.

Creative Differences: The debut of the lobster man was intended by Larsen to be a silent splash page. The published page is narrated with thirty-two words.

Review: I’d like to say that the return of Lenil Francis Yu marks an upturn in the book’s quality…but I can’t. This is still an awkward, slightly frustrating read. I know that Larsen wanted to use Yu’s skills for photorealism on utterly freaky comic book designs, and not real life items like motorcycles and handguns, but the result is patchy at best. I’m assuming that this is one of the issues Yu had to draw in a hurry, because for every convincing lobster man he draws, there are numerous figures that just look half-finished. When two of Zola’s freaks fall to the ground with Cable and Wolverine, for example, one of them is so sparsely rendered it’s almost impossible to tell who he’s supposed to be. The storytelling is also disappointing, as a couple of important story points are conveyed in extremely tiny panels that are easy to skip.

Not that he’s given a fantastic story to begin with, of course. The basic idea of pitting Wolverine against Arnim Zola and an army of his freaks is fine, but this never exceeds the quality of a generic Marvel Comics Presents serial. Larsen’s trying to convey the idea that Wolverine’s horribly discouraged following Aria’s death in the previous issue, but he doesn’t seem capable of giving Wolverine a believable personality. He’s just Tough Guy Wolverine and he’s feeling a little down this issue. Perhaps some of this pedestrian scripting can be blamed on overactive editors, but regardless of the culprit, this is bland stuff. Whoever is responsible for having Cable shout “Wa-hoo!” while fighting the bad guys should really be ashamed of himself.

Larsen does try to add some humor to the story, but he’s a little off. I remember Larsen justified bringing Hardcase into the cast because he thought it would be interesting to see one of Wolverine’s numerous “old friends” actually stick around instead of disappearing after one issue. Unfortunately, he also dismissed Hardcase as a Cable knock-off in that interview. He works that idea into the issue by having Hardcase and Cable stare face-to-identical-face and comment on their similarity. Not a bad meta-joke; except Hardcase isn’t a Cable knock-off. He debuted in Wolverine #5, which was released a year before Cable’s first appearance. So even the continuity shout-outs to fans don’t exactly work in this comic.

WOLVERINE #132 - December 1998

A Rage in the Cage

Credits: Fabian Nicieza (writer), Lenil Francis Yu (penciler), Tadeo/Koblish/Elmer/Candelario (inks), Comicraft (letters), Jason Wright (colors)

Summary: Wolverine discovers that one of the X-Men’s neighbors, Bob Higgins, is wanted for the murder of his wife. Higgins has escaped with his son Richie, leading Wolverine to stalk their trail to a nearby airport. Meanwhile, the police investigate the suspiciously small fingerprints left on the murder weapon. They discover Richie is the killer. After Wolverine confronts Higgins at the airport, he learns the story. During a fight, Jane Higgins pulled a gun on her abusive husband. Richie hit her with a shovel before she could shoot, inadvertently causing her neck to break. As Higgins is arrested, Wolverine declares that Richie isn’t the true killer.

Continuity Notes: Bob Higgins is the abusive drunk from Wolverine #91, who Wolverine nearly killed in a feral state.

Review: After five years of completism, this was the first issue of Wolverine I skipped as a teenager. It didn’t seem like a bad comic at all, but it was clearly a fill-in. After a solid year of filler, including a few issues that shipped biweekly, perhaps to make up for the lack of a 1998 Wolverine annual, I was burned out on Wolverine. I was willing to give Erik Larsen a shot whenever his run began, but I wasn’t going to buy any more fill-ins. Of course, as it turns out, I missed the best Wolverine issue in years.

The issue doesn’t read like an inventory story, partly because it picks up on a plot thread from Larry Hama’s run, but also because it marks Fabian Nicieza’s return to Marvel. Nicieza didn’t stay at Marvel for long after his departure from the X-books, as he was hired to revamp Valiant/Acclaim Comics in 1996. Acclaim couldn’t last in the post-implosion comics market, but as editor-in-chief, Nicieza produced a respectable line of comics, featuring creators such as Kurt Busiek, Christopher Priest, Kevin Maguire, Ashley Wood, Mark Waid, and Barry Kitson. This is Nicieza’s return to the X-universe, and while it’s a quiet reentry, it’s notable that one of the head writers of the ‘90s has returned. Nicieza goes on to deliver a solid run on Gambit’s first regular series, disappears from the X-books for a while, and then returns with the excellent Cable & Deadpool.

Despite his lengthy stint within the X-universe, Nicieza’s barely touched the character of Wolverine. Wolverine was certainly around during Nicieza’s run, even getting his adamantium skeleton ripped out in X-Men #25, but Nicieza rarely centered a story on him. This issue proves he does know how to write the character, as Wolverine is given a believable personality that doesn’t rely on catchphrases or any of the other lazy clichés associated with the character. Wolverine had a chance to kill Higgins months earlier, and was even proud that he didn’t slice his throat because he thought it proved to Xavier that his humanity isn’t totally gone. Now, he regrets allowing the abuser to live, giving his narration a proper amount of guilt without going overboard on the angst. The twist comes when we learn the true identity of the killer, and thankfully Nicieza doesn’t blow the story with the revelation. Lesser writers would’ve revealed Richie has secretly been a sadist obsessed with killing his mother for years as the "dark" twist. Nicieza makes it clear this was an accident. The villain is still clearly the father, and Wolverine still has to live with the guilt that he didn’t do enough to help the Higgins when he had the chance. It’s one of the better standalone issues of the series, and it’s a shame the other fill-ins from this era aren’t nearly as good.

WOLVERINE #145 – December 1999

Wolverine #145

On the Edge of Darkness

Credits: Erik Larsen (writer), Lenil Francis Yu (penciler), Dexter Vines (inker), Marie Javins (colors), Comicraft (letters)

Summary: In the past, Skrull agents invade the X-Men’s ship after the team is knocked unconscious by Magneto’s electromagnetic pulse. They take Wolverine, and leave a Skrull imposter in his place. Wolverine is brought to Apocalypse’s headquarters, where he’s forced to fight Sabretooth. After Wolverine proves himself the strongest, Apocalypse removes Sabretooth’s adamantium skeleton and attaches it to Wolverine, who is brainwashed into becoming Apocalypse’s Horseman Death. Later, he’s sent to kill Apocalypse’s previous agent of War, the Hulk. After a lengthy battle, Wolverine begins to hesitate. The Hulk realizes the fight is over and leaves.

Continuity Notes: Hulk was transformed into War back in Incredible Hulk #456.

Gimmicks: An enhanced $3.99 version of this issue has foil claws on the cover. There's also a version with silver claws, and a reprint with gold claws.

Review: Seventy issues after it was taken away, Wolverine’s adamantium skeleton returns. You would think Marvel would’ve waited until issue #150, but #145 was designated the twenty-fifth anniversary of the character, so it was given the honor. I was a reader of Savage Dragon at the time Erik Larsen’s Wolverine run began and wanted to give him a chance, but I gave up on the run after a few issues. Even while the issues were being released, Larsen was very upfront about editorial rewrites of his script, which often resulted in clunky, exposition-filled dialogue and redundant narrative captions. This issue isn’t as bad as some of the issues I’ve read from his stint, but it does have more than its fair share of dry, repetitive captions.

The story intercuts Wolverine’s battle with Sabretooth in the past with his current fight with the Hulk, which prevents either fight from being too tedious. Lenil Francis Yu keeps the action pretty energetic, and his hyper-realistic style actually works very well on the Hulk. As a straightforward action story, all of this is fine, but it doesn’t feel like a satisfactory conclusion to such a long-running storyline. Hama began dropping clues about how Wolverine’s adamantium might be returned almost as soon as it was taken away, but the event didn’t happen until years after Marvel removed him from the book. It feels as if the event has had no setup at all, and it’s only happening now in order to make the latest Apocalypse storyline seem like a bigger deal. Wolverine losing his adamantium was an event-driven, gimmicky idea, but Hama took the story seriously and used it as an opportunity to do something with Wolverine’s character. This issue might be an entertaining action comic, but its lack of depth just makes it forgettable.

X-MEN: THE MAGNETO WAR #1 & UXM #366- March 1999

X-Men: The Magneto War #1

Savior Complex

Credits: Alan Davis (plot), Fabian Nicieza (script), Lee Weeks (penciler), Dan Green (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering), Marie Javins & Monica Kubina (colors)

Summary: Fabian Cortez and his group of Acolytes sneak on to the mansion’s grounds. New member REM-RAM searches the X-Men’s dreams, looking for information on Magneto. Xavier senses his presence and orders the X-Men to attack. When Cortez harms REM-RAM while attempting to amplify his powers, the Acolytes turn against him. Cortez escapes, and the Acolytes ask Xavier for sanctuary. Xavier refuses, secretly hoping that following the Acolytes will confirm Magneto’s return. Meanwhile, in Israel, Quicksilver reconciles with Joseph. In the Netherlands, Magneto asks Amelia Voght to look over Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch.

Continuity Notes: According to the narrative captions, the Acolytes are divided into different camps. Cortez’s followers include the Kleinstock brothers, Senyaka, Spoor, Projector, and the new members REM-RAM (who can enter, and apparently manipulate, people’s dreams), Static (who can disrupt mutant powers), and Barnacle (who turns body moisture into a “carapace shell”). Another group of Acolytes is following Magneto himself. I believe the Quicksilver series used the Acolytes for a few issues, and inadvertently resurrected a few of the dead members.

When Wolverine is shown sleeping in bed, he’s drawn with metal claw housings on his hand. They’re actually supposed to be on his gloves, not his actual hands (a mistake the ‘90s cartoon often made in the early episodes).

Production Note: This is a thirty-two page one-shot with no ads and slick paper. The cover price is $2.99, which is reasonable.

Review: This kicks off the “Magneto War” crossover, a storyline that was so obviously generated by editorial, it was actually solicited without a writer. Alan Davis, who was originally supposed to pencil X-Men for six issues, ended up plotting it, and if I recall the Newsarama interviews correctly, Fabian Nicieza volunteered to script it. I have no idea what was happening behind-the-scenes at the time, but if the rumors are to be believed, Alan Davis agreed to plot the titles for an indefinite amount of time, working off a list of “objectives” the editors wanted to accomplish. I remember a friend of Davis’ posted online that his storylines weren’t being dictated to him, so what I suspect happened is the editors gave Davis a vague list like “Give Joseph an origin. Reveal The Twelve. Do something with Apocalypse.” and he went from there. I recall online reviews of this era being extremely harsh, which always seemed unfair to me. The perception at the time was that Seagle and Kelly were forced off the books by overbearing editors, and that Alan Davis threw his weight around to get a high-profile gig. I don’t doubt that Seagle and Kelly were being heavily rewritten and left in frustration, but I think Alan Davis received a bad reputation as some sort of “other woman” in the scenario. Regardless of the backstage circumstances, once you’ve reached the point where storylines are being solicited without writers, it is hard to believe that the finished product is the work of a strong creative vision. Even the most hardcore of X-fans began to feel that the titles had just become a bland, blatantly commercially conceived, product.

Judging this one-shot on its own merits, it’s a perfectly okay superhero comic with nice art. I’m not sure why some of the Acolytes are spying on the X-Men, hoping to find Magneto, while another group has already joined up with him, but that’s the only quibble I have with the plot. The dream sequences take up a lot of space, but they’re used to make statements about the characters’ internal conflicts, and their connections to Magneto. Xavier of course views Magneto as a threat to his dream, Rogue still views him as a potential suitor (even if she doesn’t consciously admit it), and Wolverine sees him as a tormentor. The fight is a traditional superhero brawl, and the ending sets the stage for the rest of the storyline. The story does what it’s supposed to do, it doesn’t drag, the characterizations feel right, and it has Lee Weeks art. It might not have been produced under the best of circumstances, but this is far from a bad comic.

Uncanny X-Men #366

The Shot Heard Round the World

Credits: Alan Davis (plot), Fabian Nicieza (script), Lenil Francis Yu (penciler), Livesay/Townsend/Tadeo (inkers), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering), Liquid! Graphics (colors)

Summary: Magneto’s group of Acolytes continues to attack genetic research laboratories. After the X-Men confront them in Canada, the Acolytes intentionally lead them on a chase north. Meanwhile, Magneto sends his robot Ferris to the UN to announce that he’s created another electromagnetic pulse, and that it will not stop until Magneto’s given a mutant sanctuary on Earth. The X-Men are caught in the pulse and crash in the arctic. In Israel, Mossad’s tests confirm that Joseph is a copy of Magneto. As Joseph ponders the revelation, he’s kidnapped by a mysterious woman.

Continuity Note: Joseph is revealed as a clone in this issue, although Nicieza tries to dance around the word “clone” throughout the storyline (the Spider-clone fiasco was still relatively fresh at the time).

Creative Differences: A teaser image of this storyline appeared in X-Men #80. It featured Storm in a different costume (the regal purple one she wore briefly during Claremont’s 2000 run), and various world landmarks in the arctic snow. This never happens in the actual storyline. As confirmed by a Comic Book Legends column, Storm was also supposed to die during this story, back when Seagle and Kelly were still scheduled to write it.

Production Note: Starting this month, the recap gatefold covers are gone. Apparently, they cost Marvel too much money.

Review: This doesn’t work as well as the one-shot special, probably because so much of the story is wasted on having the X-Men chase after the Acolytes. The Acolytes are suffering from their typical lack of a personality, so seeing half of the issue dedicated to them isn’t very exciting (and these aren't even the same Acolytes the X-Men were supposed to be following at the end of the previous chapter). Nicieza throws in a brief reference to one of his later X-Men stories, the one that had a few of the Acolytes following Cyclops while stranded in the desert, but it’s not nearly enough to make you care about the villains. It actually serves, unintentionally, of a reminder of a story that actually gave the Acolytes some depth. Nicieza’s script has a few clever lines, such as Ferris’ “inexhaustible supply of patter” and his rather polite interactions with the UN guards, but the script isn’t able to sell the significance of Magneto’s release of the EM pulse. It might not feel like the appropriate big deal because Magneto already did this in another crossover five years earlier, which is one of the larger problems with the storyline. Lenil Francis Yu shows up for another issue as guest artist. It’s an inconsistent job, as he seems to excel at drawing goofy scientists studying Joseph, but delivers some flat action scenes. Some of the pages look extremely rushed, and his odd tendency not to draw pupils is on full display.

UXM #364 & X-MEN # 84, January - February 1999

Uncanny X-Men #364

Escape From Alcatraz

Credits: Steve Seagle (plot), Ralph Macchio (script), Lenil Francis Yu (penciler), Tim Townsend & Edgar Tadeo (inkers), Liquid! Graphics (colors), Comicraft (letters)

Summary: In Florida, the animated Cerebro that impersonated Professor Xavier destroys its headquarters and flies away. In Alcatraz, the X-Men and Brotherhood continue to fight the Cerebro unit that Xavier calls “Cerebrite Beta”. During the fight, Toad, Mimic, and Shadowcat are blasted by Cerebrite Beta and disappear. Xavier senses that they aren’t dead, so the remaining X-Men are intentionally hit by Cerebrite’s ray in order to investigate. Nightcrawler, who was separated from the team, witnesses the incident and assumes his teammates are dead. He flees in their jet and heads for Tajikistan.

Continuity Notes: The Cerebro unit in Florida reveals (while talking to itself, conveniently enough) that the imposter X-Men from a few issues ago were a “holographic creation…based on existing profiles written by Professor Xavier.” I’m not sure if a more specific origin is given later, but the idea is that Cerebro mixed and matched info on various mutants in order to create new X-Men. However, that doesn’t explain the opening scenes of UXM #360 that had Xavier recruiting each member in real life.

The Cerebro unit (or Cerebrite Beta, as I guess it’s now known) in San Francisco is no longer drawn as a robot, which is how it appeared in the last issue and on this issue’s cover. It now resembles the energy form of the Cerebro unit fighting the other team in X-Men. A less obvious design change comes from Professor Xavier, who suddenly goes from a red jumpsuit to a tucked-in dress shirt and black pants for one page.

Production Note: An uncredited artist draws the last six pages of the story. Some of the pages resemble Pascual Ferry’s work, which is likely since he also works on the next chapter in X-Men.

Review: And now the crossover goes from dull to atrocious. Judging by the cover dates, this crossover was shipped bi-weekly during the final chapters, which would help to explain why this comes across as such a rushed mess. Lenil Francis Yu arrives as the fill-in artist, turning in a job that starts off fine but deteriorates as the issue goes on. Whenever Yu penciled one of the main X-team books during this era, his work seemed to suffer. This one is particularly rough, which I’m sure had something to do with deadline issues. Ralph Macchio shows up for another random fill-in job, turning in a script that mostly consists of characters talking to themselves, describing their powers, and reciting the storyline so far. When they’re not repeating info that’s on the recap page, the characters have lines like, “Ugh! It’s enough to make me puke the way you upworlders fall all over yourselves like the Knights of the Round Table trying to prop up a stricken King Arthur!”

Even if the dialogue were tolerable, there’s only so much you can do with the thin plot. It’s twenty-two pages of Cerebrite Beta fighting the X-Men and Brotherhood, when they’re not busy arguing over who gets to leave with Xavier. You’d think that Xavier would have something to say about this, except that he only speaks in this issue when he has some exposition to spit out. It’s honestly hard to tell if he’s supposed to be unconscious during certain scenes, or if Macchio just didn’t want to give him anything to say. (He’s often drawn with his eyes closed and mouth open, but that doesn’t stop him from speaking a few times.) The action scenes might’ve saved this, but since every page is covered in bland exposition and Yu’s art suffers whenever multiple characters appear, the fight is just boring. This one really is terrible.

X-Men #84

Dream’s End!

Credits: Joe Kelly (writer), Adam Kubert & Pascual Ferry (pencilers), Matt Banning & Pascual Ferry (inkers), Richard Isanove & Monica Kubina (colors), Comicraft (letters)

Summary: Nightcrawler rescues the remaining X-Men in Tajikistan and uses the Aurora jet’s tracking system to find Xavier and the others. As Cerebro is explaining its plan to create peace by “cataloging” humans, the X-Men arrive. Convinced that he needs to use his telepathy to connect with Cerebro, Xavier asks Nina to reactivate his telepathic powers. Xavier connects Cerebro with every human mind on earth, revealing the uniqueness of the human race. Cerebro realizes the error of its ways and dissipates. Reunited, the X-Men return home.

Continuity Notes: The Aurora jet is the vehicle used by Cerebro’s imposter X-Men in UXM #360 and X-Men #80. The real X-Men confiscated it at the end of the storyline.

It’s revealed that by “cataloging” people, Cerebro is placing them inside a cocoon. Cerebro claims that it was created when Bastion attempted to download its files. A failsafe sent its central programming “into a secondary vessel”, which somehow lead to it becoming a sentient being after it passed through Bastion’s “complicated neural network”.

Review: And again, the X-Men chapter is more enjoyable than the UXM installment. Kelly’s script still has some personality, and Kubert’s art is up to his usual standards. Pascual Ferry’s half of the issue looks a little rushed in comparison, but it’s not bad either. The crossover finally ends, as Xavier has his powers restored and is reunited with the team. I wonder if that was always supposed to be Nina’s role, and if she was an editorial creation in the first place (it seems unlikely Larry Hama would’ve created such an enigmatic character for the purposes of a one-shot comic). Overall, it’s not a very satisfactory conclusion, but it has its moments. I think the major problem is Cerebro, who just isn’t an interesting villain, personality-wise or from a design sense. After introducing the idea of Cerebro as a villain, it seems as if the storytellers didn’t know where to go with it, as details of Cerebro’s plan are inconsistent from chapter to chapter, and the storyline ends with him getting the warm fuzzies and disappearing. It’s never very clear why he was kidnapping mutants in the first place, or why he abandoned some (like the X-Men in Tajikistan), but ruthlessly pursued others (like Pyro in the first chapter). This might’ve worked better if the storyline were cut in half, but reading issue after issue with such a dull villain becomes a chore.

WOLVERINE #129 – #130, October 1998 – November 1998

Wolverine #129
 Whatever It Takes…
Credits: Todd Dezago (writer), Lenil Francis Yu (penciler), Edgar Tadeo (inker), Jason Wright (colorist), Comicraft (letters)

Summary: Unsure of himself after his fight with Sabretooth, Wolverine returns to the abandoned Weapon X facility to reflect. Inside, he’s attacked by Wendigo. Wolverine slashes his eyes, forcing him to run away. A few minutes later, Wolverine collapses from his wounds.

Continuity Notes: It’s hard to reconcile this with the previous appearances of the Weapon X compound in the preceding years. For one thing, it was actually destroyed during the Maverick one-shot. Aside from that, Dezago shows that the security system is still operational, and has men monitoring the compound at Department H command. This doesn’t seem to fit in with Wolverine’s first return to the Weapon X compound in Wolverine #48, which portrayed it as totally abandoned and forgotten.

Review: This is the beginning of Todd Dezago’s brief run, making it the third fill-in arc in a row (the fourth if you count Tom DeFalco’s two issues). Marvel didn’t seem to know what to do with this book during this era, which reminds me of the state the title was in before the Hama/Silvestri run began. A few months from now Erik Larsen will begin a mostly directionless run, which will occasionally participate in the routine crossovers. Until then, Dezago marks time. This is essentially a Wolverine/Wendigo fight, although Dezago tries to add some depth by having Wolverine reflect on the dividing line between predators and prey throughout the story. He declares himself a predator at the issue’s start, but realizes that he’s Wendigo’s prey by the end. There’s nothing particularly bad about this, but it’s clearly filler.

Wolverine #130

…To Survive!
Credits: Todd Dezago (writer), Lenil Francis Yu (penciler), Edgar Tadeo (inker), Jason Wright (colorist), Comicraft (letters)

Summary: Wolverine recovers from his wounds inside an old barn. A young boy named Jake brings him food and keeps him company. Wolverine eventually realizes that Wendigo is still hunting him, so he flees the barn. He turns back when he considers that Wendigo is tracing his scent, which is still in the barn. Wolverine protects Jake from Wendigo, and eventually defeats him by using kerosene to set him on fire.

Continuity Note: An origin is given for the latest incarnation of Wendigo. After an accident chopping wood, a man was left trapped under a log with his fingers severed. After days without food, he ate the severed fingers, which invited the cannibal curse that creates Wendigo.

Review: The Wendigo fight concludes, as Wolverine declares that he’s found what he was looking for, “Wolverine the man.” He apparently grasps this by using his brains to defeat Wendigo, which he takes a sign that he never needed the Weapon X project to be a fighter. Well, okay then. There’s not a lot going on here, although the scenes with Wolverine and the little kid aren’t bad. Yu produces an amusing splash page that displays the kid’s impression of the X-Men based on Wolverine’s stories, which has Colossus as a robot, Nightcrawler as a Christmas elf, and Rogue as a mummy (because she has to cover her entire body, of course). The rest is pretty forgettable.

WOLVERINE #127 - #128, August 1998 - September 1998

Wolverine #127

I’m King of the World!

Credits: Chris Claremont (writer), Lenil Francis Yu, Carlos Pacheco, Cary Nord, Jeff Matsuda, Melvin Rubi, & Mike Miller (pencilers), Tadeo/Holdredge/Alquiza/Miller (inkers), Wright & Smith (colors), Comicraft (letters)

Summary: Wolverine learns that Hydra and the Hand have teamed up to take over Madripoor. With the help of various props, he divides their forces and convinces them that Captain America and other heroes have arrived to stop them. Police chief Tai explains to Wolverine that the Hand’s leader, Matsuo Tsurayaba, is positioning himself as the new Prince of Madripoor. Meanwhile, Sabretooth teams up with Shadowcat to keep Hydra and the Hand out of Madripoor. They search for Viper, who was turned over to the Hand by a local crimelord she thought she could trust. Soon, their search leads them to an oil tanker, where Wolverine is tracking Hydra activity. The floor drops underneath them, as Matsuo Tsurayaba unveils his trap.

Continuity Notes: The former Prince of Madripoor was killed in Wolverine #98 (aka the Madripoor bloodbath issue). Police chief Tai was run over off-panel by Tyger Tiger in that issue, but I guess he got better.

For the record, Sabretooth is helping Shadowcat fight the Hand and Hydra because it’s “fun”, and because he wants Madripoor to remain an outlaw nation. Wolverine (who is wearing his ‘80s brown costume for no discernable reason) is also searching for Viper, along with Jessica Drew and Tyger Tiger, who were apparently kidnapped in-between issues.

Review: And now the story is so incomprehensible, it reads as if an entire issue has been skipped. Somehow, all of the characters are suddenly aware that Hydra and the Hand have teamed up to take over Madripoor, Viper (the character who set the story in motion) has been kidnapped off-panel, Jessica Drew and Tyger Tiger have also gone missing off-panel, there’s a political struggle for Madripoor royalty, Shadowcat and Sabretooth are working together, and Wolverine is waging a one-man war on Hydra and the Hand. Where did this stuff come from? Hydra and the Hand had brief cameos in the last issue, but there certainly wasn’t anything to set up what we’re seeing here. What is this story about? Viper marrying Wolverine? Sabretooth gaining adamantium? A power struggle for control of Madripoor? It’s certainly possible that all of these ideas could be connected, but the story hasn’t even come close to doing the job. What’s even more frustrating is the fact that a large portion of the issue consists of ridiculous scenes that have Wolverine impersonating members of the Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic Four, and the Hulk. It’s Silver Age-level silliness that has nothing to do with the actual story, and it eats up pages that could’ve covered all of the off-panel plot developments that have happened since the last issue. The art is also a mess, as six different pencilers with mostly incompatible styles turn in an obvious rush job.

Wolverine #128

Green for Death

Credits: Chris Claremont (writer), Stephen Platt & Angel Unzueta (pencilers), Banning/Mendoza/Candelaro/Hunter/Martin (inkers), Wayne Robinson (colors), Comicraft (letters)

Summary: Matsuo begins the process of brainwashing Wolverine, Sabretooth, and Shadowcat into Hand assassins. Shadowcat breaks free of her restraints and rescues Viper, Tyger Tiger, and Jessica Drew, who are secretly being held by Hydra nearby. Sabretooth escapes from his restraints and immediately attacks Wolverine again. Wolverine convinces him to stop the fight and join forces against Hydra and the Hand. After they’re defeated, Viper attempts to kill Sabretooth, but Wolverine and Shadowcat stop her. Viper declares that she will have vengeance on Sabretooth, and anyone who’s protected him. She assumes the throne of Madripoor, and issues warrants for Wolverine and Shadowcat.

Continuity Note: Viper is installed as Madripoor’s “ruling prince”, a position Wolverine claims “she only occupies as long as our symbolic ‘union’ still stands.” Don’t ask me how this works, because I can assure you it makes no sense. According to the story recap in the gatefold, Wolverine agreed to marry viper “to prevent a bloody gang war…in an effort to unify rival factions.” It would’ve been nice if the story itself ever got around to explaining that.

Review: And now we have the brutal conclusion. Somehow, this issue even manages to top the last issue in terms of sheer incomprehensibility. We’re now told, through a story recap on the inside front cover, that Wolverine and Viper married to create some sort of truce between rival gangs. This also somehow leads to Viper assuming royalty in Madripoor. What? Wolverine owns a bar in Madripoor; he’s not supposed to be some kind of monarch, is he? (And why is Viper the prince and not the princess of Madripoor?) And if her marriage to Wolverine is what gives her power, how does she get away with openly calling for his arrest (or worse)?

The rest of the issue consists of some clichéd brainwashing scenes, which I assume were supposed to call back to the popular “Lady Mandarin” storyline, but instead feel like time-killer. In another example of impenetrable storytelling, the Hand’s magics have briefly given Wolverine, Sabretooth, and Shadowcat elements of each other’s personalities. This isn’t a bad idea for a story, but it’s poorly introduced and really doesn’t go anywhere. Wolverine has to outright say that Sabretooth now has his sense of honor, which contradicts a scene from two pages earlier that had Sabretooth declaring that he has no friends and planning his lone escape. This is supposed to set up the idea that Sabretooth hates Wolverine more than ever, because he’s now lived with Wolverine’s moral center and knows that he can’t live up to who he truly is. Again, this is a perfectly fine idea, but the execution is horribly botched.

The art is actually more of a mess than the previous issue, as Stephen Platt and Angel Unzueta do another last minute job. Platt was supposed to be one of the hottest artists of the ‘90s after his much-hyped run on Moon Knight, but he seemed to disappear after leaving for Image. Wizard loved his stuff due to his McFarlane-esque obsession with detail lines and heavy ink, but what we get here is a generic, stiff, early ‘90s style job without any excessive busyness to distract from the poor drawings. Unzueta’s pages look like a bizarre mix of Carlos Pacheco and Jeff Matsuda, and they’re really not any easier on the eyes. I’d complain about their storytelling skills, but it doesn’t seem as if there was a coherent story to tell in the first place.

WOLVERINE #125 – #126, June 1998 - July 1998

Wolverine #125

Logan’s Run!

Credits: Chris Claremont (writer), Lenil Francis Yu (penciler), Edgar Tadeo & Gerry Alanguilan (inkers), Jason Wright (colors), Comicraft (lettering)

Summary: Jubilee has dreams that merge her early adventures with Shadowcat’s. She’s awakened by Shadowcat, who explains that six of the people closest to Wolverine (Yukio, Phoenix, Jessica Drew, Rogue, Tyger Tiger, and Psylocke) have been brainwashed by Viper into kidnapping him. Viper tried to brainwash Shadowcat, but she managed to escape. With Gateway’s help, the pair travels with Lockheed to search for Wolverine in Mount Logan, and later Agarashima. Viper’s agents finally abduct Wolverine, but he’s rescued by the Black Widow in Madripoor. Shadowcat phases through Phoenix, which briefly merges their minds and nullifies the brainwashing. Wolverine, who was driven into a berserker rage after Psylocke forced him to relive the deaths of his past loves, is prepared to kill Viper. Jubilee talks him out of it, as Viper explains that Wolverine must fulfill his vow to her. Wolverine explains to the others that Viper is his wife.

Continuity Notes: Mount Logan is where Wolverine lived with Silver Fox, and the place she was killed by Sabretooth (although this had been revealed as a memory implant by this point). Agarashima is the home of Clan Yashida in Japan, and the place Wolverine’s former fiancée, Mariko, was poisoned.

Shadowcat develops a new use of her powers in this issue, which seemed to drive collective fandom mad. She phases Jubilee underground, then remains “at rest relative to the earth”, allowing the planet’s rotation to move them “thirty clicks west”. People hated this scene. Claremont’s defense was that he always intended for Shadowcat to develop these powers one day.

Review: And here we have Chris Claremont’s first return to the X-titles. Claremont returned to Marvel in an editorial role in Fall 1997, with a vaguely defined title I can’t recall (apparently, he worked with Bob Harras to oversee the “big picture” of Marvel Comics). He ended up writing this issue, I believe, because it was an anniversary issue, and someone thought it would be a nice way to announce his return to Marvel (he also ended up on Fantastic Four as a last minute replacement for Scott Lobdell, who wasn’t getting along with Bob Harras). Having Claremont back on an X-title was a big deal at the time, even though a vocal segment of fandom was pretty soured on the experience after his four-issue stint was over.

The kneejerk response some fans had when hearing of Claremont’s return was that he was just going to ignore everything that happened after he left. That’s not very fair, as all of the characters appear in their current status quos, and even Mariko’s death (which was mostly overlooked at the time it happened) is referenced. However, we do have Shadowcat commenting that her natural state is intangibility, Jubilee going back to her 1989 "Girl Wonder" look, and Gateway being called in to take the heroes where they need to go. I don’t really have a problem with Shadowcat’s intangibility issue, since I don’t recall any other writers actually resolving the story. I’m also okay with Jubilee finding her old clothes while digging through her stash at the X-Men’s old base. I think if any other writer had written those scenes, he would’ve been complimented for acknowledging past continuity. Having Jubilee spontaneously call out to Gateway for a teleportation trip doesn’t work at all, though. If she can do that, why didn’t she ask for his help after Bastion kidnapped her (or during any number of her previous adventures)? I understand that this is an anniversary issue that’s supposed to highlight the history of the lead characters, but it seems like logic is thrown out of the window in order to justify his cameo. And Gateway isn’t the only example of this, as the all-female “Wolverine Hit Team/Rescue Squad” forces the reader to make several leaps of logic.

I can understand the point Claremont’s making, that Wolverine tends to make his strongest connections with females, but the execution doesn’t quite work. For one thing, you have to ignore his friendships with Nightcrawler and Colossus and just accept that he’s closer to Rogue and Psylocke. And even if you buy into the all-female conceit, it’s hard to rationalize many of the specific characters chosen. Jessica Drew over Carol Danvers? Psylocke over Storm? Really? There’s also the question of how powerful characters like Rogue and Phoenix could’ve been overtaken by Viper’s poisons, but I’m willing to give Claremont a little slack on this one (the all-powerful Phoenix was mind controlled by the Hellfire Club back in the “Dark Phoenix Saga”, after all). However, you have to wonder why Viper has bothered to gather a half-dozen characters in order to chase down Wolverine. Why not go after him directly? There is a throwaway explanation that she “could think of no other way” to bring Wolverine to her, and that his friends knew “best how to find and capture” him. So it was easier to track down six different people from all over the earth, poison/brainwash them, arrange an elaborate kidnapping plot, and then find Wolverine? On top of this, we also have the unexplained opening that has Jubilee reliving Shadowcat’s first X-Men adventure in her sleep (Why? I'm assuming this is a part of a psychic attack by either Psylocke or Phoenix, but why merge her memories with Shadowcat's?). Plus, Wolverine somehow hopping from Canada to Japan over the course of a few minutes (I guess that’s what’s happened, since Gateway is supposed to be sending Shadowcat and Jubilee to his current locations). What’s frustrating is that the basic premise of the story is interesting. Wolverine getting chased by six of his female friends while Shadowcat and Jubilee rush to his rescue is a fun setup for a story, especially an anniversary issue. However, the story doesn’t do an awful lot to justify the all-female premise, or create motivations that stand up to real scrutiny.

All that said, I really enjoyed this comic as a teenager, and actually had fun rereading it. Despite the rickety plot, the character interactions work very well, as Claremont is able to exhibit what made Shadowcat, Jubilee, and Wolverine so appealing to the audience in the first place. Shadowcat and Jubilee have an amusing chemistry that makes me wish the previous creators had done more with the pair (I wonder how long Claremont had been planning a team-up adventure for the duo). There’s a lovely hallucination scene after Wolverine is stabbed by Psylocke’s psychic knife that has Yu turning to a more shadowy, expressionistic style reminiscent of J. H. Williams III. Watching Mariko die again draws Wolverine into his feral nature, reviving the internal “man vs. beast” conflict that Claremont defined so well for the character back in his original miniseries. He’s brought back down by Jubilee, who gives him a speech about the importance of honor and all of the ideals she’s learned from him. It could be dismissed as pure schmaltz, but it reminds me of the strong moral point of view the X-titles used to convey (before every storyline seemed to turn into an excuse to tear the characters down). So, yes, the plot is filled with holes, but the characterizations are strong enough to carry most of the weight. As for the rest of the storyline...

Wolverine #126

Blood Wedding

Credits: Chris Claremont (writer), Lenil Francis Yu (penciler), Edgar Tadeo & Gerry Alanguilan (inkers), Jason Wright (colors), Comicraft (lettering)

Summary: With the exception of Shadowcat, all of Wolverine’s friends leave Madripoor. She tries to talk Wolverine out of marrying Viper, but he declares that he’s honor bound to do it. After he exchanges vows with Viper, Sabretooth appears and kills the minster. Shadowcat takes Viper to safety as Wolverine fights Sabretooth. Shadowcat watches the fight, suspicious that something was different about Sabretooth. She discerns that his claws and skeleton have been laced with adamantium. Shadowcat shoves Wolverine off a cliff to save him, leaving her alone with Sabretooth.

Continuity Notes: Wolverine says he knew Viper years earlier when he worked with Seraph, the original owner of Madripoor’s Princess Bar. During a fight with Sabretooth, Seraph sacrificed herself to save Wolverine and Viper. Her final request was that Wolverine honor anything Viper asked of him.

Shadowcat claims that phasing through adamantium is physically painful for her, citing an early incident in the Danger Room. I know this is a retcon, but I don’t know if it contradicts any earlier occasions when Shadowcat phased through adamantium (note that the story says it’s painful for her, but not impossible). Shadowcat claims that something felt different when she phased through Sabretooth’s claws this time (which is amusing, since she’s referring to a scene that took place four pages earlier, and the art never showed his claws actually going through her body).

“Huh?” Moments: Wolverine refers to Viper as his wife twice (three times if you count last issue’s cliffhanger), and then proceeds to marry her. I think that usually works the opposite way.

As they prepare for the wedding ceremony, Shadowcat asks Wolverine if he wants to “scandalize the natives” and marry her. His response is that it’s a tempting offer. I get that the characters are supposed to be kidding, but…wow. Shadowcat also refers to herself as an X-Man, which hadn’t been true since 1987. You could cite this as an example of Claremont ignoring other creators’ work, but he’s actually the creator of Excalibur. I suppose you could argue that it’s a characterization point, and perhaps foreshadowing for her upcoming return to the team.

I Love the ‘90s: Sabretooth declares “I’m the king of the world” as he prepares to finish Wolverine. “I’m the King of the World!” is also listed as the title of the next issue, just one page later.

Review: And here’s where things get pretty dicey. Aside from the fact that Wolverine can’t seem to decide if he’s already married or not, the story doesn’t present a real motivation for either character to actually get married. I can see why Viper’s reason might be left mysterious, but it’s strange that Wolverine doesn’t seem that curious as to why she’s doing this. Wolverine’s own motivation is rushed through in a four-panel flashback that’s incredibly vague and unsatisfying. Really, they’re getting married because that’s the gimmick of the story, and apparently Claremont thinks that it’s a strong enough idea that motivations don’t really matter.

Getting past the absurd marriage storyline, this issue also introduces the adamantium-laced Sabretooth. This idea didn’t last for long, but I always thought it had potential. Now that Wolverine’s physically weaker after losing the adamantium, giving it to his deadliest enemy is a legitimate avenue to explore. This could’ve opened the doors to a new kind of Wolverine/Sabretooth fight, one where Wolverine is clearly the underdog and has to find creative ways to survive. It wasn’t meant to be, however, as Wolverine regained his adamantium a year later (I think Sabretooth lost his adamantium off-panel in an issue of Gambit). This issue’s fight between Wolverine and Sabretooth isn’t bad at all, as Claremont uses it as an opportunity to spell out his take on their conflict (Sabretooth views people as prey and Wolverine as a second-rate clone; Wolverine always has to prove himself a worthy opponent, and fight against the animal instincts Sabretooth embraces). Sabretooth’s given motive for crashing the wedding is that he just has to kill any woman Wolverine’s involved with, which is pretty amusing. The fight scene isn’t enough to save the issue, though, as it’s really a distraction from the main story, which still makes little sense.

WOLVERINE #121 - #122, February 1998 – March 1998

Not Dead Yet, 3 of 4

Credits: Warren Ellis (writer), Lenil Francis Yu (penciler), Edgar Tadeo & Gerry Alanguilan (inkers), Jason Wright (colors), Comicraft (lettering)

Summary: As Wolverine escapes the city, he’s attacked by assassins with adamantium bullets. He claws through them and heads deeper into the woods, hoping to find McLeish. A flashback to Hong Kong shows Wolverine saying goodbye to his girlfriend, Ai-Chia. She refuses to touch him, knowing now that he’s as much of a killer as McLeish. In the present, Wolverine passes a recording of McLeish’s voice. In the trees, he discovers the body of Ai-Chia. Wolverine explodes in anger, promising to give McLeish his animal side.

Review: Wow, this really is padded. It’s hard not to notice how slowly the story’s going when almost every page only has three or four panels, or is a splash page. The flashback with Ai-Chia is interesting, since it least raises the question of why Wolverine would go drinking with someone like McLeish in the first place. He doesn’t have much of a defense outside of his claim that they were a part of a similar lifestyle. This bothered me the first time I read the issue, but the final chapter does make an effort to redeem Wolverine (albeit in a rather predictable way). Since the plot is so thin, the art is left to carry a lot of the issue. Yu certainly excels at drawing things like motorcycles and guns, so at the very least it’s a nice looking book.

Not Dead Yet, 4 of 4

Credits: Warren Ellis (writer), Lenil Francis Yu (penciler), Edgar Tadeo (inker), Jason Wright (colors), Comicraft (lettering)

Summary: Wolverine follows McLeish’s trail to a small village, where every citizen is dead. He’s confronted by a young man who claims to be McLeish’s son. He says that McLeish died years ago, and he was the one who mimicked his voice on the recordings. Wolverine kills him, and walks deeper into the house. He tells McLeish to show himself. A feeble McLeish emerges, revealing his revenge plan that’s been ten years in the making. When he lunges at Wolverine, he’s quickly killed. Wolverine disposes of the body, wondering if he really isn’t any different than McLeish.

Review: More slow-motion storytelling. It’s not that this is a bad premise for a storyline, since it does manage to say a few things about Wolverine’s character and it suits Yu’s art style, but there’s no way this should’ve ran for four issues. To his credit, Ellis does add a few twists to the story. After McLeish tells Wolverine that everything he’s heard tonight is a lie (which means the man who attacked him earlier wasn’t McLeish’s son), Wolverine responds that he actually did know McLeish’s son, and killed him years earlier. After McLeish is dead, Wolverine admits that he was lying, also. He killed him with “lies and fear”, which is exactly what McLeish wanted to do to Wolverine. The idea that Wolverine is just as ruthless as any other killer isn’t a new one, but it does at least turn the climax a little more than just an action scene. I like the use of the fake son during the opening scene, since he provides a plausible explanation for the previous events of the story, shortly before Ellis goes for the more conventional comic book revelation that McLeish actually is alive. The final twist is the revelation that Wolverine was working undercover for the Canadian government the entire time he was close to McLeish. It’s not that big of a surprise, but I prefer it over the implication in the earlier issues that he just liked hanging around the old killer. As a climax, this is readable enough, but it suffers from the same decompression that marred the previous issues.