(4) Marvel Ultimate Graphic Novel Collection - Wolverine issue 9

(4) Marvel Ultimate Graphic Novel Collection - Wolverine issue 9

Originally published in Comic form (Collects Wolverine #1-4, Uncanny X-Men #172-173), this is the 2012 hardback collection of the first solo outing of Wolverine.

Wolverine follows his true love Mariko to Japan, only to find that her father has re-appeared on the scene and has married his daughter to a violent mobster to pay off a debt. Mariko, a dutiful Japanese daughter, marries the mobster and so forces Logan into the arms of another (after a degrading fight with her father).

Meanwhile there is a consolidation of the black market mobsters in Tokyo, with ninjas and “The Hand” taking a central role. A price is also put on Wolverine’s head and there are regular attempts to kill him. Finally Wolverine comes out of his drunken depression, and there is a final showdown with Mariko’s father, and Mariko has to decide between respecting and protecting her father, and the Japanese traditions she holds dear.

With her father and her husband dead, the novel ends with the X Men receiving an invitation to Logan and Mariko’s wedding.

I must have read this story not long after it came out, as as I was reading this edition – repackaged in a hardback by Marvel in 2012 – I soon thought “I’ve read this before”. It’s a nice introduction to Wolverine on his own, and whilst the drawings arent crude, it is interesting to see the development of the character representation into later stories.