• Wolverine #23, PAGE 2

Marvel Premiere Edition hardcovers were conceived as single print-runs based on direct market pre-orders. At this time, there is no indication there will ever be a reprint of this hardcover that will have this error fixed.

Writer: Mark Millar
Pencils: John Romita, Jr.
Inks: Klaus Janson
Colors: Paul Mounts
Letters: Virtual Calligraphy's Rus Wooton, Chris Eliopoulos & Randy Gentile
Editor: Jennifer Lee

Wolverine #20
25 pages + cover (2-page spread) • December 2004

Wolverine responds to a plea from a relation of Mariko's who's child has been kidnaped, flying to Japan to help recover the boy. While negotiating with the kidnapers in a cemetery, he's attacked by legions of the Hand- the whole thing has been a setup! He carves his way through dozens of Hand ninjas, and when he grabs hold of the kidnaper to interrogate him, he's impaled by a towering figure called The Gorgon. Before he can heal properly, the Gorgon lays another death blow upon him.

Nick Fury and SHIELD freelance agent Elektra uncover a plot by an aggregate of Hydra, the Hand and a group of nihilistic mutants called the Dawn of the White Light. They intend to find super-powered heroes, kill them, and have the Hand revive them to serve in their employ. Wolverine, it is found out, was the first target in the plan.

SHIELD recovers Wolverine's body in South America and bring it aboard their ship. Elektra arrives to investigate. Under psychic command from his Hydra captors, Wolverine kills the nurse helping him recuperate, then sets himself to getting free of the ship. The alarm goes out across the ship that Wolverine is free and killing. Elektra prepares herself for the fight.

Wolverine #21
23 pages + cover • December 2004

Wolverine claws up members of the security detail accompanying Elektra. She finds an opening and plunges her sai into his shoulders, paralyzing him. She tries to talk sense into him, but he is completely brainwashed. Hyrda is able to detonate a planted bomb in the ship, causing an explosion that knocks Elektra aside. Water rushes into the ship's hold, allowing Wolverine an access point to the outside. He swims away through the murky water, where sharks feast on many of the bodies pouring out. He sticks his claws deep into a shark that attacks him. Elektra finds out that Wolverine made away with downloads of sensitive SHIELD data, which was obviously part of the mission from the beginning.

SHIELD holds an informational meeting about facing the Hydra plot head-on. They notify all super-humans that they are a target of Hydra and Wolverine. The nation is put on alert, and the President of the United States is brought into the loop. As the X-Men hunker down at the mansion, the Fantastic Four prepare their own defenses. Little do they know, but Wolverine has already penetrated the Baxter Building.

Wolverine #22
22 pages + cover • January 2005

Wolverine is given orders to target Reed Richards, as Hydra wants his genius at their disposal. In the mission control room at Hydra, Baron Von Strucker looks on with Gorgon as his plan unfolds. Wolverine has withdrawal symptoms of his previous memories, which Hydra suppresses further. Reed is in a private, virtual reality meeting with his associates Hank Pym and Tony Stark as they develop a terraformer capable of rejuvenating desert landscapes into lush, fertile lands. Suddenly, he realizes the Baxter Building's security has been breached by Wolverine. As he shuts down the meeting, he instructs Ben and Johnny to defend themselves.

Ben tosses Johnny's car at Wolverine, who he locates hiding in the wall crawlspace. Shortly, Wolverine finds himself in close combat with the two, eventually putting them down before Reed shows up and wraps him up inside a giant, self-formed ball. Wolverine is stuck inside, so Hydra "jumps" him sixty feet outside with their teleporting machine. Sue catches up to Wolverine, punishing him with an assault of force field bubbles inside his lungs, and blinding his optic nerves. Hydra jumps him again, this time outside the building, where an escape craft awaits. He hands the Hydra agent the information he downloaded from Reed's computers, then leaps into battle with the pursuing Human Torch.

They crash down to Earth atop a gas station, causing a giant explosion. EMS evacuates a body they think is the Human Torch, but it was really Wolverine, and once he recuperates, he slays the ambulance drivers and is once again free. Baron Von Strucker watches from the control room, confident in the knowledge he now possesses Reed Richard's greatest secrets. He awaits the arrival of "Hydra's secret bankroller..."

Wolverine #23
22 pages + cover • February 2005

Wolverine continues his killing spree, resulting in the death of the Hornet, a super-powered hero from the Slingers team. The SHILED clean-up crew discovers his body in the rubble after Hydra has left the scene, and before the Hornet can be resurrected by the Hand, Elektra decapitates him. After reviewing SHIELD files on Elsbeth Von Strucker, the wife of Baron Von Strucker and the true force behind Hydra, Elektra works off some steam leaping across the rooftops, eventually coming across and defeating a band of Hand ninja. In the meantime, she contacts Nick Fury with a few ideas on trapping Wolverine.

Baron Von Strucker realizes that his wife Elsbeth's priorities have shifted from supporting him in his plan for world domination to helping the Gorgon's Satanic vision of world destruction. Wolverine and the Hand penetrate Matt Murdock's apartment in a bid to bring him over to their side.

Wolverine #24
22 pages + cover • March 2005

Wolverine is about to kill Daredevil, after supposedly taking him by surprise, but it's merely a set-up by Elektra, who is waiting for her trap to spring. When Wolverine passes in front of Matt's window, she fires a sniper's shot through from a facing rooftop, and DD kicks the startled mutant off his chest. However, he now has to contend with the passle of Hand ninja surrounding him in his living room. Elektra has her own troubles, when the Gorgon shows up behind her. He kills her SHIELD entourage, turning some of them to stone with his deathly gaze.

DD and Wolverine battle in his apartment. Daredevil smacks him in the face with a dumb bell and sends him reeling back to the ground, impaling himself on a sword. As the fight between Gorgon and Elektra turns in the evil one's favor, Wolverine has a moment of lucidity. He explains to Matt that this was all a setup, that Hydra didn't want Daredevil, they wanted Elektra, and now, Gorgon has claimed her. He tells Daredevil to tell Nick Fury that he's sorry for what he's doing, but he has no control, and that the next step of the plan is to assassinate the president. Just then, he's teleported away.

Meanwhile, the Hand works to resurrect the dead Elektra.

Wolverine #25
23 pages + cover • April 2005

Kitty Pryde confers with Rachel Summers-Grey, having no idea that her friend is in the thrall of Wolverine, who is in the room and maintaining a cloak of invisibility. When Kitty leaves, he becomes visible and drags Rachel into CEREBRA, threatening her to do his bidding or he will detonate the terraformer and kill millions of people in Westchester County. He tells her to activate CEREBRA and find the president, who is under the guard of Captain America, the Falcon, and Iron Man. Instead of locking in on the president, Rachel locks in on Reed Richards and downloads the knowledge necessary to take apart the terraformer. Then she blows Wolverine out of the CEREBRA chamber and alerts the X-Men that he's on the loose.

Realizing his safety is severely compromised, Hydra ports him from place to place in the mansion, trying to get him out. Wolverine is able to climb behind the controls of a Blackbird jet and blast his way out of the mansion. The X-Men and newly arrived SHIELD agents track him into the deep woods- Storm freezes the surrounding area, Havok and Beast attack him directly. Wolverine launches himself at Kitty Pryde, but she phases and he instead impales Northstar with his claws, appearing to kill him. Finally, Captain America shows up and knocks him out.

With the failure of Baron Von Strucker to fulfill his quest, and with Wolverine now in the hands of SHIELD, his wife Elsbeth kills him and turns power over to the Gorgon.

Meanwhile, Nick Fury turns his attention over to converting Wolverine from an agent of Hydra to an agent of SHIELD.

-- synopsis and panel image by Gormuu