MEDIEVAL SPAWN/WITCHBLADE #1-#3, May-July 1996

Credits: Garth Ennis (story), Brandon Peterson (pencils), Batt w/Joe Weems (inks), Dennis Heisler (letters), Ashby Manson (colors), Richard Isanove w/Jonathan D. Smith, Steve Firchow, & Tyson Wengler (computer colors)

Todd McFarlane seemed to have plans for Medieval Spawn, yet this crossover miniseries turned out to be the character’s last gasp. Perhaps due to Neil Gaiman’s lawsuit, he was essentially erased from the franchise by the late ‘90s. Later, another Middle Ages Hellspawn, “Dark Ages Spawn” debuted, possibly continuing whatever plans McFarlane had for Medieval Spawn. (Recently, a judge deemed Dark Ages Spawn to be derivative of Medieval Spawn, and even a continuity error.)

At this time, the Witchblade series was only a few months old, but it was already a hit for Top Cow. Marc Silvestri’s division of Image had yet to do a Spawn crossover, so it made sense to pair their hot new character with Image’s biggest franchise. Just as McFarlane established that his hero was the latest in a long line of Spawns, Sara Whatshername was only the latest possessor of the Witchblade. Why not do a flashback story that brings their pasts together?

The story is provided by Garth Ennis, who was receiving a lot of attention from Top Cow during this era. Not surprisingly, most of the characters are profane and nasty, and the comic can’t go three pages without a rape reference. After establishing that a mystery man is waiting for the apocalypse in 1996, the story flashes back to the Pyrenees, circa 1175. An alleged sorcerer named Matthew Royale convinces the evil Lord Cardinale to invade the “Otherworld of Faerie.” After a few pages of gruesome violence, the action spills out of the Faerie’s dimension, drawing the attention of Medieval Spawn. Unlike the moody, self-absorbed Spawn of the ‘90s, Medieval Spawn views himself as a chivalrous knight, so he aides the Faeries. Their fight brings them to a nearby inn, where the irascible young Katarina is working off her bill.

Katarina receives two surprises: Medieval Spawn recognizes her, and she somehow possesses the power of the Witchblade. She joins the fight, and later watches as Medieval Spawn enters a portal into the Faerie’s dimension. Her friend, and debt-holder, Stalker has heard stories of Faerie gold and wants to follow. A subconscious prompt, apparently from the Witchblade, convinces Katarina to join Stalker. This brings the first issue to an end, and while the story so far seems like an excuse for the heroes to cut up demonic soldiers, I am curious to see how the mysteries surrounding Katarina play out.

Credits: Garth Ennis (story), Brandon Peterson (pencils), Batt w/Joe Weems & Tim Townsend(inks), Dennis Heisler (letters), Ashby Manson (colors), Richard Isanove w/Jonathan D. Smith, Steve Firchow, & Dan Kemp (computer colors)

Katarina and Stalker join Medieval Spawn, who is unaware of their motive to loot Faerie gold (notice that the only noble character so far is the one not created by Ennis). Meanwhile, Lord Cardinale’s witch-queen Elinor, who’s somehow stolen the outfits from a 1996 Playboy pictorial, questions Matthew Royale’s loyalty. Royale proves his deceptiveness a few pages later by bringing Katarina, Stalker, and Medieval Spawn to the battle at the Faerie capital. While Lord Cardinale and the heroes fight, Royale pursues his own agenda. Sprinkled throughout the story are more hints that Medieval Spawn knows Katarina, some “humorous” leprechaun bashing, and more graphic violence. Brandon Peterson is given some insane things to draw, but the story is obviously thin.

Credits: Garth Ennis (story), Brandon Peterson, Billy Tan, Mung Khoy, Mike Turner, & Anthony Winn (pencils), Batt, D-Tron, Brandon Peterson, Aaron Sowd (inks), Dennis Heisler (letters), Ashby Manson (colors), Richard Isanove w/Tyson Wengler, Catherine Burch, Dean White, Nick Kozis, & Teresa Bellman(computer colors)

Now that’s a list of credits. I wonder if anyone working at Top Cow during this era didn’t touch this issue? (Oh, yeah. Marc Silvestri.) Occasionally the book does resemble a rushed jam comic, but most of the issue maintains the rather high production values associated with Top Cow. The most grievous example of deadline fighting comes in a two-page "vision of the future" in the middle of the book, which is actually recycled art from an ad for another Top Cow comic (I forget the name, but it was the ad that referenced “It's the End of the World as We Know It”).

As it turns out, this mini is actually a lengthy promotion for a 1996 Top Cow crossover, which somehow involved the apocalypse (given as October 2, 1996 in this issue). Matthew Royale predictably turns against everyone, steals the Darkness power from Lord Cardinale (yup, it’s a Darkness crossover as well), and survives to the age of Real World Miami, free AOL trial discs, and Keri Strug mania. He explains the full story behind Katarina and Medieval Spawn to the disembodied head of Cardinale before the story closes: Before his rebirth as a Hellspawn, Medieval Spawn and Katarina had a drunken one-night stand. Katarina apparently didn’t remember it because she’s something of a slut. Later on, she promises to give Stalker a shot until she discovers the Faerie gold they’ve stolen is just lead in our dimension. There’s your Medieval Witchblade, Top Cow fans.

This is even less of a Spawn story than Wildstorm’s Spawn/WildC.A.T.S limited series. I can understand the story leaning towards the Top Cow side since they produced it, but I certainly wasn’t expecting the mini to turn into a prelude to some forgotten crossover. It’s a shame this is Medieval Spawn’s only starring role. Neil Gaiman’s brief introduction of the character had potential, and his design still holds up well. Here, he's mainly treated as a joke. It's almost as if Garth Ennis thinks these characters are...dumb.

WOLVERINE #112 – April 1997

The Light at the End of the Day
Credits: Larry Hama (writer), Anthony Winn (penciler), Dan Green (inker), Comicraft (lettering), Joe Rosas & Graphic Color Works (colors)

Summary: Wolverine passes through Manhattan’s East Village and stops two thugs from accosting a man in a wheelchair and his girlfriend. The woman, Kirstin, offers Wolverine a place to stay in the building she works in as a super. A juggling mime who watched the confrontation is lured into a basement by a mystery figure. That night, Wolverine tries to sleep, but can’t stop thinking about the events of the past few months. The next day, Kirstin guides him to a construction site, overseen by Helen Bach. Wolverine offers to work for free, hoping to spend time doing honest work. Later, while walking home with Helen, Wolverine spots the two thugs he stopped earlier defacing his motorcycle. Wolverine’s surprised when Helen attacks the men. After fighting them off, Wolverine pushes his motorcycle into his apartment. He’s greeted by the mime he saw earlier, who is now juggling butcher knives.

I Love the ‘90s: The letters page finally gives an actual email address where letters can be sent.

Review: This is another issue that sets up the new status quo of the series. It largely serves as a character piece, but it also manages to introduce a decent amount of plot and offer a few hints about the new supporting cast members. Nothing really came of the new supporting cast, but I like what little we see of them. Clive, the man in the wheelchair, and Helen both chastise Wolverine about using violence, which helps to reestablish the idea that Wolverine himself isn’t entirely comfortable with his violent nature. Helen’s willingness to become violent herself when provoked adds some mystery to the character, one that actually was resolved a few issues later.

Hama tries to build the new direction from the previous issues, as Wolverine claims that living in the city is his response to hunting deer on Xavier’s grounds, essentially having him test himself by going from one extreme to another. It’s a quickie way to resolve the “feral Wolverine” arc from the post-AoA issues, but that story had already played itself out by this point, and using it to justify a new direction is preferable to just forgetting it or dragging it out any longer. The Onslaught storyline is referenced again, but Hama gets decent material out of it. The building Wolverine is helping to rebuild was damaged by Onslaught, and another scene reveals that Wolverine’s guilt over his role in indirectly creating Onslaught keeps him awake at night. Hama finds a clever application of Wolverine’s powers, as he works out relentlessly, hoping to force himself to sleep after tiring himself out. However, his healing factor prevents him from staying exhausted long enough to sleep. It’s a smart idea, and it’s another example of Hama “getting” Wolverine in a way few writers do.

WOLVERINE #111 – March 1997

Restoration
Credits: Larry Hama (writer), Anthony Winn (penciler), Dan Green (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering), Dana Moreshead & Graphic Color Works (colors)

Summary: Wolverine returns to the mansion, as Iceman prepares to leave the X-Men. The team throws Iceman a party, but Wolverine feels uncomfortable. A package from Zoe Culloden arrives for Wolverine. A holographic display of Zoe tells him to take care of the artifact she’s sending him, and that dark times are coming. The next day, Wolverine trains in the Danger Room. A mystical entity appears, overriding the computer program. He tells Wolverine that he can resurrect his deceased fiancée Mariko, but he has to do a favor for him. Mariko’s corpse suddenly materializes, dragging Wolverine into the ground. Wolverine stabs the mystery man with his own sword, forcing him to retreat. Stick suddenly appears, and forces Mariko back into the ground. Stick tells Wolverine that it’s time for him to move away from the places that protect him and the people he loves. The next day, Wolverine leaves his new motorcycle with Cannonball for safekeeping. He tells him that he’ll be away from the mansion for a while.

Continuity Notes: The artifact Zoe gives Wolverine is a tiny box with Xs written on the sides. I’m pretty sure it appears again, but I don’t recall a payoff for all of her cryptic comments. I assume the mystery figure that approaches Wolverine in this issue (the character on the cover who is never named) ties in with the artifact in some way. I don’t recall his cryptic comments being resolved, either. Stick claims that he sent Elektra to help Wolverine stay on “the path” because of this mysterious entity.

Anthony Winn is still drawing Wolverine normally, even though last issue’s fill-in artist went back to the more feral design. The image inducer explanation doesn’t work here, as Wolverine has no motive to disguise his appearance when he’s with his friends, or alone in the mansion.

Review: This is intended to set up a new status quo that doesn’t last for long -- Wolverine living outside of the mansion and making new friends in New York City. It’s similar to the early issues, which had Wolverine spending time away from the X-Men in Madripoor, and it’s a reasonable direction to take the series. However, Hama only had a few issues left as writer, and the subsequent writers quickly abandoned the idea. All of the mysterious comments feel annoying, simply because the X-office’s reputation for paying anything off is shot by this point, but it does work as a nice character piece.

The entire issue is Wolverine narrating his feelings about the X-Men, which is something you rarely see in his solo series. The repeated theme in this issue is that Wolverine is still a loner by nature, and isn’t bound to Xavier’s school the same way most of the X-Men are (he even disses Harry’s Hideaway, the X-Men’s classic hangout). Hama has Wolverine acknowledge that he isn’t close with most of the current X-Men, which almost comes across as a meta-commentary on the post-Claremont era’s inability to recreate the “family” feeling amongst the team. When Wolverine tries to console Iceman about his father, Iceman’s response is that he barely knows him and it’s too late to start being pals. It’s rough, but it’s true. Wolverine and Iceman have barely had anything to do with one another, even though they’ve been teammates since 1991. It reminds me of the Archangel/Jubilee exchange in UXM #319, although in that scene, Lobdell seemed to be drawing attention to the problem and not doing much else with it. Hama at least uses it to make a statement about Wolverine as a character. It’s too bad the ideas established here never go anywhere, since the new direction Hama’s going in seems to have promise.

WOLVERINE #109 – January 1997

Credits: Larry Hama (writer), Anthony Winn (penciler), Dan Green (inker), Comicraft (lettering), Joe Rosas (colors)

Summary: Wolverine aids the Noodle Vendor against the Cyber-Ninjas, and after intimidating him, he learns where his ward Amiko is being held. On Akatora’s island, Amiko is brainwashed into believing that Wolverine killed her mother. Wolverine arrives on the island with Pale Flower, Yohei, and the Noodle Vendor. They crash Akatora’s movie set and defeat more cybernetically enhanced ninjas. Wolverine fights Akatora to the ground, as his companions rescue Yukio and Amiko. Akatora brags that one of his friends is a Hand sleeper agent; not expecting Wolverine to use his enhances senses to detect the scent of blowfish toxin on one of their swords. Wolverine throws the Honor Sword into Yohei’s chest and he dissolves, exposing him as the Hand agent. Akatora escapes, and Wolverine leaves with Amiko. Akatora brags to his aides that the real assassin, Amiko, is now in place.

Production Note: A production error caused the lettering on the first page of this issue to disappear. This means that the issue has no credits or title.

Continuity Notes: This issue reveals that Akatora created a series of Godzilla-style movies, which he produces on his private island. His production company is actually a front for the Hand’s criminal activities. Akatora claims that he doesn’t even know why the Hand wants Wolverine dead, but he hopes to learn one day. The mystery introduced last issue involving Pale Flower's emergence as a mutant and the missing government agent is totally ignored.

Review: This is the conclusion to the latest “Wolverine fights ninjas in Japan” arc, which is probably memorable only for introducing the bizarre “Wolverine’s young daughter is brainwashed as a Hand sleeper agent” plot. I know that the next time Amiko shows up in Wolverine #150 (in Steve Skroce’s impressive debut as a writer) this subplot is ignored, and I imagine it’s stayed that way. I have no idea where Hama was going with this, unless he wanted to do a comedy story about Wolverine fighting a nine-year-old. Aside from that odd element, this is a straightforward action story that’s not very different from the previous two issues. It’s fun, but obviously not very deep. I like the revelation that Yohei is a double agent, but the delivery is too rushed to really work. Wolverine’s reunion with Yukio and Amiko also feels hurried, and lacks any real sentiment. That’s unfortunate, since Hama normally handles the “softer side” of Wolverine very well.

WOLVERINE #108 – December 1996

“East is East…”
Credits: Larry Hama (writer), Anthony Winn (penciler), Dan Green w/Vince Russell (inkers), Comicraft (lettering), Joe Rosas (colors)

Summary: After being arrested by the Japanese authorities, Wolverine and Pale Flower sit in prison. A Hand assassin named the Iron Monk arrives to kill Wolverine. During the course of their fight, Pale Flower is freed and actually helps Wolverine against the assassin. A representative of the Yoshida family named Yohei arrives and gives Wolverine the Honor Sword, a gift sent by the Silver Samurai. Wolverine uses it to kill the Iron Monk. After they escape, both Yohei and Pale Flower are impressed by Wolverine’s sense of obligation towards Yukio and Amiko. Pale Flower forgives Wolverine for killing her criminal father, and Yohei decides to go beyond his assigned duties and help Wolverine. Yohei suggests that an informant named the Noodle Vendor knows where to find Amiko. Meanwhile, two of the Hand agents sent to kill the Noodle Vendor return wounded. The Cyber-Ninjas are sent to finish the job, and kill Wolverine.

Continuity Notes: Yohei reveals that the Noodle Vendor has been selling information to all sides of the conflict. From him, Yohei has learned that Pale Flower is actually a mutant, which stuns her. According to the Hand agents sent to kill the Noodle Vendor, he’s been in contact with an American agent of the Mutant Task Force named Daryll Smith.

I Love the ‘90s: Well…Cyber-Ninjas.

Review: The Japan storyline continues with another action-heavy issue. I suspect this storyline was inspired by the over-the-top martial arts movies from the ‘90s that starred Chow Yun-Fat and the like, but I don’t know enough about the genre to say for certain. It’s still fun to read, but the story’s starting to get bogged down by too many characters. Yukio and Amiko are being held hostage, Emi and Sumi are the two female Hand agents assigned to watch them, the Iron Monk is a Hand assassin, Akatora is the Hand superior in charge of the operation, Yohei is the representative of the Clan Yashida, Shirohana, the Pale Flower is the oyabun of the Double Jade Clan, and the Noodle Vendor has been selling information to all sides behind-the-scenes. That’s a lot of characters to keep up with, and at the risk of sounding culturally insensitive, a lot of the names do look alike. On top of this, there’s now a plot element that violates the “show don’t tell” rule of writing. While all of this has been going on, the Noodle Vendor has also been giving information to an unseen American agent named Daryll Smith. He’s considered important enough to be given a name and the physical description that he’s black, but hasn’t actually shown up in the story so far. It’s a strange addition to the plot that comes out of nowhere, but I’m assuming it ties into plans Hama had for Pale Flower at this point. Despite my complaints, I’ve enjoyed rereading these issues. I like the relentless action and ridiculous characters like Yohei, who is a chain-smoking midget in a Blues Brothers suit with hidden martial arts skills. You can’t call these issues boring, at least.

WOLVERINE #107 – November 1996

Once Upon a Time in Little Tokyo
Credits: Larry Hama (writer), Anthony Winn (penciler), Dan Green (inker), Comicraft (lettering), Gloria Vasquez (colors)

Summary: Wolverine travels to Japan to visit Yukio and his adopted daughter, Amiko. He’s ambushed in their apartment by Hand ninjas. After he kills them, he’s attacked by government agents, who believe that he’s responsible for Yukio and Amiko’s disappearance. Wolverine takes a motorcycle from the apartment next door and flees. Soon, an actor named Akatora is informed of Wolverine’s escape. He visits Yukio in a dungeon and taunts her, and then orders the brainwashing of Amiko. Wolverine travels to a casino and asks the Yakuza members there for sanctuary, claiming that he is also an outlaw. A representative named Shirohana, the Pale Flower takes him in. While eating the meal she gives him, Wovlerine learns that she’s actually the daughter of a Yakuza crimelord he killed years earlier. She expects the blowfish toxin to kill him, but he quickly recovers. Suddenly, government agents with armored vehicles crash through the door.

Creative Differences: Wolverine is drawn with his normal appearance in this issue. A narrative caption on the first page claims that he’s using an image inducer so that his adopted daughter isn’t afraid. At the time of this issue’s release, Larry Hama posted on Usenet that this line was added by editorial, and that he didn't agree with the explanation (maybe he considered the storyline over by this time?).

I Love the ‘90s: Wolverine declares that the scent of the Hand’s swords “smells like ninja spirit” and that they don’t have the “good karma to attain Nirvana”. This was a little much even back in 1996.

Miscellaneous Note: According to the Statement of Ownership, average sales for the year were 266,815 copies with the most recent issue selling 337,672.

Review: This is the first issue of Wolverine in over a year that has nothing to do with his growing feral regression, his physical devolution, Onslaught, or forced Elektra cameos. In other words, it’s the first issue in a while with no obvious editorial influence. Hama goes back to the fast-paced, action-heavy stories that dominated the majority of his run. There’s nothing original here, but it’s fun to read and everything moves at a steady pace. Akatora debuts as the latest Hand superior. For no obvious reason, Hama presents him as an actor who wears a rubber suit in Godzilla-style monster movies, I guess as his day job. It’s so bizarre you just have to go along with it.

Anthony Winn debuts as the fill-in artist between Adam Kubert and Lenil Francis Yu. Winn is obviously influenced by Marc Silvestri’s early work, but his art is more attractive than most of Silvestri’s clones. Winn seems to understand what made Silvestri’s Uncanny X-Men issues work in the first place, so he isn’t indiscriminately throwing lines everywhere. When figures become more stylized, it’s for a specific effect that actually complements the script. When the story calms down, so does the art. After a few pages of a subdued conversation scene between Wolverine and Pale Flower, a more chaotic-looking Wolverine reacts to the blowfish toxin. When it turns out he’s faking, the exaggerated rendition of Wolverine from two panels earlier seems even more amusing. Some of the faces and anatomy are a little rough, but most of his work here is strong.