Wolverine #303

Hey look, Wolverine and Sabretooth are battling it out on the cover of this issue... How much do you want to bet we don't get that scene on the inside of this one?

Wolverine #303:

Summary: Wolverine goes around Japan killing all of Goda's Hand ninjas, which is exactly what Goda wanted... Wha-huh? It seems Goda feels the best way to be a villain is to play puppet master from the shadows, and as such he didn't need any flashy ninjas around. From there, he has the Silver Samurai kill a mess of Japanese Yakuza heads, leaving a large power-vacuum in Japan's criminal underworld. To complete his plan, Goda has Mystique impersonate him at which time Deathstrike shoots Goda/Mystique in the head. Goda is smug that he was now dead to the world, at least until Mystique gets up and attacks Deathstrike. Goda is naturally furious since that wasn't his plan, and is shocked to find Wolverine storming his private building. Sabretooth reveals to Goda that Wolvie was there because Tooth had led Wolvie there, before flying away, leaving Goda to face Wolvie alone... It shouldn't be a big shock as to what happens there... In short, it involves a sword, Goda and impalement. While Wolvie is killing Goda, Tooth flies to the scene of Mystique and Deathstrike's battle and manages to convince Deathstrike to join with him. From there, we learn that Mystique has sent the photos of Wolverine having sex with her(in the guise of Yukio) to Wolvie's girlfriend, Melita. This issue ends with Tooth, Mystique, Deathstrike and the Silver Samurai killing the heads of all of the east Asian crime families, effectively making Tooth the head of ALL of east Asia's crime.

Thoughts: So, Sabretooth was brought back to life to basically do the plan Daken was doing about a year ago... Um... Huh... I don't even know what to say about that, so I'll say nothing until I see how it plays out down the road. But still, why not simply have Daken in Sabretooth's place here, especially since a) Daken was ALREADY doing this, and b) Daken's series is ending and he'd make a good reoccurring crimelord-type foe for Wolvie. I will say this, Mystique sending the photos to Melita? That was an awesome move by Jason Aaron, one I didn't see coming at all. I was thinking more along the lines that Mystique was trying to get pregnant during that scene, but breaking up Wolvie and his girlfriend is an even eviler move, so kudos to Aaron for that. Overall, this was one of the better “Wolverine goes to Japan” stories I've read, but considering how much I hate “Wolverine in Japan” stories, that's not saying much...

Score: 6 out of 10.

So wait, Sabretooth is Daken now?