X-amining Wolverine #114

"For The Snark Was A Boojum, You See!"

June 1997

In a Nutshell

Wolverine & Lady Deathstrike fight over the mysterious box while Ogun reveals himself. 

Script: Larry Hama
Pencils: Leinil Francis Yu
Inks: Edgar Tadeo
Letters: Richard Starkings & Comicract's Emerson Miranda
Colors: Joe Rosas
Editor: Mark Powers

Previously, in Wolverine...

Plot
Tracking the possessed Helen, Wolverine encounters Damion Hellstorm, Son of Satan, who warns him to keep the mysterious box Wolverine received from Zoe Culloden safe. Just then, Lady Deathstrike attacks, seeking the box herself, which she claims is part of her family's legacy. At Wolverine's apartment, Storm and Phoenix open the box, and realize the importance of keeping it safe. As Wolverine and Lady Deathstrike fight, the possessed Helen reaches "her" apartment, discovering a weapons cache. Wolverine calls a truce, saying he'll give Deathstrike the box once he checks in with Zoe, and she agrees. Just then, Helen bursts into Wolverine's apartment, guns blazing, but Phoenix attacks the entity possessing her on the Astral Plane. As Wolverine and Lady Deathstrike arrive, the entity possesses Lady Deathstrike. Shifting her cybernetic features to reveal its identity — Wolverine's old sensei, Ogun — the Ogun-possessed Lady Deathstrike flees into the night. 

Firsts and Other Notables
At one point in this issue, Jean notes that Wolverine's recent feral regression is more or less over; his posture is normal, and he's more competent than ever. Combined with that fact that his dialogue is no longer being lettered differently, this effectively marks the official end of the "more animal than man/noseless Wolverine" iteration of the character that's been in place since issue #100 (even though he's been depicted as akin to normal for much of the last several issues). Going forward, we'll have "regular" Wolverine again (albeit still with bone claws). 

This creates a bit of a visual continuity issue, as Wolverine appears in X-Men (vol. 2) #62-64 in his somewhat more feral state, and that leads directly into Wolverine and the X-Men being captured by Bastion, which means this story has to take place before it, despite him being back to normal at this point. 

Wolverine #114 also marks the effective end of the East Village status quo that Hama has setup, with Wolverine living out among the people in an apartment with a supporting cast, as next issue is part of Marvel's "Flashback Month" (in which every series publishes a "#-1" issue set in the past), and after that it rolls right into the "Operation: Zero Tolerance" crossover (which ignores it), and then Hama leaves the book, and the next writer immediately blows up the setting. 

As a result, while Larry Hama sticks around for a few more issues, they are concerned with other things, making this the effective if not technical end of his long run as series writer.  

Oh, and we never find out what's in that box or why everyone wants it or why it's so important Wolverine protect it, as this is its last appearance. In true Larry Hama fashion, he had no specific idea for what would be in the box or how it would tie-in to future stories; it was effectively just a MacGuffin he never had a chance to develop further. 

This is also our last regular Adam Kubert cover. It's also the first issue of the series to feature a genuine variant cover (as opposed to a different cover to denote a newsstand edition, second print, etc.). 

Following up on his cliffhanger appearance last issue, Damion Hellstrom aka the Son of Satan aka Hellstorm (yes, his codename is his last name with two letters reversed...) pops up at the beginning of Wolverine #114 to reiterate the importance of the box (joke's on him...). Wolverine knows him as one of the (old) Defenders.

Lady Deathstrike also pops up in this issue, seeking the box (which she claims is part of her family's birthright, a claim Wolverine ultimately accepts). In the end, she gets possessed by Ogun (who finally gets fully revealed as the evil spirit running around the last couple of issues possessing people). This also more or less goes nowhere, as the next time both appear it will be as their own beings (though Hama does use Ogun's experience in possession of Lady Deathstrike's body to setup his next appearance). 

The semi-mysterious past of Helen, Wolverine's civilian friend/would-be love interest, gets revealed: she's a former army pilot who got shot down during Desert Storm, captured and tortured and/or raped, which gave her PTSD that led her to stockpile weapons in her apartment for protection. Had Hama stuck around, maybe he'd have done more with this, but as is, it feels like using a pretty serious and complex situation for a quick and easy bit of characterization. 

The Chronology Corner 

Wolverine next appears in X-Men Unlimited #15, while Lady Deathstrike next appears in the first issue of the "Heroes Return" Captain America and Ogun in the Kitty Pryde: Agent of SHIELD miniseries.

A Work in Progress

I love that Hama both has Hellstorm do nothing but spew a bunch of cryptic nonsense AND have Wolverine hang a lampshade on the fact that all he does in the issue is show up and spew cryptic nonsense. 

As a result of modifications made by Donald Pierce during her last appearance in the Domino miniseries, Lady Deathstrike says she has a cybernetic healing factor now to match Wolverine's mutant one. 

A speech bubble towards the end of the issue gets misappropriated to Jean instead of Helen. 

The Grim 'n' Gritty 90s

In an exceptionally gratuitous bit of cross-promotion, Jean mentions that Wolverine has worked or Landau, Luckman and Lake in the past, with a footnote citing the Path of the Warlord one-shot  

The Reference Section

The title of this issue's story is taken from Lewis Carroll's nonsense poem "The Hunting of the Snark", inspired by Wolverine comparing Hellstorm's cryptic warnings to Carroll's "Jabberwocky."

The Ogun-possessed Helen, wielding her army gear, looks an awful lot like Lady Jaye from Hama's G.I. Joe.  

Human/Mutant Relations

Repeating a familiar refrain of this era, Jean says that mutants more feared than ever now. 

Austin's Analysis 

I've never been a huge fan of Leinil Francis Yu's artwork. It's always seemed stiff and static, while also being scratchy and overly-messy (which is to say nothing of his fondness for pyramid-stacked team shot covers). But revisiting this early Wolverine work of his, I find myself quite liking it. There's a smoothness and a brightness to it that seems at odd with his later style, which somehow makes things feel more dynamic. Probably what I'm really responding to is Edgar Tadeo's inks, but either way, it has me looking more forward to the remainder of Yu's run on this book than I had been previously. 

Meanwhile, Wolverine #114 stands as something of curiosity, the conclusion of an arc meant to setup a new status quo and ongoing mystery which, due to outside circumstances, also carries an air of finality to it despite not technically being the end of any creative run and only the end to a minor story. The intrusion of both the flashback month and "Operation: Zero Tolerance", which take Wolverine away from the setting Hama has setup, followed by the jettisoning of that setup immediately after Hama leaves the book, means this issue is both a beginning and an end at the same time. As such, its easier to forgive some of its faults — Hellstorm dropping in out of nowhere to drop some repetitive cryptic hints, Lady Deathstrike getting shoehorned into the mix, Helen's unfortunate backstory (which in the absence of her becoming an actual character reads like using sexual assault for cheap drama) — for the fact that we have no idea what Hama might have done with those elements in the future given the chance. 

Next Issue
Another mini as the Shi'ar come to Earth in Imperial Guard #1-3.

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