{"id":5131,"date":"2020-02-20T22:25:13","date_gmt":"2020-02-20T22:25:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=5131"},"modified":"2020-02-20T22:25:13","modified_gmt":"2020-02-20T22:25:13","slug":"wolverine-1-annotations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=5131","title":{"rendered":"Wolverine #1 annotations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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WOLVERINE.<\/strong> This is volume 7 of Wolverine<\/em>, and that’s just counting the titles that were simply called Wolverine<\/em>. Volume 1 is the 1982 miniseries, volume 2 is the long-running ongoing title that started in 1988. The others are periodic reboots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COVER \/ PAGE 1.<\/strong> Wolverine with his claws out, standing over some dead people, and with a butterfly on his hand. His X-Men belt buckle is lit up, for some reason. Like X-Force<\/em>, this book carries the world’s smallest “parental advisory” warning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 2-4.<\/strong> Alaska. A badly injured Wolverine wakes up surrounded by the corpses of X-Force<\/em>. He sets off following a set of footprints.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of the issue is flashbacks leading up to this point. The implication is that the Pale Girl, leader of the Flower Cartel, makes Wolverine kill the rest of X-Force. (It really is fortunate that the X-Men came up with this resurrection thing in time for the Krakoa era, because ever since, they’ve become remarkably prone to getting killed…)<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Domino doesn’t have her Krakoan skin grafts, so this must take place after current issues of X-Force<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“James, Logan, Patch, Weapon X, Wolverine.”<\/strong> All names associated with Wolverine. James is his real first name; “Patch” was an identity he used in Madripoor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Canada, Madripoor, New York, Japan, Krakoa.”<\/strong> Again, places particularly associated with Wolverine. He presumably means New York state (where the X-Men’s mansion was based) rather than New York City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Had by bones turned inside out.”<\/strong> Not literally, but presumably a reference to Magneto tearing out his adamantium in X-Men<\/em> vol 2 #25.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Nuked, steamrolled, crucified, ripped in half…”<\/strong> I don’t remember Wolverine getting nuked, but I’m sure someone’s done it. The steamroller is from Punisher<\/em> vol 6 #17. The crucifix is from Uncanny X-Men<\/em> vol 1 #251. Wolverine was cut in half in the current X-Force<\/em> run when a gate was shut off while he was going through it – if you want literally<\/em> ripped in half, there’s also Ultimate Wolverine vs Hulk<\/em>, but that’s not the same Wolverine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 5-6.<\/strong> Recap and credits. The first<\/em> story is “The Flower Cartel” by Benjamin Percy (who also writes Wolverine in X-Force<\/em>), Adam Kubert and Frank Martin. The small print on the data pages just says “adamantium” and “best there is, bub”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 7-8.<\/strong> Wolverine plays hide and seek with the Krakoan kids.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We’ve seen Wolverine playing with the kids on Krakoa before – in House of X <\/em>#1, for example – and it suggests he’s letting his guard down at least a little bit, even if not as much as some other characters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Percy also chucks in a reminder of Logan’s longstanding romantic tension with Jean; X-Men<\/em> has indicated that there’s some sort of menage-a-trois relationship going on with Cyclops at the moment, but neither book has explored that further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 9-11.<\/strong> Kate Pryde briefs Wolverine on thefts of drugs from the Krakoan supply chain.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kate Pryde<\/strong> is currently meant to be dead over in Marauders<\/em>, though I think we all know she’s clearly going to get better. She’s wearing the same traditional X-Men costume that she was wearing in X-Men\/Fantastic Four <\/em>#1 (as opposed to her pirate outfit from early issues of Marauders<\/em>). There are some fairly ordinary-looking dock workers behind her, presumably loading drugs onto the Marauder<\/em> – since they’re on Krakoa, these are apparently mutant residents of Krakoa who actually have jobs and don’t just sit around admiring the plants all day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whisky.<\/strong> Kate was smuggling whisky onto the island in Marauders<\/em> #1 as well. It’s still not entirely clear why<\/em> Wolverine can’t just go through a gate, buy some, and bring it back – or get someone less conspicuous to do it for him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Krakoan farm workers <\/strong>appear to be versions of the Multiple Man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Everything gets delivered the old-fashioned way – by ship.”<\/strong> Er… well, kind of. X-Force <\/em>#4 (which Percy wrote) shows an oil-rig-style distribution site off the US eastern seaboard, to which drugs are apparently transported by gates. But presumably they complete their journey by ship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 12-13.<\/strong> Narcotics agent Jeff Bannister investigates the pollen cartel.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We’ll find out more about this guy in a data page right at the end of the issue, though it won’t explain the strange mark on the right side of his head. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGE 14.<\/strong> A data page on the Order of X. This mutant-worshipping cult has also appeared in Marauders<\/em>, which was rather more explicit in pointing out that they suddenly appeared at the time of Xavier’s telepathic address to the world, and may in fact be an indication of widespread psychic damage caused by that incident. This data page notes the timing, but nothing more than that. The Order has now taken to carving X’s into their flesh, and a few real extremists have got ideas about ascending by consuming mutants (not dissimilar to the U-Men from New X-Men<\/em>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 15-16.<\/strong> Sage finds a lead on the missing drugs in Moscow.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wolverine rounds up X-Force to investigate. Jean is a little more tactile with him than usual, but not drastically so. We’ve seen in Marauders<\/em> and X-Force<\/em> that Krakoa and Russia are on bad terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 17-18.<\/strong> Bannister visits his daughter in hospital.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

She’s on the waiting list for Krakoan drugs, so Bannister isn’t thrilled about people stealing them. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen it mentioned that the X-Men are struggling (and failing) to keep up with demand even for those countries that are meant to be on friendly terms with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGE 19.<\/strong> A data page about blood groups, the gist being that Wolverine’s blood has a healing property. This fits more closely with the back-up strip, particularly given the references to vampires – but it could also be relevant to Bannister.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 20-25.<\/strong> X-Force<\/em> blunder into a meeting of drug-crazed Order of X zealots.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It is no mistake that X is a tilted representation of the cross.”<\/strong> Wolverine was crucified on an X-shaped cross in Uncanny<\/em> #251. But this isn’t original; essentially the same reasoning was used in the Middle Ages to claim that Saint Andrew had been crucified on a tilted cross too. (If he was, it’s remarkable nobody thought to mention it earlier.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Because the mutants represent eternal life…”<\/strong> Literally true on Krakoa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pollen.<\/strong> The Order of X crazies believe that pollen – the drug made from stolen Krakoan pharmaceuticals – can eventually convert them into some sort of human\/mutant hybrid, whatever that would be. This pollen, however, is a synthetic knock off which kills them quickly. The next couple of scenes seem to suggest that this isn’t an intentional poisoning, but just a genuine botch job in trying to make pollen independently of the Flower Cartel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 26-28.<\/strong> Wolverine confronts the mobsters responsible for the tainted drugs.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mobsters explain that they’re trying to escape from the influence of the “Pale Girl”, who has some sort of mind control (or at least mind influencing) powers, and makes people commit acts of self harm. She seems to be a new character. Her group is the titular Flower Cartel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGE 29.<\/strong> In parallel, Wolverine and Bannister make plans.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bannister proposes setting up a meeting with the Flower Cartel. This is expanded upon in his data page later in the issue, which places the meeting in Alaska (which is where Wolverine and X-Force wind up).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 30-32.<\/strong> Alaska. Wolverine has a brief vision of the Pale Girl and meets Bannister and his men.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Logan is back to thinking about how dangerous he is, and how people should stay away from him (in contrast to his upbeat mood on Krakoa).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGE 33.<\/strong> Credits for the second story: “Catacombs” by Benjamin Percy, Viktor Bogdanovic and Matthew Wilson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 34-38.<\/strong> Omega Red arrives on Krakoa, much to Wolverine’s horror.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Krakoa.<\/strong> In this story, Wolverine is much more sceptical about Krakoa, regarding its shifting landscape as untrustworthy. It fits with X-Force<\/em> but seems a little at odds with his attitude at the start of the main story. Like some other characters, Wolverine seems aware of the strangeness of even A-list villains being accepted as fellow mutants, but also to accept it as part of the way things are on Krakoa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Omega Red.<\/strong> This is Arkady Russovitch, a Russian mutant who started as a serial killer, then got powered up even further by a Russian super-soldier program. He debuted in X-Men<\/em> vol 2 #4 in 1991, and was last seen in the “Age of X-Man” event, where he seemed<\/em> to get blown up in Apocalypse & The X-Tracts<\/em> #4. But that world wasn’t entirely real, so…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Omega Red is an unequivocal bad guy, but no worse than (say) Sabretooth, who was allowed onto the island. Like Sabretooth, he was also a member of Weapon X-Force, the team from the tail end of the recent Weapon X <\/em>series; he showed some signs of humanising in that series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 39-40.<\/strong> Wolverine investigates the chaos left behind by Omega Red in Paris.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Paris gate is the Arc de Triomphe, which I’m pretty sure we’ve seen before. This seems needlessly provocative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The idea that Omega Red reminds Wolverine of his “own worst self” is an angle that’s been done many times with Sabretooth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 41-44.<\/strong> Wolverine is reluctantly persuaded to investigate Omega Red’s claims that the bodies were nothing to do with him.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wolverine really is being inconsistent in objecting so strongly to Omega Red but not to some of the other murderous lunatics who are wandering around the island. On the other hand, Magneto’s argument that it’s an acceptable risk because any victims can always be resurrected is unimpressive – as Wolverine points out, the experience of being murdered would still be traumatic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 45-51.<\/strong> Wolverine investigates La Oubliette du Roi<\/em>, which<\/em> turns out to be a vampire bar. A Christian warrior, Louise, rescues him.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oubliette.<\/strong> An oubliette is actually a “bottle dungeon” – a dungeon only accessible through a door in the ceiling. I’m pretty sure the stuff about water being introduced is urban legend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 52-54.<\/strong> Omega Red claims he was fighting vampires.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vampire Nation.<\/strong> This is an established Marvel Universe term for organised vampiredom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Carbonadium synthesizer.<\/strong> This was a device that Omega Red needed in order to stabilise his enhanced powers, and which Wolverine did indeed help keep away from him. Omega is basically claiming that this was why he killed so many people; however, as Wolverine says, he was indeed already a serial killer before that point. (See, for example, Generation X <\/em>#11.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saint Julian.<\/strong> Specifically, this is the story of Saint Julian the Hospitaller, who may or may not have ever existed. Naturally, the bit where he kills his parents in a blind rage over adultery comes before<\/em> his conversion to Christianity, after which he’s supposed to have started building hospitals and houses for the poor. The bit of the story that interests Omega Red is that Julian brief turns from helping the poor after “the enemy” comes into his house in the form of a particularly disruptive poor person, but Jesus is supposed to have set him back on the right path. So he’s a reformed murderer who learns to let bad people into his home, you see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 55-62.<\/strong> Wolverine returns to Paris and fights vampires again alongside Louise.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Nightguard are new, as far as I can tell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dracula.<\/strong> Last seen in Deadpool<\/em> vol 4 #29, when he was supposed to have gone off into retirement with Deadpool’s ex-wife Shiklah. I suspect we’re just going to ignore all that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGE 63.<\/strong> Dracula gives Omega Red the Carbonadium synthesizer but keeps him as a double agent.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGE 64.<\/strong> A data page on… pollen? Are we sure these weren’t swapped round? Anyway, this is mainly back story for Bannister, making the point that different forces within the US government are giving him different signals – some want to shut down the trade, others see it as an opportunity to form an alliance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 65-67.<\/strong> Trailers. The Krakoan reads NEXT: BEYOND THE PALE.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition. WOLVERINE. This is volume 7 of Wolverine, and that’s just counting the titles that were simply called Wolverine. Volume 1 is the 1982 miniseries, volume 2 is the long-running ongoing title that started in 1988. The others are periodic reboots. COVER […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-annotations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5131"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5131\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5134,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5131\/revisions\/5134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}