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by Dave Scrimgeour & Kevin McCluskey   Cover Date- October 1982 Price- 60c Writer- Chris Claremont Penciler- Frank Miller Finisher- Josef Rubinstein Letterer- Tom Orzechowski Colourist- Glynis Wein Editor- Louise Jones Editor-In-Chief- Jim Shooter Publisher- Marvel Comics synopsisLogan and Yuriko commence a dance of death with not only The Hand, but ultimately Lord Shingen himself, as Logan gets drawn deeper and deeper into an age old tale of espionage, honour and lost love. (K) Dave So, any initial thoughts on the cover for issue 2? Kev It's another iconic image of Wolverine, with fantastic use of light and shade. What do you make of it? Dave I like the use of colours as well, for example how the blue background changes in tone. It works well with the, in-your-face image of Wolverine coming at you. Kev Yeh, with the light coming from below him, it makes his face look almost demonic. It's a superb double page spread as well, with excellent, hard boiled, tough guy dialogue. Claremont & Miller are a creative team match made in heaven. They both love that noir-esque, internal monologue voice over. Dave That two page spread is excellent. It really is. It would make a great picture to frame and hang on a wall. The plain white background also helps to heighten the colours in the frame. Kev Totally. It helps focus the eye on the action in the foreground. The composition is great. It's kinetic, it's arresting, it's lovely. I wonder just how much the original pages of that artwork go for these days? A pretty penny, I bet. Dave Even the next page, a full-frame panel introducing the reader to the title of the story, is a colourful feast for the eyes. Kev Yep. Claremont & Miller are certainly going for impact here. A double page spread, followed directly by a title splash page, and as a result, they're picking up the pace here too. I love the lighting on this page. It's like Logan and Yukio are being flooded by it.  'First Dates;' Logan style. Dave This scene further showcases Logan's skills as a warrior and also how skilful his new ally Yukio is. There's some good fight choreography there. I bet that must have been difficult to draw. Kev Yeh, Miller seems to have a knack for it though. His choreography is excellent. We've covered some great fight scene artists with Miller and Senior. Dave There's also plenty of good use of half page panels to contrast against the smaller ones. The large panels illustrate the turning point in the battle. For example, when Logan looks around and sees Yukio outnumbered by the Hand, in the next frame he says, "I have claws" and he has another devilish grin on his face too. Kev The half page panels are particularly good for illustrating Wolverine when he pops the claws. The fact that they're portrait, as opposed to landscape, mean they lend themselves to it. You get to see all of Logan's face, with the adamantium claws in the foreground. There's some excellent, insightful dialogue in this scene too. "But some people are never satisfied. They love to tinker, to "improve" on nature. In my case, these bright boys decided to lace my skeleton with adamantium....." That's a superb line. That says a lot about Logan and how he's been used like a Guinea pig. Dave He's a tortured soul, is Logan. Both mentally and physically. Kev Yes. He's a tragic character, isn't he? Dave He certainly is. That's a great panel of him leaping into action with his claws drawn. It's then followed by the results of his devastation, which is cleverly illustrated by the use of black silhouettes. Kev The silhouettes are so effective. They allow Claremont & Miller to show the violence, without it being too graphic and it getting them into hot water with the Comics Code. Dave Indeed. That's a good seven pages worth of action, which is rounded off before the story begins to evolve. It's also another excellent half page panel with Logan amidst a heap of corpses, his face purposely hidden in shadows and his eyes lit up like an animal's would be. "I'm the best". Kev Yeh man, that's a great panel. Claremont & Miller are certainly playing with the idea of Logan being animalistic. There's multiple references to him being more like an animal than a man and certainly relating to animals more than people. The old fashioned nature versus nurture debate. Once we get past the battle scene and start moving the plot along a bit, we get to see sexy, secret agent, James Bond style Wolverine, here. "She looks fine. Real fine." Plus, he's showing off here, lying shirtless on the couch after the fight while Yukio tends to his wounds. Dave With this only being a four issue series, there is more to cover in a lesser time frame, hence we get the abundance of dialogue heavy scenes that follow. Also, the aerial shot illustrates just how high up this apartment suite in Toyko is. Our hero characters certainly do end up in some fancy pads don't they. The Punisher ended up in a fancy one back in "Circle of Blood" as well. Perhaps this is an example of the James Bond influence subtly flowing throughout these 80's stories.  A room with views. Kev Definitely man, fancy pads and sexy Asian women. The Bond influence is strong with this one. Yukio is a total Bond Girl. Deadly, but sexy and smart too. Although, perhaps not the strongest of female characters when viewed through a 2018 lens. Logan turns her down, Bond sure as hell wouldn't. Logan still loves Mariko, which only serves to make Yukio jealous and angry. Not a good situation for ol' Wolverine. Dave She's a bit of an unstable one though, prone to sudden outbursts, such as when she tries to stab him slightly. Logan knows it too, which might have slightly influenced his decision to turn her down as well. Mostly Mariko though. Kev ".....she tries to stab him slightly." Ha, ha! True. She is a bit stabby, right enough. Interesting that she says, "I would give my soul to be like you." I bet she wouldn't. And to be Wolverine, you do kind-of have to give your soul. Logan certainly has. Certainly a good portion of it. Dave Plus, in this issue the web of deceit and deception deepens, as we realise by the next scene in the Meguro District. Kev Definitely. We have the reveal of Yukio as one of Shingen's henchwomen. Much like Angela was revealed to have compromised loyalties in 'Circle Of Blood.' As you pointed out, there are definite similarities between Angela and Yukio in this respect. That's the problem with these Bond Girl style femme fatales, they have a tendency to be fatal. It's in the job description. Dave Hmm. Yep, they certainly are. And Frank and Logan both seem to be blinded to this at times by their own personal demons, which creates a certain vulnerability to each character. A vulnerability that Shingen and Alaric were able to exploit. Kev True. Both characters are certainly damaged goods, with more than their fair share of emotional baggage. I like the three plasters on Shingen's forehead, where he was cut by Wolverine's claws last issue. That's a nice touch.  Lord Shingen wears the mark of The Wolverine. Dave Yeah, the big reveal comes at this point. That middle panel, where Shingen has her by the throat, looks like Yukio forgot to shave before she came out. Kev Ha, ha! Yeh, the shading makes it look like she's rocking a nice bit of 5 o'clock shadow. Once again, as Logan and Yukio are infiltrating Katsuyori's building, we see that Logan only kills when he deems the victim deserving of it, or necessary to his own survival. Rather than killing the guards, which would probably have been much easier, he merely takes them out and stashes them away. Logan is clearly not a complete animal. Dave From the sounds of it he probably would have done so years ago. "Bloodthirsty lady. Reminds me of me." Kev Exactly. We're seeing a more refined Logan at this point. Mariko and Professor X are most likely at least partly responsible for calming Wolverine. At least to a certain extent. Dave Yeah, I would have thought so. The next couple of pages where they infiltrate the Shingen grounds is very ninja-esque in its storytelling, cleverly blending shadows and full view panels. Kev Definitely. Both Claremont and Miller clearly love all the ninja stuff and I love that silhouetted panel on page 14 as well as those two on page 15. The monologue is cracking as well.
Dave Of course, as soon as he sees Mariko, just before the stage production begins, his animialistic fury starts to boil up. That's another great example of instant, eye catching work, with the samurai actor in full get up. It's a a real blend of bright, jump-out-at-you colours. Kev Yeh. I like that Noburu also has to "master his temper" when Katsuyori says, "I am amazed that Shingen--who professes to revere our ancient ways--should send an emissary so lacking in even elementary social graces." That's a sick burn. As the kids would say. A few years back. I love this scene with the '47 Ronin' play, and how the action of the play is mirroring the narrative and the themes of the story we have unfolding before us. "It's a tale of honour, of loyalty, of the Samurai determination to see a course through to the end, regardless of the cost." This is Logan. The Ronin. The masterless Samurai. Single-minded of purpose. Dave Life imitating art indeed. Kev When it comes time to face the Kabuki assassin though, Logan is ever the professional, he doesn't even lose focus enough to "glance" in Mariko's direction to check on her. He's all business. Dave One strike and the assassin is gone. Much to the horror of Mariko. Kev Yep. And her face splattered with her would-be assassin's blood. This is another well staged and executed fight scene by Miller. Dave Then he swiftly demolishes the other swordsman, who have, quite literally, no faces. Kev Ah, good point. The Men With No Faces. Back to our western and samurai movie references. Wolverine is virtually unstoppable once the berserker rage takes over. "It drives me berserk. In a matter of minutes......the battles over. I'm the only one standin'. I lost control. I feel sick. I feel great." Those last two lines are a huge part of the dichotomy of the Logan character, right there.  "Let The Bodies Hit The Floor." Dave Yeah, totally at odds with himself. Yet that's his nature. The animal within. Kev Yep. That conflict of the natural animal and the man society wants him to be. Dave And after seeing Mariko's reaction, he now knows that things are finished between them. Kev Yes. It's interesting that he hid that side of himself from Mariko. As much as he loves her, he was never truly honest with her about who and what he is. You can totally understand why he would keep it from her though, but it means that their entire relationship was founded on an untruth. Or at the very least a lie by omission. Dave Well one thing is for sure, Yukio is delighting in this. Kev Definitely. She's certainly positioned herself to take Mariko's place by Logan's side. Dave And he didn't kill the swordsmen, still keeping some element of self control, even within his rage. Kev Right enough. Despite the berserker rage, he was still in control enough to not just slaughter them. Dave Yukio's catchphrase is clearly, "Gotcha." She used it earlier as well, when she killed Katsuyori and his wife via car explosion. Kev Ah, nice. I hadn't noticed that. Good catch. Dave Then the very last panel, "Logan san, my beloved Wolverine….Gotcha." Kev Yeh, right enough. I'm a bit of a sucker for a catchphrase, as well. Dave I'm seeing even more similarities with this story and 'Circle of Blood,' with the femme fatale playing a big part in the main character's story. Kev Definitely. There are similarities in that respect alright. Dave It's certainly an action packed story so far and it really does deliver. And the Japan setting is spot-on for Wolverine. The traditionalist values and beliefs are constantly being brought to the fore. Kev I totally agree, the Japanese setting is tailor made for the themes of this story, yes. It's also probably worth mentioning that 'The Wolverine' movie is a loose adaptation of this story and that it has a lot of themes and motifs that are carried on into and expanded upon in 'Logan,' if anyone were looking for something to watch off the back of reading this. (D) & (K) Next: 'Loss.' 
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