Wolverine #2: Patch vs. possessed!Jessica Drew

[schmevil.insanejournal.com]

Reading old Wolverine is turning out to be a strange experience. By the time I got into the character, as a kidlet, he was already nigh unkillable, and Madripoor and the Patch identity were getting passe. Here it's... ostensibly fresh? I don't know - there's just something interesting about these pre-bone-claws, pre-Origins, pre-invasion-of-the-Logan-clones, Wolverine.

It's still Wolverine, with all the cheese that implies, but it's a much more interesting Wolverine. It's a Wolverine who still had some secrets to explore. I guess what I'm saying is that there's a cheeseball charm to it?

Also-- wha-what? Depowered, 80s Jessica Drew? In my Wolverine comics? It is Claremont, and what Claremont story would be complete without a sexy! powerful! dominant! woman, in clothing that resembles bondage gear? Of course, in this story, Jess has become a Claremont girl, via the miracle of demonic possession (Evil Is Sexy!).

Evil Is Sexy! Not so much with this art, but the point stands. Leather, cutouts, overly former language, and a lady kicking some dude's ass? Iiiit's Claremont.

So Logan is in Madripor, looking for the Muramasa sword aka the Black Blade. Somehow, Jessica Drew and her actress roommate have gotten mixed up in the Madriporian shenanigans, and been tapped as couriers for the sword. Lindsey, Jess's roommate, met up with Logan last issue, and now they've teamed up to look for Jess, who's gone missing.

I should point out here that early Wolverine seems to be a cross between Samurai and Detective fiction. It's a welcome change from today's SNIKTBUBSKNITBESTATWHATIDO malarky, that passes for Wolverine comics. Sure it's Claremont, with all his writerly tics on display, but the much reduced SNITBUB quotient makes up for the yellow box abuse.

Anyway - as I said, Logan is looking for the Black Blade, and for a missing, depowered, Jessica Drew. He leaves the roommate downstairs, in a bar, while he investigates the rooms upstairs. He finds his lead dead, thanks to the Silver Samurai. Fighting, obviously enough, ensues. Blah blah, explanation of Samurai's powers. Then who should show up, but possessed!Jesssica? Oh dear.





I think you can fill in the gaps: fighting, fighting, dramatic confrontations, way too much narration, fighting.

Then we get the big fight.











DUN DUN DUN!

Kinetic, and mercifully restrained (for a Wolverine story). I like that we're seeing his fighting skills on display, instead of the now-popular canon-fodder gorn model of fighting that so many creators lean on. Of course, this is back in the days when it took Wolverine some time to recover from running through a hail of bullets.

Final thought: slightly weird art; fun fight. y/n?

Comments

[taggerung301.insanejournal.com]

old wolverine comics are always good stuff in my opinion

[aaron_bourque.insanejournal.com]

Third to last panel, last scan: Patchverine is watching you masturbate!

[halloweenjack.insanejournal.com]

Heh. I was thinking that this isn't John B. at his best (and not helped by the coloring; WTF is up with those orange faces in the second-to-last page), but that he still has his moments, and the crazyfaces are some of the best.

[geoffsebesta.insanejournal.com]

Definitely, definitely not Buscema at his best.

This comic comes from about the exact moment that Wolverine got overplayed.

[freeman333.insanejournal.com]

And he likes what he sees.

[dustbunny105.insanejournal.com]

That last panel could almost be the cover of a romance novel.

[btravage.livejournal.com (from insanejournal.com)]

Doesn't using the claws while "dressed" as Patch kind of render the disguise obsolete?

Oh, tell me about it..

[steverodgers5.insanejournal.com]

Just earlier today I was reading an old Wolverine issue where's he's getting into cage matches with other supervillain types..(Puma, Toad, Taskmaster etc..) and he's entering the ring still under the silly Patch name, and even weraing the Patch when he's going up against people who know he's Wolverine!

I mean wouldn't this put him at a significant disadvantage in such fights? ..Y'know lossing half your peripheral vision so you can maintain a disguise that isn't even working at all? (Sometimes I think Wolverine's healing factor must get round to repairing his brain cells last!)

[(Anonymous)]

I seem to recall there was bit later on where Drew and rest say they've known Patch was Wolverine in disguise since day one- but when the adamantium-clawed killing machine asks you call him Patch... you call him Patch.

[okkult3000.insanejournal.com]

It turned out that pretty much his entire supporting cast knew he was Wolverine, but didn't want to hurt his feelings. There was really no reason Karma, who knew him when she was in the New Mutants, would be fooled by an eyepatch.

[goblinthebamf.insanejournal.com]

I love this era of Wolverine, wish the New Avengers would reference it from time to time.

[scarlettwyst.insanejournal.com]

You would think the moment in the shower with Veranke-Jessica would have drawn a comment, but maybe because she was fake, it didn't?

[psychop_rex.insanejournal.com]

This is interesting - I like the idea of Wolverine reading like an extreme version of a martial arts flick. It makes sense - he's trained in the orient, he views himself as a ronin of sorts (or he used to), and ONLY an extremely accomplished fighter can hope to stand against him in pitched combat for more than a few minutes. There's far more drama in showing Wolvie kickin' ass in waterfront bars and burning warehouses against accomplished warriors who can give him a bit of a workout than there is in watching him wade through yet ANOTHER merciless hail of bullets to slice to pieces the latest cyborg/superhuman/whatever to dare face off against him.

[stratosfyr.insanejournal.com]

Black Blade Jess vs. Red Sonja MJ: Hoo'd win?