July 1997
In a Nutshell
In a Nutshell
Logan meets the inventor of adamantium.
Script: Larry Hama
Pencils: Cary Nord
Inks: Scott Hanna
Letters: Richard Starkings & Comicraft/EM
Colors: Joe Rosas
Editor: Mark Powers
Script: Larry Hama
Pencils: Cary Nord
Inks: Scott Hanna
Letters: Richard Starkings & Comicraft/EM
Colors: Joe Rosas
Editor: Mark Powers
Editor in Chief: Bob Harras
Plot
Plot
Hoping to help Logan find some answers about his metal skeleton and his past, James and Heather Hudson have setup a meeting between Logan and Myron MacLain, the scientist who created adamantium. When Logan arrives at the Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C. to meet with MacLain, he is monitored by both the CIA and Hydra. MacLain is astonished to learn someone bonded adamantium to Logan's skeleton, having only heard rumors about a Japanese scientist developing a process for such. Just then, CIA agent Victor Creed bursts in; pleased to see Logan doesn't remember him, he pulls a gun, but a Hydra team attacks, hoping to capture Logan. interrupted by Hydra, who open fire on the pair, trying to hit Logan. The ensuing brawl is joined by Nick Fury and Carol Danvers, who rescue Logan with an assist from Black Widow, who tells Logan he's better off not joining any of the groups pursuing him. When Creed catches up to them, Logan defeats him, but rather than finish him, he merely takes his hat. Then Logan departs to return to Canada, more confused than ever. As he leaves, Hydra agents target him with a missile, but their leader Madame Hydra calls off the attack, opting to leave him alive — for now.
Firsts and Other Notables
Firsts and Other Notables
The title of this issue is a reference to Marcel Proust's "episode of the madeleine" from his In Search of Lost Time, in which he ruminates on the difference between involuntary and voluntary memory triggered by the taste of a madeleine (which brings forth unbidden a memory from his youth). Attributing it to Jean-Paul Sartre in the title is presumably a play on the fact that Wolverine's memories are all scrambled and he doesn't remember any of the people he encounters in the story.
In this issue's introductory setup, Stan Lee is working as a chef.
He is standing on top of the first page of the following issue (which begins the series' tie-in to "Operation: Zero Tolerance), drawn by Leinil Francis Yu, though it will change slightly when officially published.
Both Nick Fury and Carol Danvers are long-established as having a pre-superhero history with Wolverine (notably from the time during the "Dissolution & Rebirth" Era when Wolverine was regularly hallucinating the pair giving him advice). Here, Fury says that Wolverine and Danvers haven't met yet, but chronologically, they have, in Logan: Shadow Society.
Fury also either Wolverine he likes cigars, or introduces him to them.
Black Widow's past with Wolverine dates mostly to the flashback in Uncanny X-Men #268, in which he encountered her as a child, but she turns up here as well.
She goes unnamed in this issue, but the Madame Hydra in it is generally considered to be Silver Fox, Wolverine's former lover whom he believed Sabretooth to have killed, who first turned up alive and part of Hydra in Wolverine (vol. 2) #50.
The pilot who flies Wolverine to Washington DC in the experimental plane is Ben Grimm aka the future Thing of the Fantastic Four; Hama will write a miniseries a couple of years after this focusing on a pre-superhero adventure between the two.
It's also implied that Wolverine referring to himself as a "Canucklehead" came from Grimm.
The US Department of Agriculture being involved in the study of adamantium and other shady stuff (it's the department to which the US side of the Weapon X project belongs) was established by Hama earlier in the series.
Myron MacClain is the inventor of adamantium who first appeared in Avengers #66.
The Chronology Corner
The story is set after James and Heather Hudson found Wolverine following the implantation of his adamantium (and after they nursed him back to humanity, as dramatized in Alpha Flight #33), specifically between the second story in Alpha Flight #3 (which is more or less the origin of James Hudson becoming Guardian, which features a brief shot of Wolverine in reference to Hudson finding other potential superheroes) and the brief flashback in Uncanny X-Men #147.
Myron Maclain refers to Captain America as being deceased because, regardless of when this story may take place due to the sliding timescale, it is set before Cap came out of the ice in Avengers #4.
Lord Darkwind is the father of Lady Deathstrike, who did indeed invent the process of bonding adamantoum to bones.
Sabretooth is presumably referencing the death of Silver Fox when talking about the bad things Wolverine doesn't remember.
Fury yelling "waahoo" as he leaps into action is the titular howl of the Howling Commandoes.
Wolverine says someday he may put a claw through Sabreooth's brain; he does indeed, in Wolverine #90.
It's also implied that Wolverine's signature cowboy hat (or one of them) was taken off Sabretooth in this issue.
Larry Hama-isms
Hama calls out the "Aces II Ejection Seat" of the plane Grimm is flying.
Austin's Analysis
On the one hand, this is one of those stories that does that thing prequels do which annoys everyone, offering up the backstory to things that don't really need it ("it's the secret origin of Wolverine's affinity for cigars and cowboy hats!). It's also one of those prequels which crams a ton of established characters from the character's past into the story. Nearly *every* character in this story is a capital S someone: the pilot is Ben Grimm, Wolverine meets the inventor of adamantium, Sabretooth drops by, Wolverine is rescued by Nick Fury and Carol Danvers. It's frankly shocking he doesn't walk past a young Charles Xavier making a bank withdrawal or something.
On the other hand, the sheer volume of established characters shoehorned into the story is so large, it loops back around to being admirable. I don't know that we needed this particular tale of Wolverine's past told, but if you're going to tell such a story (because you're mandated to by Marvel's creation of a linewide publishing initiative dedicated to telling such stories) and you're going to work some notable connections from the character's past into it, then yeah, why not go all-out and just make everyone a notable someone? It's almost like Hama said, "you want a prequel story? I'll give you a prequel story where EVERYTHING is a wink or nod to something!" And I kind of dig that for him.
Next Issue
Next Issue
Magneto and Professor X face off in X-Men (vol. 2) #-1!
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There’s a character in Sartre’s novel Nausea named Madeline. She’s a minor character, but she’s the waitress at the cafe.
ReplyDeleteI get that it’s a reference to Proust, but the fact that there was actually a Sartre’s Madeline confuses matters. Was Hama aware of Sartre’s Nausea? Was it a coincidence? Why choose Jean-Paul Sartre though?
The title of this story sounds like one of those pretentious titles that would pop up in comic books, especially around this period, which sound profound but seem meaningless when you think about them. Then, the requisite exclamation mark at the end destroys the sense of grandiosity.
I’m also thinking of the Sabretooth mini-series published a few years later grandiloquently titled “Mary Shelley Overdrive”, which bore no relevance to the contents of the story, as far as I could see, and also is completely void of meaning when you try to parse out the reason for such a title for a throwaway Sabretooth story. At least Hama tries to make the title fit with this story, however tenuously.
Yep, might as well go all in on the premise.
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