Uncanny X-Men #133

[iamrman]

Wolverine fights alone!

Go ahead, make his day!

Comments

[huntleyhaverstock]

Is it me, or does the dialogue feel really overwritten here, even by Claremontian standards? John Byrne's storytelling is so strong in these pages that fewer words -- even in that great Dirty Harry moment he gets with the last goon standing -- seem like they'd add to the effectiveness, not subtract from it.

[tcampbell1000]

I think it reads that way now, but at the time, Wolverine was such a barely-explored character that readers relished the more extensive look into his thoughts.

[wizardru]

Maybe it reads like a LOT of internal monologue and talking, but at the time (and for me, still), this is great stuff. This is Claremont hitting his stride; here we see the strings being set up for Senator Kelly as an important character, for example. And this is one of the first real times Wolverine gets to shine...and readers loved it.

By 'modern' Wolverine standards, he seems both tamer and less superhuman than he would become. This a Wolverine that is at risk from being machine-gunned to death and can be knocked down.

It's also worth noting this isn't the first time Wolverine has killed, but may be the first time he did so on-panel. His handing of the guard in the Savage Land was the first time, iirc, and I remember being SHOCKED at it, much like Kurt is in that same scene.

And yes, Byrne and Austen's visuals here are amazingly good; you can follow the story without any dialogue, generally and so much visual detail happening here that it tells a large part of the story on it's own.

Man this is some good comics.

[blues32]

I like that they kept Wolverine taunting the henchman when they made the animated adaptation. Cal Dodd nailed it, as usual.

[mazway_75]

Again, the issue that boosted Wolverine to the book's true star.

Of course, Claremont later retconned it so those guards survived only becoming more cyborgs.

[zylly]

Wolverine is so over the top skilled and unkillable these days, I can’t imagine what it was like reading this sudden bump up in threat back in the day.

I do kind of have to agree with the retcon of his kills here. I’m deeply uncomfortable with super heroes killing under just about any circumstance (though if he was just a generic action movie character instead, I’d probably be fine with it), but that’s just a me thing. But the X-Men cartoon did just fine not letting Wolverine actually stab anyone.