Marvel Comics Presents #4 (Wolverine)
"Save the Tiger, Part 4 of 10: The Ordeal"
Writer - Chris Claremont
Pencils - John Buscema
Inks - Klaus Janson
Letters - Tom Orzechowski
Colors - Glynis Oliver
Assistant Edits - Michael Rockwitz
Edits - Terry Kavanagh
Chief - Tom DeFalco
We're back on the Marvel side of the street... with another issue of Marvel Comics Presents! Let's check in with our leading man...
--
We open with Wolverine waking up... chained and bound. He is soon joined by Sapphire Styx, that woman who wouldn't stop introducing herself back at the Princess Bar... and who, kinda sucked out his soul with a kiss last chapter. She's here... well... to pretty much do the same thing again. It would appear that she's some sort of energy-vampire or something. She plants one on him, which envelops him in darkness... and leaves him as gentle as a pup.
Enter: Mr. Roche, Razorfist, and some dude whose just really happy to be there. Roche introduces himself as the "Crimelord" of Madripoor... which is kind of adorable, and he plans to do whatever it takes to pry some information out of our hero. He wants information on "The Tiger"... and they're going to get it, one way... or another. He motions to the fella who's just really happy to be there... and it looks like it's about to be torture time!
Back at the Princess Bar, Jess and O'Donnell chat a bit about the curious hairy stranger that popped by earlier. Jessan doesn't remember him, but notes that he said he knew her in the "old days". O'Donnell reminds her that she's a different person now. She acknowledges this fact, and comments that she doesn't even miss the woman she used to be.
From here, we get a page and a half of Wolverine being tortured. The tormentors finally decide to throw it in for the day, and leave our hero to his lonesome. It's here that Chris Claremont dutifully reminds us that our main man is packin'... both razor-sharp Adamantium claws... and a Mutant healing factor. For those keeping score, I think we're now four-for-four on those reminders! He cuts himself free of his shackles, and after a time, stumbles his way out of wherever the hell he's being held. Unfortunately for him, he stumbles right into the path of... Razorfist!
Ol' Fist... well, he kicks the weakened Wolvie's ass... stabbing him in the throat... and tossing him into the drink, which rushes right into a waterfall. Hmm... Roche ain't gonna find out what he wants to know this way, will he? Whatever the case, Razorfist salutes the assumed dead Wolverine, and laments that they could've been great enemies. Well, maybe don't flatter yourself too much there, Fist...
--
While I enjoyed this, for what it was... I gotta say that this was probably the weakest chapter of the Wolverine story up to this point. Doesn't make it bad... just makes it "not as good" as they had been.
It's mostly an expositional episode... but, it's done quite well. It never feels like we're being lectured... or just having information "dumped" on us. Right now, as a sister-project here at the site, I'm going through the recent House of X/Powers of X event... and, I wish there were more of this in that... than what we're getting there. Claremont was able to "show don't tell", or perhaps more accurately "show and tell", whereas today... we're just dolloped scoop after scoop of info-dump.
Even though all we're getting here was information... about Roche, about Jessan... it doesn't ever feel like we're reading a page in a textbook... and for that, I can't not like this for what it is. That said, there also isn't all that much for me to expound on here... it really is a case of "it is what it is". A foundational chapter, from which we'll hopefully build on in future installments.
Good... not great.
Tomorrow: Man-Thing!
Marvel Comics Presents #3 (Wolverine)
"Save the Tiger, Part 3 of 10: The Gals"
Writer - Chris Claremont
Pencils - John Buscema
Inks - Klaus Janson
Letters - Tom Orzechowski
Colors - Glynis Oliver
Assistant Edits - Michael Rockwitz
Edits - Terry Kavanagh
Chief - Tom DeFalco
Welcome to Week Three!
Once we get through this issue, we'll have the same amount of Marvel Comics Presents under our belts as we have DC's New Talent Showcase. Hmm...
So tell me, gang... would you rather we just press on with the MCPs... or maybe flip-flop from this point on? Does anyone have a preference? Does anybody even care? *tap-tap* is this thing on?
Lemme know!
--
We pick up right where we left off... with Wolverine surprised that he'd run into Jessan Hoan. Whodat? Well, let's find out. She is a financial whiz-kid from Singapore, who got caught up with the X-Men during a Reavers attack in the Australian Outback days of the team. We jump ahead to Roma offering the X-Men the opportunity to pass through the Siege Perilous... which is a pretty big (and nebulous) subject unto itself. Jessan refused to pass through... and so, Roma offered to just send her back to the moment before she got all entangled with the merry Mutants. So... while Logan recognizes her... she hasn't the foggiest idea who the weird hairy creep she just met in the street is. Man, an editorial footnote here might've been of assistance.
Wolverine and Jessan start to rumble... she ain't takin' kindly to him pawing all over her, and so... she takes a page out of the Mr. Fuji playbook, and blinds him with some powder before hip-tossing him into the street, right into the path of an oncoming truck. This allows Claremont to drop a reference to Wolverine's mutant healing ability... which makes us three-for-three! The fight s'more, with Jessan giving our hero the slip... and then running him over with a stolen motorcycle!
While our man licks his wounds, he is approached by sweet, sweet Sapphire from the Princess Bar. Whatta thirsty broad! She attempts to sweet-talk him, however that doesn't work all that well. So, instead... she just plants a kiss on him. This is one whopper of a kiss, from Sapphire "Styx"... as Wolverine is suddenly "consumed... by a sea of shadows".
Logan pushes Sapphire away, and attempts to flee the scene. Unfortunately for him, he stumbles right into the waiting spikes of... Razorfist! Wolvie's kayoed... and Sapphire (who is in cahoots with Roche... and prob'ly ol' Fist) looks about ready to strike.
--
Another solid chapter!
I tell ya what... I was not expecting any references to The Siege Perilous. That seems like one of the more esoteric bits of Claremont's X-Men run... and, it's kind of weird seeing a nod to it here. I know a lot of folks feel like the X-Men line of books (even back in the late-80's), were daunting to downright overwhelming. I couldn't imagine what those on the outside might've thought upon seeing the team pass through a giant brooch to begin their new lives!
As a fan of the X-Fam, I loved seeing this reference... though, as mentioned during the synopsis, I feel as though an editorial footnote (or five) might've come in handy for the uninitiated.
Outside of the callback, this is basically a big fight scene. Wolverine underestimates Jessan, and gets thrown in front of a truck... and run over by a motorcycle for his troubles. Thankfully he's got that (oft-mentioned) Mutant healing ability! We also get the "swerve" on sweet, sweet Sapphire. She of the soul-sucking kiss... or something. I thought it was weird that Claremont kept making sure to give her a little bit of panel-time over the last couple of chapters... so, it was neat to see it pay off here.
Razorfist... the character we spent half of last chapter building up, gets a panel and a half of play-time... but, I don't really have a problem with that. I'm sure we'll see plenty more of him during the remaining five chapters.
Overall, I really dug this... and I'm looking forward to more!
Tomorrow: Body Horror!
Marvel Comics Presents #2 (Wolverine)
"Save the Tiger, Part 2 of 10: The Bad Guy"
Writer - Chris Claremont
Pencils - John Buscema
Inks - Klaus Janson
Letters - Tom Orzechowski
Colors - Glynis Oliver
Assistant Edits - Michael Rockwitz
Edits - Terry Kavanagh & Michael Higgins
Chief - Tom DeFalco
Hey gang... today we kick off issue #2, which is always a bit of a let-down, from a content-creation point of view. Gone is the "freshness" and novelty of the project... and now, it's just become "business as usual". The initial excitement (if there ever was any) sorta wears off... and we go back to being just a repository for future researchers to hopefully happen across when looking for information on these lesser-discussed anthologies.
Well... chin's up folks. We've got a job to do... and there ain't nobody else out there dumb enough to do it!
--
We open with a bearded fellow informing a group of "young gentlemen" that he is quite disappointed in them. This man... well, he doesn't bother to introduce himself, but he's referred to as "Mr. Roche". These "young gentlemen" are comprised of the punks that Wolverine beat the hell out of in our prior chapter. The geeks make excuses... but, our well-dressed financier isn't havin' any of it. He decides it's time to introduce them to a... um, less well-dressed individual. In fact, this guy looks damned goofy. Ladies and gentlemen... I give to you: Razorfist!
Could this be... could it be we've already found our "Malvolio"? What ol' Mal was to Action Comics Weekly... could Razorfist be to Marvel Comics Presents??? Ehh, probably not. Anyhoo, Razorfist makes short work of the punks. Mr. Roche then gives him his next mission... which is, duh, kill Logan.
Speaking of Wolverine... when last we left him, he had a whole lotta guns pointed at his mug. That O'Donnell character has taken point on the discussion... and would really like to know how this hirsute stranger knew the late Dave Chapel. Logan explains that he happened across the fella while on one of his many leisurely treks through the desert... ya know, like ya do. Chapel was in a bad way... professionally tortured and left to perish. Before he died, he gave Wolverine a locket to return to Madripoor... and so, that's what he's trying to do.
O'Donnell isn't so sure he's buying this story... and so, Logan more or less dares him to try somethin' funny. O'Donnell proves that he's no dummy by pocketing his firearm. This impresses sweet Sapphire, who thirsty broad that she is, introduces herself to Wolverine yet again. He still isn't terribly interested. Out the window, our hero notices a familiar figure wearing one'a those Raiden from Mortal Kombat hats. Could this be one of those guys Shang-Chi fought at the flophouse last issue? Nah...
Wolverine gives chase... in a scene that reminds us both that he: a) is a mutant with super-keen senses, and b) has unbreakable Adamantium-laced bones. We might have to start keeping track of how many times we're going to "learn this"... I have a keen interest in that old chestnut that "every comic is somebody's first", so this tickles me... perhaps more than it should. Anyhoo, Logan catches up to this stranger... and we find out that it's actually Jessica Hoan! You might be asking, "Who's Jessica Hoan?", to which I'd respond with "How dare you..." No, actually, I haven't the foggiest myself (maybe she's Tiger Tyger? Or izzit Tyger Tiger?), but I'm looking forward to finding out more... next time!
--
Chris Claremont has proven to be such a versatile writer during his career... but, I'm honestly a bit surprised (and impressed) at how well he's adapted his style to an eight-page format. Sure, he did a bunch of weeklies in his time, Captain Britain and what-not... but, man... this had some great flow to it that, sadly, cannot be said for a lot of the stories we got across the street in Action Comics Weekly. Over at DC Comics, the shift to eight-pagers seemed to be the bane of most writers' existence. Stories were uneven, weirdly paced, and sometimes just a total mess when it came to the "nuts and bolts" of comic book storytelling!
Mr. Claremont doesn't have that same problem... in fact, he seems to have the ability to tell his same style of story... ya know, very wordy... but still with plenty of action and characterization, in any-size-chunk he chooses! It's a true testament to his talents!
So, whatta we got here? Well, we get some information on the punks from the previous chapter, as well as meeting the mastermind and the new "big bad" on the block. Logan's story at the bar gets picked up perfectly, and we find out a bit about Dave Chapel... and our hero's motivations for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Then, we get a decent enough cliffhanger with the arrival of Jessica Hoan (who I'm like 87% sure is Tiger Tyger/Tyger Tiger... however the hell the name actually goes). Feels like we're getting actual progression... and we're only 16-pages in. Really enjoying this. The art... well, it's the same as last time. Good stuff, but I really don't care much for this frumpier-faced Logan. And, Razorfist? Sweet Lord... that's one dopey-looking character! Yikes.
Tomorrow: A Muck-Encrusted Mockery... of a Story? Nah.
Marvel Comics Presents #1 (Wolverine)
"Save the Tiger, Part 1 of 10: The Good Guy"
Writer - Chris Claremont
Pencils - John Buscema
Inks - Klaus Janson
Letters - Tom Orzechowski
Colors - Glynis Oliver
Assistant Edits - Michael Rockwitz
Edits - Terry Kavanagh & Michael Higgins
Chief - Tom DeFalco
What fresh hell is this?!
I don't think any of the regular readers were expecting this... heck, even I wasn't really expecting this... but... we're gonna be attempting the "right the ship" here at Chris is on Infinite Earths. The place has been... kinda directionless of late, and believe it or not, that's weighed on me quite a bit. I feel pretty guilty for shifting the focus of the site to a primarily audio repository. I mean, that's not what visitors of this site "signed up for", ya know?
So, how does a guy fix that? Welp... he might just dig back into an old bag of tricks. Longtime readers will remember that for the majority of 2019 the focus of this site was a little project called Action Comics Daily. That was where I looked at every single story from every single issue of Action Comics Weekly... and, there's a wonderful (if I do say so myself) Archives Page featuring the entire deal that you can check out if you are so inclined. Just click'a the gif'a below:
Action Comics Daily... as uneven (story-qualitywise) a project as that was sort of like being covered in a warm blanket. It was comfortable... it was mine... it was ours. It allowed me to still provide daily content, while not spending hours and hours (and hours) writing and formatting every day.
So, how does one follow up a project like that? Well... maybe we take a trip across the street and see what Marvel was doing right around the same time. Marvel Comics Presents... was originally intended to be a weekly comic! Perhaps, since it is an anthology, even an answer to Action Comics Weekly! Cooler heads eventually prevailed, and instead of hitting shelves every single week... MCP would go bi-weekly. Well, that's close enough for me!
So folks, friends, wonderful visitors... welcome to Marvel Comics Chrisents (not to be confused with Marvel Comics Croissants... which, might be a decent merch idea!)... I hope we survive the experience!
--
We open with Wolverine looking over the city of Madripoor. Boy, I remember growing up, anytime I'd see the word "Madripoor" my eyes would glaze over, and anything else in whatever room I was in would suddenly become a lot more interesting to me. Worth noting, the view here is lovely. Logan gives us the quick-n-dirty on this little island principality... and we learn that it, like many civilized places on the planet, has what you might consider a "nice area" and a "not so nice area"... thankfully, we're not being all that subtle here, and so they're called Hightown and Lowtown. You can probably figure out which is which.
Anyhoo, Logan heads into the Princess Bar, as he's looking for a fella named O'Donnell. Turns out, the Irishman (I'm assuming) is in the middle of getting his butt-kicked by a bunch of street toughs. We know they're "street toughs" as they all have really bad punk-rock hairdos. Wolverine interjects, and starts beating up the baddies.
As he rocks their worlds, we get the usual internal monologue regarding his unbreakable Adamantium skeleton and his Mutant Healing Factor... heck, he even shares that he's Canadian! Remember when comics used to treat each issue like it could be somebody's first? A lost art, I tells ya. Wolverine tosses all the punks until just one remains. The geek grabs a human shield and threatens to blow her brains out if the stranger with the muttonchops takes another step. Logan's all "go ahead and kill her..." but warns that as soon as the trigger's pulled, he'll be on him like white on rice. The punk decides that discretion is the better part of valor, and bolts out the joint.
We wrap up with Wolverine greeting Mr. O'Donnell... and meeting Sapphire, the recent human shield, who gives him a peck on the cheek. Logan explains that he's here to meet Dave Chapel... hmm... do I make the easy jokes about Rick James and cocaine? Nahhh. Turns out, Dave Chapel is... dead! Suddenly, Wolvie's warm reception turns stone cold as all of the bat patrons draw their weapons on our man.
--
Anyone else getting those Action Comics Daily chills? Just me? Should I have my temperature taken?
This feels a whole heck of a lot like an opening chapter we would have read back last year in ACW... and, I tell ya what... I really like it. It feels like a homecoming in a way... though, I am known to over-romanticize things, so your mileage may vary.
Here, Wolverine introduces us to both himself and the city of Madripoor... and does so without it coming across as an expositional dump. I mean, it's wordy, yes... it is Chris Claremont after all... but, it never feels like a lecture. Claremont's got this style down to an art form.
We find out he's here to chat up a fella named O'Donnell... about another fella named Dave Chapel. That's really all we get... but, as an opening chapter in a brand-new title... I kinda feel that's all we need. We get nice action... Wolverine gets to show his stuff... and talk tough. What more could I ask for from an eight-pager in an anthology?
The art here is very nice... though, I always found Buscema's Logan as looking a bit too old. Not in an "Old Man Logan" sort of way... just in the frumpy, "pro-bowler" or "competitive eater" sort of way. Ya know what I mean? Hopefully it won't be long until he's under a mask... though, I suppose that'll remain to be seen. I've actually never read these stories before, so I'll be experiencing them for the first time along with y'all (well, those of you who have also never read these).
Tomorrow: (A not-so-Giant-Size) Man-Thing!
