• Wolverine
• Mariko Yashida
• Lord Shingen
• Yukio
• The Hand

• Wolverine
• Captain America
• Overrider
• Nuklo/Bob Frank

• Wolverine
• Spiral
• Lady Deathstrike
• Katie Power

INCREDIBLE HULK #181:

Script: Len Wein
Pencils: Herb Trimpe
Inks: Jack Abel
Colors: Christie Scheele
Letters: Artie Simek

"And Now...the Wolverine!"
18 pages + cover • November 1974

Synopsis: The Canadian government sends Weapon X, aka Wolverine, into the outland of Canada to bring in the Hulk. Unfortunately, Wolverine's quarry is fighting Wendigo, and he is forced to bring down the white furry giant as well. The Hulk thinks Wolverine is his friend, since he is helping fight Wendigo, but after they take out Wendigo, Wolverine turns his attention back towards the Hulk, who feels betrayed by his new "friend."

At the same time, George Baptiste and Marie Cartier are nearby, trying to cast spells that will transfer the spirit of the Hulk into the Wendigo, thus freeing Cartier's brother, who is currently stuck inside the mythical wilderness creature. When their spell causes the Hulk (and Wolverine) to go unconscious, the Hulk turns into Bruce Banner. Seeing this, Baptiste can't permit himself to burden another human being with the curse of the Wendigo, and he quits, walking back to their cave hideout.

Feeling responsible for Cartier's brother being inside the Wendigo in the first place, Baptiste decides to conjure the spirit of the Wendigo inside himself, in an act of self-sacrifice. The Hulk awakens and grabs Wolverine, threatening to smash him, but Wolvy wakes up too and scraps against the Hulk. Cartier walks into the cave and sees the Wendigo, with Baptiste in his last remaining moments of mental clarity explaining what he has done before rushing off into the forest, leaving Cartier with her newly restored brother.

WOLVERINE (Limited Series) #1-4:

Script: Chris Claremont
Pencils: Frank Miller
Inks: Josef Rubenstein
Colors: Glynis Wein & Lynn Varley
Letters: Tom Orzechowski

Wolverine #1: "I'm Wolverine"
22 pages + cover • September 1982

Synopsis: Wolverine has to track and kill a rogue bear, then tracks down the hunter that poisoned the bear and caused it to go rogue to begin with.

When Wolverine realizes he's been cut off from Mariko Yashida, he flies to Japan and finds out she's entered into an arranged marriage. His friend in Japan's immigration task force, Asano Kimura, debriefs him on Mariko's latest activities, but warns him not to get involved. Wolverine can't resist, though. When he catches up with Mariko, he sees she's been beaten by her new husband; yet she rejects him out of loyalty to her father. He spots her husband and roughs him up, but shortly, he's been captured and gains an audience with Mariko's father, Lord Shingen, who lures him into one-on-one battle with wooden swords.

The old man fights dirty, however, and draws out of Wolverine his temper, and his berserker rage causes the fight to go out of control. Making matters worse, he loses the fight and embarrasses himself in front of Mariko. He's tossed out on the streets and taken in by an unknown female.

Wolverine #2: "Debts and Obligations"
22 pages + cover • October 1982

Synopsis: Wolverine wakes in the young woman's apartment and finds himself (and her) under attack by the Hand. He grabs her and leaps out the window while their arrows fly. She introduces herself as Yukio. Together, they fight off the many minions of the Hand out to assassinate him. After clearing their way through the bunch of them, they head to his hotel room, where Yukio lets on that she is madly in love with him. Thinking of Mariko, Wolverine rejects her advances, despite being very attracted to Yukio.

The next day, Yukio visits her boss, Lord Shingen, where she reveals herself as a double-agent in his employ. She is angry with him for sending his Hand assassins to kill Wolverine while at the same time nearly killing her! He tells her he had to make it look legitimate, or Wolverine would suspect what she was up to. But after further humiliation from Lord Shingen, Yukio reconsiders her arrangement. Later that night, she and Wolverine penetrate the grounds of Katsuyori, the man she tells Wolverine she blames for sending the Hand after her. When they get their, Katsuyori is entertaining Mariko and her husband. Wolverine can't handle seeing her there and flies into a rage against the men who attack him upon entering.

While Wolverine is fighting Katsuyori's bodyguards, all the while offending Mariko's sense of honor, Yukio tracks down the target of her ulterior motive- Katsuyori. She detonates a bomb underneath his getaway car, with him inside it. After Wolverine dispatches his remaining foes, he sees Mariko's disgusted reaction to his behavior. Yukio sees this and realizes the trap she led Wolverine blindly into has paid off- she has embarrassed him in front of his true love and killed her target at the same time.

Wolverine #3: "Loss"
22 pages + cover • November 1982

Synopsis: After Wolverine and Yukio enjoy a night out, getting into (and out of) barroom brawls, he is approached by his friend Asano Kimura of the Japanese Secret Service. Kimura requests that his friend help him smash a buildup of organized crime occuring in Tokyo. Yukio realizes this means putting him in opposition to her boss, Lord Shingen, and she persuades Wolverine to reject Kimura. Later, she risks their lives by thrill-seeking, jumping in front of a super-fast bullet train. Wolverine passes out from heavy drinking, and settles into a dream where he winds up being killed by Mariko. While he sleeps, Yukio has to fight off some of Lord Shingen's Hand warriors, who remind her that she is supposed to kill Wolverine, not play with him. She fights them off, realizing she wants to cast her lot with Wolverine instead of Lord Shingen. But when the words Wolverine mutters while drunk are "Mariko" she abandons him on the streets.

She returns to Logan's apartment, but is surprised by Asano Kimura and kills him. Later, Logan shows up and finds Kimura dead by the hand of Yukio. He realizes she's set him up, in the employ of Lord Shingen. She is in the shadows, and he chases her out the window and over the rooftops and into a building, but once the face off, they realize they're not alone. The Hand has followed them, with the intent to kill both of them. Wolverine takes them all on and defeats them, with Yukio slipping away during the fight. He realizes that the only way he can end this cycle is to get the man in the middle of all of it: Mariko's father, Lord Shingen.

Wolverine #4: "Honor"
22 pages + cover • December 1982

Synopsis: Wolverine rampages through Lord Shingen's underworld, sending messages straight to the boss that he's after him. Shingen receives this message and resolves to take care of his foe by himself. While Wolverine preps himself with a stock of weapons to take on Lord Shingen, Mariko meditates to find answers about where her loyalties truly lie.

Meanwhile, Yukio is captured by the Hand and brought to face Lord Shingen, but when Mariko walks in and sees her father beating Yukio, she steps in and tells him to stop. Before he can reprimand his daughter, he receives a warning from his bodyguards that Wolverine has arrived. Mariko's husband grabs her and drags her out of the palace, but comes face to face with Wolverine. He threatens the life of Mariko if Wolverine harms him, but Yukio plants a few of her throwing spikes in his back, killing him. Wolverine steps in to face Lord Shingen for the final showdown. This time, it is with a real sword against Wolverine's claws, and in this battle, Wolverine will not be denied. He slays Lord Shingen, but instead of facing Mariko's wrath, he receives her love. She tells him that she realized her father, who was involved in so many shameful activities, brought dishonor to her family, honor which he has helped restore.

Logan sends an invitation back to America to the X-Men, inviting them to his wedding to Mariko.

CAPTAIN AMERICA ANNUAL #8:

Script: Mark Gruenwald
Pencils: Mike Zeck
Inks: John Beatty & Josef Rubenstein
Colors: Glynis Oliver
Letters: Jim Novak

"Tess-One"
40 pages + cover • 1986

Synopsis: Wolverine steps in to help Bob Frank, formerly Nuklo, a brain-addled itinerant who gets roughed up by a robot in the middle of the woods. Wolverine tries to destroy the robot, but it gets away, and he turns his attention to evacuating Bob Frank to a hospital. In a nearby town, Captain America is directed to a basement compound that is laden with boobytraps, many of which are WWII vintage. He realizes the compound stored a massive piece of equipment that is no longer there.

A costumed man on a flying glider named Overrider, who controls the giant robot on the loose called Tess-One, penetrates a military base. He is able to manipulate electronics systems with his powers. At the base, he is able to force the scientists to coat Tess-One with adamantium. Cap is alerted to the break-in by his network of helpers, and he races off to investigate. There, he runs into Wolverine, who has tracked Overrider and Tess-One down to the base in the cause of Bob Frank.

The two scrap for awhile before they get a sense that they're on the same side. Especially since they're being attacked by Tess-One, who is now completely coated in adamantium. Overrider is able to get away with Tess-One before his robot and his mission are compromised. Cap and Wolverine agree to an uneasy alliance to defeat the threat.

Overrider visits his son in a mental ward for disturbed children, where he tells him that he's going to help end the nuclear threat that caused his son to slip into a withdrawn state. Wolverine uses CEREBRO to track down Overrider, who is a mutant with SHIELD ties. One of Cap's Stars and Stripes watchers calls him to alert him to a van prowling the countryside of Nebraska with a giant robot in the back.

Overrider and Tess-One wait until dark to attack a nuclear missile firing base, but he doesn't count on Wolverine and Cap to have found him out. Wolverine is able to take out Tess-One by severing its head from the rest of its body. Cap races into the facility to hear Overrider's mad plan to launch America's nuclear arsenal into the ocean and deactivate all the warheads, thus totally destroying all of its nukes. A well-placed shield throw knocks Overrider off his glider perch and the threat is ended. Wolverine heads back to visit Bob Frank in the hospital and tell him that he took care of his attacker.

UNCANNY X-MEN #205:

Script: Chris Claremont
Pencils/Inks/Colors: Barry Windsor-Smith
Letters: Tom Orzechowski

"Wounded Wolf"
22 pages + cover • May 1986

Synopsis: Spiral transforms Yuriko Oyama into Lady Deathstrike, a cybernetically altered being with adamantium laced claws. She pursues Wolverine through the wintry streets of New York, and only the intervention of young Katie Power helps save Wolverine from her deadly mission.

WEAPON X from MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS #72-84:

March through September 1991

Script/Pencils/Inks/Colors: Barry Windsor-Smith
Letters: Barry Windsor-Smith & Jim Novak

The tale of Wolverine's physiology being laced with adamantium is told.

-- synopsis by Gormuu