Last Issue: 7 1/2 out of 10.
This entire comic is pretty much one big flashback comic, detailing Wolvie's time with his fiancée, Mariko Yashida. Long story short, before tackling Romulus for the last time, Wolvie wanted to air his feelings about Mariko, so he calls on the ever trusty Nightcrawler to hear him out. Wolvie tells the Elf about his first meeting with Mariko, they fall in love, but Mariko's father is an all around bad guy, who makes business deals with the Japanese Yakuza. As such, Mariko's father forces her to marry an abusive man, which eventually brings Wolvie back to Japan to make things right. In the end, the husband dies, and Mariko's father is dead at Wolvie's hands(or claws). Unfortunately, thanks to her father, Mariko's family was now indebted to the Yakuza, and until she had gotten her family clear of the Japanese mafia, she wouldn't/couldn't marry Wolvie. Eventually, one of Wolvie's old enemies, Matsuo Tsurayaba, who was leading a faction of the Hand at the time, went to Mariko and offered to take Mariko's place and align himself with the Yakuza, thus freeing her and her family from their mafia obligations. However, this came with a price, and that price was one of Mariko's fingers. Sensing something was wrong, Wolvie arrives on the scene, and tries to stop Mariko from lopping off one of her digits, but she was determined to free her family from the Yakuza, and wouldn't be talked out of it. Mariko begins to chop off the finger, but stops after the knife pierces her skin, as she realizes it was covered with a deadly(and agonizingly painful)blowfish toxin. Wolvie rushes to her aid, but there is nothing he can do as the poison rapidly courses through Mariko's system, leaving her in great pain. Finally, Mariko begs Wolvie to end her suffering, and he does, giving her one final, and deadly hug. After hearing the story, Nightcrawler tries to cheer Wolvie up, but nothing Kurt says seems to reach Wolvie. This issue ends with Kurt giving Wolvie a hug and saying goodbye to his longtime friend as he embarks on his greatest challenge yet, toppling Romulus. From there, Wolverine shockingly meets up with his evil son, Daken and asks for Daken's assistance.
Well, since I already knew all there was to know about Wolvie and Mariko's doomed romance, I have to say I was a bit disappointed in this comic. I guess for those less well-versed in Wolverine's lore then me, this was a good little history lesson, unfortunately, I didn't need a refresher course... The end kind of shocked me, because I was under the impression that Wolvie was trying to keep Daken as far away from Romulus as possible, since once Romulus was dealt with/killed, it's almost guaranteed that Daken would make his move against Wolverine in an attempt to acquire all of Romulus's vast resources. Maybe Wolvie is going to try to ditch Daken, I don't know. Anyway, for us long-time Wolvie fans, this issue doesn't really give us much, but newer Wolvie fans should definitely give this comic a read.
Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.
Aww come on, what kind of a hug is that?!?
Sounds like this issue could have been mostly summarized with a recap page. I seem to remember an issue of X-Men Unlimited (or maybe it was a short vignette at the end of Wolverine's own book?) where Wolverine would go to Matsuo once a year, on the anniversary of Mariko's death, and take another body part from him. Do you remember that story, or am I slowly starting to lose my mind (or both)?
ReplyDelete"Sounds like this issue could have been mostly summarized with a recap page." I agree with that 100%. I'm not exactly sure what the point of this comic was, unless Mariko is coming back to life of something...
ReplyDeleteDon't worry Marc, you're not losing your mind yet, I do remember that story. I want to say it happened in Wolverine's comic, but it also could have happened early on in the X-Men series. I can distinctly recall Wolvie ripping one of Matsuo's nostrils, which I read as a kid and always thought was a weird thing to do... I mean, why his nostril?