Martial Arts week: When Wolverine was a mere man
My contribution to the melee...
going back to the classic Wolverine in Japan story (and I hope the Wolverine writers read this and STICK to it like a religion). For those of you who to young to remember the moment before Wolverine broke out as a star and before he became a parody of himself, a little set up.
Wolverine is in Japan, wooing the hand of the one woman who he loved truly and deeply: the Lady Mariko Yashida. Being the daughter of THE crime boss of all Japan and a faction of the elite ninja tribe/house, the Hand, didn't help Logan. Logan was humiliated and defeated before her by said boss with a mere wooden training sword (although he was poisoned at the time, she didn't know).
But our hero picked himself up, licked his wounds, and goes to redeem his honor. Shingen disapproves, and sends the hand to terminate Logan. And this isn't God-verine, the unkillable. This was back when he was a highly trained but very mortal man. As we reach the big finale of this epic story, we come to this.
Big ol ti, I mean, splash page!
Wolverine earns the right to be called the best there is as he decimates the entire ninja army. The carnage not seen but whole of the Japanese castle is covered with dead ninjas. As a last line of defense, Mariko's husband uses her as a hostage. Basically making himself a dead man, but putting in a few bullets into Logan. (This is still the mortal man with accelerated we are talking about). And then we get to the face off with the big boss, the rematch.
Wolverine vs. Shingen
I will finally shut up and let the art speak for itself.