Jessie Robertson looks back on Larry Hama’s run on Wolverine…
In just two short weeks, I’ll be attending the Cincinnati Comic Expo for my third time and if there’s one name in all of the guests that stood out to me and put me on fanboy tilt, it would be “Lethal” Larry Hama. Hama is mostly known for his amazing G.I. Joe story arcs, including the famous “Silent Interlude” issue, but for me, when I first grew into reading comics continuously I , like a lot of impressionable youngsters, really got into Wolverine. As I’ve grown older, a lot of comic bookies sort of frown on the ole Canucklehead, saying he’s stale, boring and overblown; obviously they had never read Hama’s run. It inspired me at a young age to not only try to map out plot, scenario and setting, but to try and capture that inner dialogue of a character. Hama does this so well with Wolverine, finding his voice somewhere between Clint Eastwood as “The Stranger” and David Carradine as “Caine” from Kung Fu; he portrays Logan with a simple wisdom, but a code of honor. It’s brilliant stuff. So, before I get down to Cincy to meet this legend, I went back and re-read his whole run (which I own in single issues) and picked out some of his most famous (and personal) favorites:
Issue #50
Besides the awesome “die-cut” cover that purveyed the comic scene in the 90’s, this story was the culmination/ continuation of Barry Windsor-Smiths’ ground-breaking “Weapon X” storyline that revealed the first pieces to Logan’s past. It centered around the Weapon X project, you know the one where Logan was implanted with his adamantium skeleton in the first place? In this issue, he’s tracked through his past and found a lot of the fractured memories weren’t real at all but played out on a soundstage to give him the perception they were real; his final piece comes as he searches for a meaningful location, a cabin by a lake, one he shared with one of his greatest loves, Silver Fox, also a member of the Weapon Program; along the way, a protocol is released, an android named Shiva, tasked and programmed with killing all the remaining Weapon subjects.
Issue #57
That cover by Marc Silvestri! So Amazing. We find Logan in Japan, traveling back to the Yashida Household, where he spent time training and falling in love with the heir to the throne, Mariko herself. In the tangled web of Wolvie’s women, Mariko was the one he wanted to marry but her duties as Head of the Yashida Clan took precedence and their love was put on the back burner. With chaos within her organization , Logan returns with Gambit and Jubilee to lend a helping hand. Little beknownst to him, another former lover, the Silver Fox, arranges for Mariko to fall for being poisoned by blowfish toxin, which she does and begs Wolverine to not let her die slowly, but in his arms and by his hands. This is the first time I ever cried while reading a comic. To know he had to do this for her just tore me up inside. To get even crazier, another of Logan’s women, Reiko, who was infatuated with him, hari-kari’s herself knowing Wolverine was already in love with someone else. This was a powerhouse dramatic issue if there ever was one in this medium.
Issue #65
Wolverine is surprised to find out his former Weapon X love Silver Fox is still alive, but only for a moment; she was brutally murdered by Sabretooth and the mutant that implanted the false memories into his brain last issue. Wolverine is replaying a Danger Room scenario where he gets revenge by killing Sabretooth, over and over again since he got away for real. Nick Fury and Wraith (another Weapon X victim) show up and tell Wolverine they had found the cabin he and Fox shared and could show him; this was a huge moment for him as it gave him hope that at least one thing from his clouded memory was actually true. It’s a touching scene as he tells them to leave him there and he proceeds to dig her grave by himself, which springs up a memory of digging for a well when they first moved there years ago, as he stares at her in the summer breeze and laments how perfect their life is together. Hama shows again the caring nature of this character, the real stuff in the pit of the heart and it’s wonderful.
Issue #68
There’s nothing crazy significant about this issue but it was my first Wolverine comic ever and reading it hooked me into this series enough to go back and get all the back issues before it. Here, Wolverine further explores the “Terry Adams” mystery, from his wetworks days but finds an old Soviet Super-Astronaut named Epsilon Red who was supposed to be scrubbed years ago; he tries to help Logan unlock the memories of that mission and show how they nearly killed his pregnant wife at the time and begged Logan to let him die in peace, in space, the only place he ever belonged. It’s a good story and has a cool twist at the end involving Red’s daughter and adding another horrible crime to Sabretooth’s long list.
Issue #75
Even though I think #76 had some strong story writing ( but I never liked the art in it) where Logan chases down a fox that caused him to wreck on his bike, who is chasing down a rabbit for food and how he empathizes with the fox and rabbit at the same time, this issue is a classic part of a larger story. The X-Men are faced with an impossible situation with Magneto gone off the deep end, this time, truly believing he must kill humanity for mutants to survive. Wolverine takes it upon himself to actually kill Magneto, something no other X-Man should have to live with; problem is, he’s filled with Adamantium metal and Magneto deals him the ultimate blow; he rips the metal skeleton from Logan’s bones. This throws his mutant healing factor into overload and it stops working altogether. This entire issue takes place on the Blackbird, with Logan reliving this horrific scene, and others, as Jean Grey and Charles Xavier try to enter his fractured mind and help bring him back from death. The end has a terrific panel where the Jet has been knocked off course and Jean is blown clear of it but in the knick of time, the once thought dead Logan reaches out a hand to pull her to safety. It begins a unique journey in Wolverine’s life without the things that made him the badass he always was. An even bigger shock comes when he pops his claws, which are bone, revealing the fact that these claws were always part of his mutation and not just an add-on by the Weapon X program.
Issue #79
Wolverine is now off the X-Men and on the trail of his past yet again and this time leads him to delve into a mysterious firm he apparently was on the payroll for a number of years; one of their handlers, Zoe Culldoen, confronts Logan and tries to figure out what he knows. Meanwhile, Cyber, a hulking beast of a man with adamantium skin hears about what happened to Logan and wants the skeleton for himself; he tracks Logan down and an epic battle ensues. At this point, Adam Kubert had joined the team and the full page panels we got in many issues around this time are breathtaking. This issue is famous for Cyber stomping on Wolverine’s hand and breaking the bone claws off his right hand. Another classic issue.
Issue #90
This is the penultimate issue of this run, for me, personally. This is the book I’m taking with me to Cincy to have Larry sign. First, that cover; the Hildebrants drew an amazing face off panel that wraps around the whole cover then Adam Kubert draws a side image of the two mortal enemies locked in battle. Let me set the stage: at this point, with Wolverine gone, the X-Men bring in Sabretooth, who is slowly going feral himself; they see a kindred spirit in him and since he’s a mutant, try to help him the same way they helped Wolverine. Logan keeps warning them they shouldn’t trust him and he should be put down like a rabid dog; but to no avail. In issue #90, Wolverine returns home to the X-Mansion for a few days and a mission sends the rest of the team out, leaving just him and Sabretooth alone.
You have to understand, being a teenager reading this stuff, it’s how you know it’s good because I personally hated Sabretooth at this time, with a deep passion. He was the worst of the worst to me and it drove me nuts how many times he’d attacked Logan and made his life a living hell with no payback. Now, these two had fought many times before; but this was the battle to end all battles. Sabretooth is encased behind a force field which he can’t break free from; so Logan leaves him be and goes about his night, trying to do anything to keep from thinking about going down and gutting Sabretooth; he eats some dinner, watches some old TV, works out; but Sabretooth has been planning this, all along and just as Logan seems to relax, he breaks free and all holy hell goes down. These two go at it like never before and Wolverine’s healing factor is still recovering during all this.
The last couple pages are what made this issue stand out in my mind (and it’s still amazing to this day) when Sabretooth (always playing mind games) pushes Logan to the brink, trying to make him into the animal he’s fighting so hard not to be come, telling him he’ll personally kill every single person he loves, Jubilee, Kitty Pryde, even Jean Grey unless Wolverine finishes him off. He beats Sabretooth down and Sabretooth gives him no choice; so what does Logan do? He pops 2 claws around Sabretooth’s head, with the 3rd ready to strike. Just as that claw pops, right into Sabretooth’s brain, an unknown event occurs, causing a glitch in the current timeline; this event would come to be known as Age of Apocalypse.
What a way to end that story; such a tease that he actually killed Sabretooth and we’d have to wait over five months to find out he survived. I’ve always loved this issue, and it’s actually my single favorite issue of a comic book ever.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this trip down memory lane and maybe even encouraged you to seek out Larry’s amazing body of work over the years; this is just one part of it!
Jessie Robertson
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