{"id":6344,"date":"2021-02-28T20:38:55","date_gmt":"2021-02-28T20:38:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=6344"},"modified":"2021-12-18T21:13:02","modified_gmt":"2021-12-18T21:13:02","slug":"the-incomplete-wolverine-1983","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=6344","title":{"rendered":"The Incomplete Wolverine – 1983"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Part 1: Origin to Origin II<\/a><\/em> | Part 2: 1907 to 1914<\/a><\/em>
Part 3: 1914 to 1939<\/a><\/em> | Part 4: World War II<\/a><\/em>
Part 5: The postwar era<\/a> | Part 6: Team X<\/a>
<\/em> Part 7: Post Team X<\/a><\/em> | Part 8: Weapon X<\/a><\/em>
Part 9: Department H<\/a><\/em> | Part 10: The Silver Age<\/a><\/em> 1974-1975<\/a><\/em>\u00a0
\u00a01976<\/a><\/em> | 1977<\/a><\/em> | 1978<\/a><\/em> | 1979<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a01980<\/a><\/em> | 1981<\/a> | 1982<\/a><\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n

We left off with the Brood arc, which extends into early 1983. The X-Men and the Starjammers had just figured out that Professor X was infected by the Brood, and were racing back home to sort it out. Along the way, they stop for a flashback in\u00a0Excalibur<\/strong><\/em> vol 1 #116<\/strong>, in which Kitty and Kurt insist on doing what they can to help a Sidri starship in trouble. Wolverine’s there, but he doesn’t contribute much.<\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/a>UNCANNY X-MEN vol 1 #167<\/a> <\/strong>
“The Goldilocks Syndrome!”
by Chris Claremont, Paul Smith, Bob Wiacek & various
March 1983<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

The X-Men storm the Mansion in pursuit of the Brood-infected Professor X, only to encounter his latest recruits the New Mutants<\/strong> – Cannonball<\/strong> (Sam Guthrie),\u00a0Psyche<\/strong> (Dani Moonstar),\u00a0Wolfsbane<\/strong> (Rahne Sinclair),\u00a0Karma\u00a0<\/strong>(Xi’an Coy Manh) and\u00a0Sunspot<\/strong> (Roberto Da Costa) – who try to defend their home. After the usual fight, both teams join forces to defeat the Brood Queen, and Sikorsky clones Xavier a new body. This body can walk, but Xavier still has psychosomatic issues for a little while. Since Deathbird has seized control of the Shi’ar Empire, Lilandra also stays on Earth for now. And the Professor infuriates everyone by demoting Sprite to the New Mutants.<\/p>\r\n

As you might expect, Wolverine’s not the focus here. He completely outclasses the New Mutants that try to deal with him – he even shrugs off Karma’s possession powers – but dutifully notes that they’ll be more dangerous once they’ve had time to train. He supports killing the Professor, but only because he’s unaware of the cloning option.<\/p>\r\n

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\"\"<\/a>X-MEN ANNUAL vol 1 #6<\/a>
“Blood Feud”
by Chris Claremont, Bill Sienkiewicz, Bob Wiacek & Glynis Wein
1982 <\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Dracula, who still has influence over Storm after Uncanny X-Men\u00a0<\/em>#159,\u00a0sends her to steal the anti-vampire Montesi Formula. Mind-controlled by Dracula’s daughter and rival Lilith,<\/strong>\u00a0Sprite and Colossus set out on the same quest. The X-Men defeat Dracula with the help of his new vampire consort\u00a0Rachel van Helsing\u00a0<\/strong>(previously a vampire hunter in\u00a0Tomb of Dracula<\/em>), who then lets herself get killed by sunlight. Lilith pronounces the outcome satisfactory. Mostly a Storm \/ Kitty \/ Colossus story, but it’s Wolverine who gets to hold Rachel and stake her according to her wishes; he sees this sort of unpleasant but necessary task as his role in the team.<\/p>\r\n

MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE ANNUAL #7
<\/strong>“And They Shall Call Him… Champion!”<\/strong>
by Tom DeFalco, Ron Wilson and various
<\/strong>1982<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

The alien\u00a0Champion<\/strong> demands that Earth’s strongest heroes fight him at Madison Square Garden, and says he’ll destroy the world unless someone can beat him. Colossus is one of the selected heroes; the X-Men try to interfere, without success. Champion defeats everyone, but is so impressed by the Thing that he spares Earth anyway.<\/p>\r\n

MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE #96<\/a>
“Visiting Hours”
by Tom DeFalco, Ron Wilson, Mike Esposito & George Roussos
February 1983<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

The Thing is hospitalised after his battle with the Champion. Loads of supervillains have a go at assassinating him, and the X-Men are among the many guest stars fending them off. Only the Sandman makes it through, but he just wants to offer Ben a beer.<\/p>\r\n

By the nature of the story, Wolverine crosses paths here with a truly random selection of supervillains he hasn’t met before:\u00a0the Grapplers<\/strong> (Titania, Letha, Screaming Mimi<\/strong> and\u00a0Poundcakes<\/strong>),\u00a0the Mole Man, Blacklash, the Melter, Mirage, the Constrictor, MODOK\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0the Mecho-Marauder<\/strong>. Most of them are nonentities, though Mole Man and MODOK are fairly high profile, and Mimi goes on to become Songbird from the Thunderbolts.<\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/a>SPECIAL EDITION X-MEN #1<\/a>
“A Day Like Any Other”
by Chris Claremont, Dave Cockrum, Hilary Barta & Andy Yanchus
February 1983<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

A glorified featurette in which Kitty gives Illyana a tour of the Mansion. Wolverine’s room is now kitted out in minimalist Japanese style, though it also has empty beer cans lying around. Oddly, he has photos of both Mariko Yoshida and Carol Danvers displayed with equal prominence.<\/p>\r\n

At the end, the X-Men and the New Mutants hold a surprise belated birthday party for Kitty, who turned 14 during the Brood arc. If you’re ticking off names, this is Wolverine’s first on-panel meeting with Kitty’s dance teacher\u00a0Stevie Hunter<\/strong>.<\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/a>WOLVERINE: FIRST CLASS #21<\/a>
“The Last Word”
by Peter David, Scott Koblish & Jim Charalampidis
November 2009<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

The final issue of\u00a0Wolverine: First Class<\/em>\u00a0has to come here, since the plot hinges on a fully working holodeck-style Danger Room, but Kitty is still wearing her generic X-Men outfit. Wolverine and Professor X test Sprite by pretending that the scenario has gone wrong. Not especially memorable.<\/p>\r\n

UNCANNY X-MEN vol 1 #168<\/a>
“Professor Xavier is a Jerk!”
by Chris Claremont, Paul Smith, Bob Wiacek & Glynis Wein
April 1983<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Near the start of the issue, Logan has a chat with Kurt about whether Kitty should be put back on the team. He makes a heart-over-head argument that she should, based on how much she’s proved herself, despite acknowledging that it’s not a rational position. (He does\u00a0attempt an argument that Kitty would be in just as much danger as a civilian as she would be on the X-Men, but\u00a0come on<\/em>.) Then, Logan heads off on holiday to the Canadian Rockies, not to return to the pages of\u00a0Uncanny<\/em> until issue #172.<\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/a>WOLVERINE vol 1 #1<\/a> (prologue)
“I’m Wolverine”
by Chris Claremont, Frank Miller, Josef Rubinstein & Glynis Wein
September 1982<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

In the Canadian Rockies, Logan tracks down and kills a bear which has been driven mad by a poisoned arrow, then deals with the irresponsible hunter who shot him. This has nothing whatever to do with the rest of the series, except to define the character at the outset for new readers. The issue tells us that Logan then returns to the X-Men Mansion, and finds that his letters to Mariko have been returned unopened. (This is seen in\u00a0flashback in\u00a0Wolverine: Origins<\/em> #46.<\/strong>)<\/p>\r\n

After trying to get through to the Japanese embassy and the Yashida estate without success, Logan heads to Tokyo to kick off the miniseries proper. Except… it turns out to be a bit more complicated than that.\u00a0There’s a nasty continuity scramble around this point. To set the scene:<\/p>\r\n