A Look Back at Wolverine #50 (1992)

Welcome back, superhero enthusiasts, 1990s culture enthusiasts, X-Men fans and comic book collectors! Today we revisit the Marvel Comics universe to examine one of the many tales of the Wolverine monthly series.  

Before I start the review, I have to say out loud that the very woke and shameless game developer Insomniac Games ruined the superhero icon in the new Wolverine game on PlayStation 5. They inserted woke and homosexual elements into the game. That said, Insomniac Games never intended to make a Wolverine game that was fun and accurate to the source material. I urge you fans of X-Men and Wolverine to BOYCOTT the Wolverine PlayStation 5 video game!

Times like these, it is best to go back to reading the comic books published from the 1970s to the 1990s that featured Wolverine.

With those details laid down, here is a look back at Wolverine #50, published by Marvel Comics in 1992 with a story written by Larry Hama and drawn by Marc Silverstri.

The cover.

Early story

The story begins with Wolverine forcibly going up a New York City skyscraper with his motorcycle. It turns out that S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Helicarrier is secretly floating by the top of the building and Wolverine – who caused a lot of disturbance along the way – used his motorcycle to leave on to the floating structure. Wolverine crashes through the Helicarrier’s window and makes his way to Colonel Nick Fury. Wolverine tells him that he is aware about El Tigre and Emilio Garra’s activities in Cuba and he wants him to hand over his security dossier.

Minutes after Fury makes a call to secure the dossier, pawns of Hydra inside a building nearby gets alerted and retrieves from the National Security Agency (NSA) files of S.H.I.E.L.D. that have not been pulled in over twenty years.

The next day in Washington, D.C., Wolverine arrives at the office of the Department of Agriculture wanting to talk to Professor Thornton who is behind the closed door of his office…

Quality

A barrage of images from Wolverine’s memories drawn in great detail by Marc Silvestri.

The best way to describe this particular story of Wolverine is that it is a mystery and suspense tale (with a touch of political intrigue) told in the form of a superhero tale. More notably, this one reconnects to Wolverine’s past with Weapon X and it strong emphasizes the sinister nature of Weapon X and how is ruined the memories and lives of its living objects (including Wolverine and Silver Fox).

As many fans are already aware, it was during the Weapon X project when Logan was held against his will, got heavily experimented on and had Adamantium installed into his skeleton (note: the sharp Adamantium claws were installed on Logan).

In this comic book, Larry Hama went further with the mysteries by focusing on the memories Wolverine remembers and how the people behind Weapon X cleverly staged scenes (complete with physical sets, props and movie cameras) and implanted false memories into their minds by having neuro-synthetic implants placed in the cerebral vortex.

The X-Men led by Professor X bring Wolverine to Canada where the Weapon X warehouse is located at.

That said, this comic book explores moments from Wolverine’s past which will challenge readers to think if such moments are real or somehow fabricated. Considering Wolverine’s legacy as an aged superhuman who could not figure out his own personal history, this tale offers readers a cerebral reading experience that is truly one of a kind.   

Of course, this comic book would not be complete with action scenes of the icon. Wolverine’s battle with Shiva is indeed action-packed and Marc Silvestri’s art style made it look dynamic and gritty at the same time. I should state that the action did not happen in a random fashion. Instead, the action happened within the context of the story complete with moments of intrigue and revelations (note: pay close attention to the dialogue and other details during the action scenes).

Conclusion

This page’s message is clear: never mess with the tough and rough Wolverine.

Wolverine #50 (1992) is indeed a very compelling read and it still is a great, standalone Wolverine tale to follow from start to finish. The story has a good amount of intelligence, mystery, political intrigue and twists carefully blended. In my experience, the tension gradually built up as Wolverine’s quest for answers and the truth went on. I can also say the payoffs are rewarding. More notably, this old comic book will make you think deeply about Wolverine and his past, and how Weapon X violated him to the point of ruining his memory. This comic book could also make you sympathetic towards the tough and violent Marvel icon in ways that other forms of media (notably the movies) could not.

Overall, Wolverine $50 (1992) is highly recommended!

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Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below and also please consider sharing this article to others. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. If you want to support my website, please consider making a donation. Feel free to contact me with a private message. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me on Twitter at @CarloCarrascoPH as well as on Tumblr at https://carlocarrasco.tumblr.com/ and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/authorcarlocarrasco/.

A Look Back at Godzilla: King of the Monsters #1 (1977)

Welcome back superhero enthusiasts, 1970s arts and culture enthusiasts, Marvel Comics fans and comic book collectors! Today we go back to the year 1977 when Marvel Comics had the license to publish comic books about Japan’s iconic monster Godzilla (Gojira in Japanese) and even integrated him into their shared comic books universe.

The mid-1970s saw a decline of Godzilla’s popularity in Japan as reflected in the commercial disappointment of the movie Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975). The company Toho decided to put on-hold the production of its monster movies without permanently ending the Godzilla film franchise. The next Godzilla movie released was The Return of Godzilla (1984) which proved to be a solid rebound of the Japanese film franchise.

Sometime between the mentioned movies, there was interaction between Toho officials and Marvel Comics – including the late Stan Lee – when the Japanese company screened the movie Godzilla vs. Gigan (titled in America as Monster Island) to the comic guys in relation to the film’s American theatrical release. It turns out Stan Lee enjoyed the movie a lot and seated next to him was writer Doug Moench (the eventual writer for the Godzilla comic book series).

With those details laid down, here is a look back at Godzilla: King of the Monsters #1, published in 1977 by Marvel Comics with a story written by Doug Moench and drawn by Herb Trimpe.

The cover.

Early story

The story begins in Alaska when a huge iceberg suddenly deteriorates unleashing a gigantic monster with sharp teeth, dorsal fins and immense strength – Godzilla. After instantly crushing a supply ship, the monster moves onto the land destroying structures and disrupting the lives of every person nearby.

In response to Godzilla’s rampage in Alaska, S.H.I.E.L.D. dispatches its agents to the site of destruction to take on the monster. Meanwhile, S.H.I.E.L.D. director Col. Nick Fury is transporting with him three Japanese individuals deemed important (with clearances from the Pentagon and the White House)…

Quality

Dum Dum Dugan, Col. Nick Fury and the Japanese characters.

To get straight to the point, this comic book not only marked the literary debut of Japan’s iconic monster under Marvel Comics’ banner but also his integration into the shared universe of the time. That being said, the story written by Doug Mench was pretty much a functional build-up of Godzilla’s presence within the realm of Marvel which includes a strategic choice of having S.H.I.E.L.D. and its characters encountering the monster. In short, the creative team decided not to literally pull out Marvel’s biggest guns (the more popular superheroes and teams) as such a move would have lessened the impact of Godzilla’s debut.

For the most part, S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Nick Fury and Dum Dum Dugan had lively portrayals and the way they reacted to the rampage of Godzilla was believable. The introductions of the Japanese characters (who could provide breakthroughs on dealing with the giant monster) were clearly inspired by the Japanese scientists who were crucial in the plot of the original 1954 movie Gojira.

Going further, Doug Mench went on to efficiently establish Godzilla’s origin which creatively is a sensible reinterpretation of what was established in the 1954 movie. The giant monster’s rise as a result of humanity’s testing of powerful weapons on Earth is definitely here.

As expected, Godzilla is the unrestrained force of destruction but as this comic book was released in the 1970s, the destruction scenes lacked impact as they were creatively sanitized with deliberate moves of showing no casualties no matter what happened. This limitation on the part of Marvel Comics showed they were not willing to emulate the approach on destruction and death that was clearly emphasized in the first Godzilla movie of 1954.

As for Godzilla himself, Herb Trimpe’s visual approach is not really good. While Trimpe implemented the guy-in-a-suit shape on the giant monster’s form, he made Godzilla his own (took no inspiration from Godzilla’s cinematic designs) which resulted in making the icon look unrecognizable. There were inconsistencies on Godzilla’s head as well. In certain shots, Godzilla looked terrifying but in other shots, he looked weird or cartoony. The use of the color green did not make Godzilla look reptilian but rather comical.    

Conclusion

I can only imagine the SJWs and the climate change extremists enjoying these images of an unrecognizable Godzilla wreaking havoc to the oil supply. Are there lots of people in your local community who were brainwashed to hate oil and gas?

Godzilla: King of the Monsters #1 (1977) is a serviceable approach on debuting the iconic monster within the fantasy realm of Marvel Comics and sparking a new wave of crossovers. There were uneven levels of quality here and there, and Herb Trimpe’s visual approach on Godzilla was alienating to say the least. Honestly, I did not really see Godzilla in this comic book but rather a green-colored dinosaur-like creature that was mislabeled as Godzilla. What works here is the writing by Doug Mench which proved to be entertaining enough.

Overall, Godzilla: King of the Monsters #1 (1977) is satisfactory.

For my other Godzilla-related posts, click here, here, here, here and here.

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Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below, share this article to others and also please consider making a donation to support my publishing. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me with a private message. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me on Twitter at  @HavenorFantasy as well as on Tumblr at https://carlocarrasco.tumblr.com/ and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/authorcarlocarrasco

A Look Back at What If #7 (1989)

Welcome back superhero enthusiasts, 1980s arts and culture enthusiasts, Marvel Comics fans and comic book collectors! Today we go back to the late 1980s to examine an alternate universe portrayal of Wolverine and S.H.I.E.L.D. told through an issue of the 2nd What If comic book series.

While Wolverine has always been identified with the X-Men, the famous mutant spent time with the Canadian team Alpha Flight and his early encounter with the Hulk remains a highly significant chapter of Marvel Comics’ superhero universe.

With those details laid down, here is a look back at What If #7 published in 1989 by Marvel Comics with a story written by Joe Valentino and drawn by Rob Liefeld.

The cover.

Early story

The story begins with the Watcher looking back at Wolverine’s encounter with not only the Hulk but also the Wendigo (as recorded in Incredible Hulk #180 and #181). A short time later, Wolverine is alone in the forest and gets visited by Nick Fury (S.H.I.E.L.D.) and Hudson (Alpha Flight) who arrived by helicopter.

Hudson tells Logan that an agreement has been made to loan him to the United States which prompts a response – Wolverine claims he is nobody’s property and tells Fury to reveal the details.

As it turns out, Wolverine joined Fury at the helicarrier of S.H.I.E.L.D. for a briefing. Fury reveals to him that the internal security of S.H.I.E.L.D. has been breached by an advanced model of Hydra LMDs (life model decoys) and their sensors cannot even detect them. An agent with top security clearance was recently caught trying to transmit classified data. The said agent blew up…

Quality

Wolverine, Nick Fury, Black Widow and some S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel take on Hydra!

I can say that I am very impressed and entertained with what Valentino and Liefeld came up with in this comic book. The story has a pretty strong structure designed to engage readers, pull off some surprises here and there, while also emphasizing the legacy of conflict between S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra with efficiency.

With regards to this comic book’s subject matter, Valentino succeeded in exploring the concept of Wolverine becoming an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. complete with great interactions between the characters. While Wolverine has his ideological differences with Nick Fury, the story went on to show great chemistry between them when S.H.I.E.L.D. operates (with the clawed mutant involved). Wolverine and Black Widow make a solid duo in action and the writer managed to dramatize the conflict between Fury and Baron Strucker (Hydra). For the newcomers reading this, Baron Strucker is Marvel’s super villain with a Nazi heritage and he first appeared in the 1964 comic book Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #5. Strucker here is very intimidating and powerful and Hydra’s use of LMDs symbolically reflect his ruthlessness.

When it comes to the visuals, Rob Liefeld’s art here is really great to look at and it truly is one of the best looking Marvel comics I have read with his artwork as well as the most distinctive looking What If story. Great not only because of his stylized take on the established characters (note: the Hulk and Wendigo looked very visceral) but also because Liefeld truly brought Valentino’s solid script into life from start to finish. The action scenes drawn were excellent, the facial expressions were lively and detailed to look at (note: Wolverine’s got some very visceral faces here) and most of all, Liefeld managed to make the established characters look recognizable.

Conclusion

Really nice action of Wolverine and Black Widow against many drawn by Rob Liefeld.

Thanks to Jim Valentino and Rob Liefeld’s combined works, What If #7 (1989) is a great comic book and easily one of the best tales of the 2nd volume of What If that I have ever read. The way it emphasized Wolverine as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. was highly imaginative, compelling and fun to read from start to finish. There is so much enjoyable stuff here that should appeal strongly to fans Wolverine, Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. In retrospect, this comic book was published just a few years before Valentino and Liefeld left Marvel Comics to establish Image Comics and right here you will see the great creativity from their younger days. Lastly, I can say that this What If tale has a strong conclusion which should compel you to read specific Marvel comic books to realize the connections

Overall, What If #7 (1989) is highly recommended!

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Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below, share this article to others and also please consider making a donation to support my publishing. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me with a private message. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me on Twitter at  @HavenorFantasy as well as on Tumblr at https://carlocarrasco.tumblr.com/ and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/authorcarlocarrasco