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Post by rberman on Oct 13, 2018 8:51:22 GMT -5
Kitty Pryde and Wolverine #2 “Terror” (December 1984)
The Story: Kitty flees Shigematsu’s office, revealing her powers to her dad in the process. Ogun cuts a deal with Shigematsu, who apparently is in his debt; Ogun intends to possess Kitty. He puts on a devil mask and snorts sleep dust in her face when she materializes in the basement. Then he takes her somewhere, shreds her clothes, burrs her hair, and works some kind of telepathy that regresses her to infancy, then makes her feel like she’s been raised by him as a ninja.  Logan realizes that Kitty’s abortive collect call from Japan was an implicit cry for help. Somehow he knows to go threaten Shigematsu, who sets up dinner for Logan at Ogun’s house. Ogun preps to have Kitty attack Logan. My Two Cents: The “Kitty ages rapidly from infancy to her actual age while training” montage brought two comparisons to mind. One was the Magik mini-series in which Illyana was trained for several years by a variety of tutors, including ninja Cat and demon-lord Belasco. The other point of comparison was the chillingly effective sequence in Joss Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men #17 (Nov 2006) in which Emma Frost caused Kitty in an instant to live a three year fantasy in which she was wed and then betrayed by Peter.  The story of Carmen Pryde and his shady business deal with Shigematsu has been rapidly left behind. Ogun is clearly the real villain, and Shigematsu is relieved to be out of his debt. The only element of note here is that Carmen quickly abandons Kitty to Ogun, but since Ogun appears to have mental powers, that (or the money laundering thing) may not reflect any evil on Carmen’s part. That is the trouble with mind-control plots, as I have noted before: They destroy moral agency. Ogun looks at a photo on the wall of himself having a Japanese meal with Logan, a hint of backstory yet to come. Or more accurately as far as I know, a backstory that never does come.  Last issue made a big deal that Kitty is getting a fever. But that plot point is lost for the rest of the series. I guess she has a whole week (as we are later told) to get over that illness while training with Ogun.
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Post by rberman on Oct 13, 2018 8:52:25 GMT -5
Claremont definitely envisions Sabretooth as Logan's father today, with his mother being an angel who lives in Madripoor. But I was wondering whether that was what Claremont thought in 1982 when he wrote that Logan knew who his father was. The story of Logan evolved substantially over time, even just under Claremont's pen. Where did Claremont refer to Logan's mother "being an angel who lives in Madripoor? I think I learned that tidbit on this podcast interview with Claremont from 2016: www.xplainthexmen.com/2016/03/100-unexpected-wonder-with-chris-claremont/ |
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Post by nadler on Oct 14, 2018 0:33:35 GMT -5
I listened to the full hour and twenty minutes, but Chris doesn't mention it there. |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Oct 14, 2018 5:22:00 GMT -5
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Post by nadler on Oct 14, 2018 5:26:06 GMT -5
In that interview, Byrne also referred to Logan having "lived up in the mountains for most of his life, feral, until he was found by James Hudson". However, Mac and Heather didn't find Logan until after he'd been bonded. So how could he have lived in the mountains and been feral until found by Hudson if he'd been turned into... |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Oct 14, 2018 5:30:06 GMT -5
In that interview, Byrne also referred to Logan having "lived up in the mountains for most of his life, feral, until he was found by James Hudson". However, Mac and Heather didn't find Logan until after he'd been bonded. So how could he have lived in the mountains and been feral until found by Hudson if he'd been turned into... I have no idea...I'm not really a fan of Wolverine or the X-Men and know little or nothing of his origin. I was just intrigued by yours and rberman's discussion here and decided to do a quick google for info. That link is what I found. |
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Post by nadler on Oct 14, 2018 5:32:59 GMT -5
In that interview, Byrne also referred to Logan having "lived up in the mountains for most of his life, feral, until he was found by James Hudson". However, Mac and Heather didn't find Logan until after he'd been bonded. So how could he have lived in the mountains and been feral until found by Hudson if he'd been turned into... I have no idea...I'm not really a fan of Wolverine or the X-Men and know little or nothing of his origin. I was just intrigued by yours and rberman's discussion here and decided to do a quick google for info. That link is what I found. All cool:) What's your wheelhouse? |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Oct 14, 2018 5:41:30 GMT -5
I have no idea...I'm not really a fan of Wolverine or the X-Men and know little or nothing of his origin. I was just intrigued by yours and rberman's discussion here and decided to do a quick google for info. That link is what I found. All cool:) What's your wheelhouse? In terms of Marvel superheroes, I'm more of a Spider-Man/Dr. Strange/Daredevil kinda guy.  |
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Post by nadler on Oct 14, 2018 6:03:24 GMT -5
All cool:) What's your wheelhouse? In terms of Marvel superheroes, I'm more of a Spider-Man/Dr. Strange/Daredevil kinda guy. I'm Chris Claremont's X-Men run all the way (and Gru's Captain America second;). My blog can be found at fanfix.wordpress.com |
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Post by rberman on Oct 14, 2018 6:52:34 GMT -5
Kitty Pryde and Wolverine #3 “Death” (January 1985)
The Story: Logan is on his way to meet Ogun at a temple, and Yukio meets him on the rooftap for a spar, a smooch, and a chat. Disguised in a demon mask that can’t be good for her field of vision, Kitty ambushes Logan on a rooftop and between some poisoned claws and her phasing powers gets the best of him.  Yukio is caught sneaking into Shigematsu’s headquarters. She temporarily gets the upper hand on a sumo bodyguard who tells her about Ogun’s plans for Kitty before the course of fighting separates them; Yukio also finds and rescues a drunken Carmen Pryde in the process.  Yukio and Carmen hear of a second Wolverine/Demon ninja match-up in a rail yard and hustle there in a stolen car. Logan realizes that he is fighting Kitty, and she stabs in right through the chest in the sort of scene that the Comics Code didn’t used to allow. 
My Two Cents: It’s a Logan-centric issue with a side of Yukio for variety. Kitty is mind-controlled and thus incapable of having any character development. There’s not a lot to say about this issue; it’s a solid action piece with three separate fight sequences and no gaffes that I can tell. Claremont explains how he wanted to handle Wolverine rather than having an ongoing series: A very different Yukio, a giddy girlfriend of Negasonic Teenage Warhead and fangirl for Deadpool, appeared in the Deadpool 2 film I saw last night. Her appearance in this comic book is welcome, and it makes perfect sense for her to track Wolverine down, though how she knew he was in town is unclear. “I have sources,” she says. OK, then. At least it was addressed.
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Post by rberman on Oct 14, 2018 7:01:09 GMT -5
I listened to the full hour and twenty minutes, but Chris doesn't mention it there. Well, drat. I know I heard it on a podcast interview with Claremont. Obviously my memory of that fact is not much help without knowing exactly which podcast it was. I'm not surprised that Byrne had a different origin idea for Logan; Claremont has probably had more than one himself over the years. Morrison placed Logan's origin in genetic experimentation in The World, but nobody else appears to have accepted that recton. |
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Post by nadler on Oct 15, 2018 5:53:38 GMT -5
Kitty Pryde and Wolverine #2 “Terror” (December 1984)
The Story: Kitty flees Shigematsu’s office, revealing her powers to her dad in the process. Ogun cuts a deal with Shigematsu, who apparently is in his debt; Ogun intends to possess Kitty. He puts on a devil mask and snorts sleep dust in her face when she materializes in the basement. Then he takes her somewhere, shreds her clothes, burrs her hair, and works some kind of telepathy that regresses her to infancy, then makes her feel like she’s been raised by him as a ninja. Logan realizes that Kitty’s abortive collect call from Japan was an implicit cry for help. Somehow he knows to go threaten Shigematsu, who sets up dinner for Logan at Ogun’s house. Ogun preps to have Kitty attack Logan. The story of Carmen Pryde and his shady business deal with Shigematsu has been rapidly left behind. Ogun is clearly the real villain, and Shigematsu is relieved to be out of his debt. The only element of note here is that Carmen quickly abandons Kitty to Ogun, but since Ogun appears to have mental powers, that (or the money laundering thing) may not reflect any evil on Carmen’s part. That is the trouble with mind-control plots, as I have noted before: They destroy moral agency. Ogun looks at a photo on the wall of himself having a Japanese meal with Logan, a hint of backstory yet to come. Or more accurately as far as I know, a backstory that never does come. Last issue made a big deal that Kitty is getting a fever. But that plot point is lost for the rest of the series. I guess she has a whole week (as we are later told) to get over that illness while training with Ogun. Though Uncanny X-Men #255-6 is often listed as Matsu'o Tsurayaba's first appearance, a minor ninja named Matsu'o appears in this particular issue. The Matsu'o here is notable for being the only ninja in the service of Ōgun to survive the miniseries. Was this an early appearance? If so, was Matsu'o undercover for the Hand here, or is Ōgun's Dojo a Hand training encampment? If the latter, does this suggest Ogun originally planned to turn Logan into master assassin for The Hand that long ago? |
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Post by nadler on Oct 15, 2018 5:56:14 GMT -5
I listened to the full hour and twenty minutes, but Chris doesn't mention it there. Well, drat. I know I heard it on a podcast interview with Claremont. Obviously my memory of that fact is not much help without knowing exactly which podcast it was. I do hope you manage to remember the correct interview:) |
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Post by rberman on Oct 15, 2018 7:29:00 GMT -5
Kitty Pryde and Wolverine #4 “Rebirth” (February 1985)
The Story: Yukio incapacitates Kitty with drugs, then drives her, Carmen Pryde, and the wounded Logan along a precipitous road. Kitty regains consciousness and phases out of her bonds, precipitating a brief fight in which Yukio kayos Kitty again. They arrive at Mariko’s fortress high in the mountains. When Kitty wakes up, she is herself again for the moment but realizes that Ogun’s spirit is still within her, liable to resurface. Convalescing, Logan plays Mr. Miyagi to her, though “Yoda” is her point of reference as he makes her rake patterns in a zen stone garden, hold a heavy sword at arms’ length, swim in a cold mountain lake, and jog in the snow. Kitty declares her training accomplished, ponders flying back to America, but ultimately decides to head back to Tokyo to confront Ogun again.  My Two Cents: Claremont plays with time in the first several pages, alternating panels from Kitty and Yukio’s first fight in the train yard (black border) with their second fight on the cliff (white border).  Logan tells Kitty a story about Miyamoto Musashi, the famed 17th century swordsmaster, facing off against mentally against an opponent (Ogun) and then declining to fight, deeming the battle already fought to a draw. I couldn’t find this story summarized on the internet, but surely it reflects Claremont’s research into Japanese culture, so good for him.  Logan explains that Ogun was his sensei but leaves the details deliberately vague as to time and place, except for “Man taught me just about everything I know.” That’s a big plot point! If Ogun is part of The Hand, that must be what Logan was bound for (or part of) as well. Claremont also makes room for Xavier to call and catch Logan up on events in other comic books, namely the death of James MacDonald Hudson in Alpha Flight #12 and the loss of Storm’s powers in X-Men #185. Claremont is well aware that it’s hard not to think of Luke Skywalker and Yoda and Darth Vader in this story about Logan and Kitty and Ogun. But I’m not sure whether it’s good or bad that he goes for it anyway. Kitty's "meditating to cleanse the evil" is somewhat similar to Claremont's story in The Deadly Hands of Kung-Fu #33 in which Colleen Wing gets involuntarily addicted to heroin and must meditate to purify her addiction.  Things we do not know: How Kitty gets from the isolated mountain fortress to the airport; how Kitty pays for an airplane ticket back to America (unused) or to Tokyo (used). More ATM robbing perhaps; whether Mariko knows that Logan, Carmen, and Yukio are hanging out at her fortress for days. Who guards it? Who is feeding them? As with the Xavier mansion, we never see anyone else on the premises, but we’ll learn next issue that somebody is clearing snow from a private runway, and that Mariko keeps a private plane and its pilot stationed there.
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Post by rberman on Oct 16, 2018 6:03:20 GMT -5
Kitty Pryde and Wolverine #5 “Courage” (March 1985)
The Story: Kitty’s first stop in Tokyo is Shigematsu, from whom she demands a withdrawal from dealings with her father. In a series of events covered briefly by later narration rather than seen through art, Kitty decides that Ogun will probably try to kill Mariko tonight, so she sneaks into Mariko’s apartment, convinces Mariko to hide with her ward Akiko (called “Amiko” in her previous appearance in X-Men #181), and poses as sleeping Mariko. Ogun does come calling that night, and the two ninja engage in a lengthy fight that sees Kitty break Ogun’s psychic hold on her while being physically defeated by him.  Logan, Carmen, and Yukio takes Mariko’s private jet from the mountain fortress to Tokyo, and takes the opportunity to berate Carmen for being a lousy father and human being. Logan shows up at Mariko’s apartment (how did he know to go there?) to stop Ogun from killing Kitty.  My Two Cents: This issue debuts the navy blue aviator-themed costume (complete with a long scarf that would be very unwise to take into melee) that would be the basis of various costumes she’ll be wearing for years. Kitty uses a new name “Shadowcat” for the first time after breaking Ogun’s hold. His devil mask may be impractical, but its unbroken leer is quite unnerving, even in a comic book. But it looks like a Western version of the devil, with red skin, horns, and pointed ears. I doubt that’s what a Japanese demon head looks like. Claremont is among those whose favorite X-Man is Kitty Pryde: “She’s the first one I created. A lot of her character was taken from Louise’s daughter Julie.” (Comics Creators on X-Men, page 79)
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