Writer Jason Aaron
Art for Chapters 1, 4, 7 – Adam Kubert & Paul Mounts
Art for Chapters 2, 5 – Ron Garney & Jason Keith
Art for Chapters 3, 6 Steve Sanders & Sotocolors
Letterer VC’s Cory Petit
Cover Dated March 2012
Back in Japan, Part One of Four
I thought I didn’t buy this and recently, I had added it to my Wishlist but I’m glad that I did buy it that day. I can only imagine that I was thinking “one day, some website will claim this is Kitty Pryde in it, and I will have this at the ready” which is the type of thoughts I have.
Westchester. Jean Grey School for Higher Learning. Kitty is pulling Quentin by the ear, all the way to Wovlerine’s headmaster office. In what I can only imagine happens all the time, Wolverine has place a sticky note that states simply “Gone to Japan!” I like that Wolverine placed an explanation mark after words, as I doubt he vacations in Japan. Maybe once he has a pile of dead bodies behind him but he never goes there to relax.
Chapter One – Welcome Back, Gaijin
Once over the Pacific, Wolverine fakes a bathroom break and that is when all of the passengers start their collective plan to kill him. It is nice to read Wolverine again, it has only been a few months since his death, but going from a slew of comic appearances to no comic appearances, I have noticed that he isn’t around as much.
Hours later, the plane lands, which Wolverine had to do himself.
Chapter Two – Secret of the Silver Samurai
Miyago Prefecture. The Lan Yashida Ancestral Compound. Yukio is in a wheelchair (for some reason, no editor note) she informs Wolverine that they buried the Silver Samurai where he fell, as he died protecting his family’s home.
The Red Right Hand did this and Wolverine has killed them all. So this probably happened at the end of Volume Three, before the renumbering.
Now that Clan Yashida is leaderless, the power void is being filled – which the Hand seems to be at the forefront. Wolverine implies that he will kill them all. Yukio jokes that he is ever the big American, come to save the Orientals. Wolverine is quick to point out that he is Canadian, which is very fun.
Some silly Yakuza start attacking Wolverine and Yukio. Honestly, why even attack Wolverine? You know you are going to die, maybe one just hopes that you lose only a few fingers and a pint of blood but why take that chance?
There is an ad for Secret Avengers 22 – New Creators, New Members and New Awesomeness. Rick Remender and Gabriel Hardman. The team is – Hawkeye, Beast, Black Widow, Captain Britain, Giant Man and Valkyrie . Seems like an odd grouping but I suppose that Beast, Valkyrie and Black Widow are the hold overs from the previous team, Hawkeye must be the leader of the team. Giant Man seems redundant with Beast on the team, and Captain Britain is their powerhouse, but also a third brain on the team. I wonder if this was any good?
82 seconds later, a reference to how Yukio told a Yakuza member that they will all be dead in 90 seconds. Yukio wouldn’t mind some love making now that there are dead bodies, she still has some feelings below the waist. The Yakuza attacked as they wanted a clue to who Silver Samurai’s son is.
Chapter Three – Young Ronin in Love
Poor Amiko, Wolverine’s adopted daughter, is often forgotten about, until he comes back to Japan. Her and her new boyfriend, Shin – who must live in a world of never worrying about meeting her father – are about to break into a heavily guarded laboratory.
Apparently, they are not a “dinner and a movie” types, though it would be nice, Amiko thinks. They are trying to pass the security measures. One of them is holographic ninjas that capture Amiko.
Chapter Four – Same Old Snikt
Wolverine is interrogating fools, he learns a gang war is about to burst. A little town in Iwate Prefecture, in a temple, there will be a meeting of heads of gangs, to talk peace.
AvX is coming in April!
Chapter Five – Cooking with Sabretooth
The Yakuza want to pay Sabretooth a million dollars, cash, to be at the Los Angeles International Airport the next day. So the Yakuza don’t want Sabretooth attending that big meeting. He kills them all, a very old lady comes into the room. He has a very high tab with her and starts making out with her, it is gross.
Chapter Six – Last Day on the Farm
The Next Day. Iwate Prefecture. A well dressed man has come out to meet an old farmer, Shirato-san. The farmer keeps pretending like he doesn’t know what the man is referring to. He doubts they share the same employer nor that he knows anything to do with ninja business. The man keeps playing along but grows tired of this deception. The man is sadden that they have lost their way, that the today’s ninjas have become so enamored with the West and their cavalcade of men in ridiculous costumes. The man must work for the Yakuza, as he references how the Kingpin is the head of the organization now.
The man is Azuma Goda, the director of the Tokyo branch of the Hand. He is tired of how silly the Hand has become, a sad cliche. He has come to Shirato, has 45 years ago, he was told to come here to the farm, settle in, build a life and to wait for this moment to come. Which I sort of really dig this concept. Goda asks to see Shirato’s real face and now Shirato has killed his family that was out in the field.
Shirato has mpas of everything in a ten mile radius. Files one very resident and visitor, dating back 50 years. He has dug tunnels leading to the temple. I could have used an entire issue of Goda and Shirato talking and Shirato waiting for more affirmation on who Goda was.
There is an house ad for Marvel’s Social media links – twitter.com/marvel. / facebook.com/marvel / youtube.com/marvel / gplus.to/marvelentertainment / getglue.com/topics/p/marvel_entertainment – what the heck is GetGlue? It was apparently a television fans app, that was renamed TVtag that was shut down in 2014.
Chapter Seven – Welcome to the Temple of the Fist
Meanwhile, Los Angels International Airport. Sabretooth did show up, which seems awkward. Can one kill the messenger, offering a million dollars, and show up for the job, expecting to still be hired? I guess if you are Sabretooth, you do. Sabretooth got the suitcase, full of cash.
Japan. Iwate Prefecture. Prefectures are districts, I looked it up. The Yakuza, I believe, have Sabretooth taken care of. They have plans, if the Hand are so foolish to show up, to kill them in their stupid ninja faces. Goda does show up, right then. The Yakuza are not happy that Goda is present, instead of the Kingpin. Goda doesn’t respect the Kingpin. It was Goda who killed Boss Takenaka, he is responsible for this bubbling war.
Wolverine is on his way to the temple, he takes care of the Yakuza roadblock. He keeps riding his motorcycle until he falls for a silly wire trap and is knocked off his cycle. Sabretooth confronts Wolverine, he can’t believe that Logan is a teacher and running a school. His best guess at what class he teaches, 1001 Ways to Get Your Ass Beat, with Professor Jimbo Canucklehead. Sabretooth awesomely flies off with a rocket pack.
Sabretooth calls ahead to Goda, informing him that Wolverine is taken out and he shall be at the temple in thirty seconds. Once he hangs up, Wolverine has apparently been able to ride up the mountain (when his bike was destroyed, in pieces) and tackles Sabretooth out of the air. How did he get up there? Sabretooth references that Wolverine is going to wish he stayed in Hell and Wolverine tells him that Sabretooth is going to wish he stayed dead. Which is all fun and all, but ooof, does that shed some light on how silly these characters are now. The two keep fighting as they are falling down a mountain.
The Yakuza threaten to kill Goda, which is a cue for the black robed Hand (instead of the red robe ones) come out from the ground and start killing foolsh. While that happens, Wolverine and Sabretooth come crashing through the ceiling. That is a small town!
I can’t believe this (I haven’t read this issue in a while, and honestly, after the first page, I sort of skimmed it) a call goes out for . . . Sky Yakuza Go! I guess there was a plane full of parachuting Yakuza (coming to stores soon!) at the ready.
Sabretooth grabs a Hand ninja, using that guy’s body to knock Wolverine through the celing and way into the air. This is getting as action packed and silly as it gets!
Of course, Wolverine is back into the fight, one panel later. The Yakuza can’t believe Sabretooth is here, as he was suppose to be Los Angeles. Which now I’m the foolish one as I should have realize that one can’t be in LA and in Japan, within a few hours.
The Hand tries to get Goda out of the temple but he wants to stay, the guest of honor hasn’t arrived yet. Goda turns to see Amiko, who is his prisoner. She threatens that her father is going to kill him. A wall explods and Goda is excited that his guest as arrived. Meanwhile, Sabretooth – the LA one – calls and leaves a message for Sabretooth. I like how his voicemail message is “You have reached the voicemail of Victor Creed, leave a damn message.” Like, since he used his real name, do you hear the message as him sounding very calm and level until the angry and curt “leave a damn message” portion is said. That’s how I read it.
Through the wall comes . . . Shin, Amiko’s boyfriend and . . . the son of the Silver Samurai! It is all connected!
Next Issue : More Claws! More Guns! More Ninjas! Plus, Mystique (who was the LA Sabretooth) + Sabretooth = The hottest and deadliest new couple in the Marvel U! And the All-New Silver Samurai kicks some ass! But whose? Find out next month in Wolverine #301!
The rest of the issue is a preview of Jeph Loeb and Simone Bianchi’s Wolverine : Sabretooth Reborn.
There is a fun cover gallery of the last 300 Wolverine issues (of the ongongs) which doesn’t count the original four issue miniserie by Claremont and Miller, which is why I never consider that “Volume One.”
This is the only issue I own of this arc but what a fun anniversary issue!
Shadow and Flame with Magik 