Listen to the episode here!
Art by David Wynne, after Katsushika Hokusai. Prints available until 10/12; or contact David to purchase the original.
Welcome to the Wolverine comic that will forever set the bar for Wolverine comics.
Shingen: Totally a dick. (Wolverine #1)
Seriously. This asshole. (Wolverine #1)
Things that never get old: Frank Miller drawing Wolverine beating up on Ninja. (Wolverine #2)
Other things that never get old: Our favorite lady, Yukio! (Wolverine #2)
Okay, look, like 2/3 of this gallery is just going to be us drooling over these amazing Frank Miller fight scenes. Deal with it. (Wolverine #2)
Mariko is less impressed with Miller’s stylish portrayal of gruesome violence. (Wolverine #2)
MORE NINJA! (Wolverine #3)
Yukio, ladies and gentlemen. (Wolverine #3)
Taking a break from drooling over stylish fight scenes to drool over a stylish chase scene. (Wolverine #3)
If you’re not hearing the narration in Steve Blum’s voice, you’re doing Wolverine wrong. (Wolverine #4)
LOOK AT THAT NARRATIVE SYMMETRY. (Wolverine #4)
We were going to choose one or two panels from this fight scene, but, nope, it’s perfect. Deal. (Wolverine #4)
HOLY BALLS FRANK MILLER (Wolverine #4)
The X-Men show up to congratulate Wolverine on the completion of his first solo miniseries. (Uncanny X-Men #172)
Look at that adorable Ninja meet-cute! Also: Pretty sure Smith is taking a cue from Miller with the sudden influx of vertical panels and silhouetted buildings. (Uncanny X-Men #172)
Yeah, look, remember how we said this was gonna all be Miller fight scenes? There will also be a lot of Storm and Yukio, because, Storm and Yukio. (Uncanny X-Men #172)
In which Kitty Pryde realizes that Wolverine has been moonlighting in a significantly less code-sensitive series. (Uncanny X-Men #172)
There is literally nothing that you can tell us that will convince us that these two ladies are not Totally Doin’ It. (Uncanny X-Men #172)
Meanwhile, Rogue and Wolverine bond over casual violence. (Uncanny X-Men #173)
Seriously. (Uncanny X-Men #173)
Totally Doin’ It. (Uncanny X-Men #173)
They should really just hand out little warning pamphlets about Mastermind. What a dick. (Uncanny X-Men #173)
Remember when Madelyne Pryor was AWESOME? Sigh. (Uncanny X-Men #173)
Ooh, burn. (Uncanny X-Men #173)
THAT SINGLE TEAR. (Uncanny X-Men #173)
John Byrne’s original concept for what Wolverine would look like under the mask. He ended up using this design for Sabretooth instead.
Next Week: The New Mutants meet Team America!
Further Reading:
Frank Miller’s art style has changed so much over the years that it’s not always easy to look at his early work and recognize it as definitely his… Until there are ninjas or people fighting in silhouette. Then it becomes unmistakeable.
I can’t help but notice that the way the podcast is handling the X-Men’s chronology has conveniently led to Storm’s night with Yukio being discussed twice in consecutive episodes. I assume this is Rachel’s doing, and I for one approve.
So this episode got me to pick up the trade via Comixology, as I haven’t had the issues in…well, a long, long time. Anywho, a few thoughts (having read the first half).
1: It’s irrelevant, but every time they translate ‘Hai’ as ‘Hei’ I want to stab someone in their face. It’s weird that they got more complicated phrases correct (and ‘Iie’), but went with that very non-standard spelling. I don’t know why that bugs me so much, but it does.
2: I can definitely see the progression of Miller right before Ronin. Some stuff is clearly him still developing a style, but when he starts channeling Goseki Kojima, his influences are RIGHT. THERE.
3: Interesting how Wolverine’s narration happening mostly in boxes means that it reads almost like a modern comic. The thought balloons outside of the narrative almost seem out of place and it’s curious to see when Claremont uses them and when he doesn’t.
4: Orzechowski. ORZECHOWSKI!!!
5: One thing that this comic really makes me reflective about is reading on paper versus an e-reader using ‘guided view’. I’m not sure how that changes the experience. The guided view actually makes it flow more like a movie in some ways, but the whole page aesthetic and composition is compromised. I’m curious what you guys think about one versus the other, especially given Rachel’s feelings about some pages she’s picked up and their effect as a page, versus a collection of panels.
While I’m also interested in how Japan and Japanese culture is portrayed in American comics, I have heard some Japanese people pronounce “hai” as “hei”–Japanese, like English, has a range of variant accents (including vowel shifts) depending on region, generation, and individual voicing. Having said that, of course, it doesn’t necessarily follow that it was used in a way that was plausible for the character. Even as I write this, though, I’m beginning to suspect that swarms of ninja were also uncommon in early 80s Japan.
Looking back, I also wonder about things like the Emperor having invitations to the wedding sent out in his name. I realize this was meant to express how well-connected Mariko was, but I honestly don’t know whether the Emperor of Japan would involve himself in such an event (I mean, hosting a high-society wedding). Next someone’s going to tell me adamantium is a fictitious substance.
If I had to No-Prize that one, I’d say he’s expressing his gratitude for Wolverine and Mariko’s role in dismantling a major crime syndicate, rather than it just being something he does for anyone of her social stature.