Hard to believe there was A time when wolverine wasn’t appearing in every single Marvel comic one way or another. But everything has a beginning and this is where Wolverine first really broke away from his X-MEN cohorts and on his own.

Back in the mid 1980’s Wolverine was (as still is) by far the most popular character of UNCANNY X-MEN. So it was only natural for him to get his own mini-series. X-MEN scribe Chris Claremont came along but more importantly the artwork was to be done by future comics legend Frank Miller!

Basically, the story involves Wolvie going off to Japan to see his true love MARIKO but is shocked to discover her married to another man, arranged by the return of her long thought dead father, SHINGEN. Over the course of 4 issues, Wolvie fights ninjas, an assassin named YURIKO, and in some ways, his own savage nature.

First, Claremont’s script is a surprisingly quick read. He has in the past been criticized (and rightly so!) for his lengthy monologues that often don’t seem to fit with the artwork but here it is different. When Wolvie speaks, it’s important. His inner monologue helps move the story along instead of distract from it(except for the “recaps”-see Bad below). I say Wolverine but really the story is about Logan. I know that seems weird but this is more a story about Him being stripped down mentally and hitting rock bottom. It is here Logan has to decide if he is a man, or the animal he is always accused of being. The addition of SHINGEN as the main villain is what causes his fall. SHINGEN is a great villain who challenges Wolverine in every way, both at fighting skills and psychologically. What is interesting is how Shingen constantly taunts Logan in order so bring out his “animal” side. One of the great scenes is early on is when Shingen invites Wolverine to a duel using wooden practice swords. When Wolvie asks “why not real swords”, Shingen simply responds “you are not worthy of a true sword”. It’s not until near the end of the series that Logan is able to come back with a great response to that.

Frank Miller deserves a lot of credit here. Miller’s artwork is similar to his mid 80’s Daredevil work. What that means is you don’t get the exaggerated splash pages and women dressed like hookers that you dominate his later artwork. It’s a minimalist style that fits perfectly here. What’s great is the fights scenes are choreographed and have a nice flow to them. Too often Wolverine artists like to show him just hacking and slashing everything in his path. There is only One fight where he is shown going “berserker”, but it perfectly follows the path the story is taking him.

Another treat with the art in the depiction of Wolverine himself. People sometimes forget that he was never intended to look like Hugh Jackman, or look particularly “handsome”. He is supposed to be a short, hairy man who has a haircut you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy! Miller draws him as such, always keeping in mind his size compared to others in the same panel(something some current artists could keep in mind).

As mentioned above, there is one really annoying problem that I’m sure is more the fault of Marvel editorial at the time rather then the writer himself. Originally a four part mini-series, each chapter wastes one or two pages of inner monologue listing Wolverine’s powers and abilities. The healing factor, the metal, the claws, ect. This get especially annoying when reading the series in a paperback over a single sitting. I know the reasoning for this was probably so a reader who missed the first issue could understand who Wolverine is. But if you jumped into a novel after the first chapter would you expect the writer to constantly recap the first chapter? If the story is good enough, fans will hunt down the previous issues.

Definitely a great quick story that still stands the tests of time. The fights scenes are well done and this is a great depiction of Wolverine that goes beyond being just a “berserker”.