UNCANNY X-MEN #172: Scarlet in Glory

It's a nice day for a white wedding, but will Wolverine and Mariko be able to start agaiiiiiiiin?

Originally Published August 1983

The X-Men have arrived in Japan for the nuptials of Logan and Lady Mariko, what should be a joyous and incident-free occasion.

However, the Canadian X-Man is nonplussed by the newest addition to the group, the freshly-reformed villain Rogue.

Wolverine has a very specific reason to be bitter about this recruit - Yes, they have fought, but who hasn't Wolverine fought? - The real problem is that Rogue was responsible for the near-death and almost complete identity-erasure of his old friend Carol Danvers. Wolverine is understandably salty about that, but when Storm informs him that the team agreed to it (reluctantly) he can only grouse that any club that would have him will admit anyone.

Outside, a mysterious figure watches from afar... unaware that an even more mysterious figure watches him from a-further.

The bruiser in the foreground is the Silver Samurai, and of course that speck in the distance behind him is none other than Wolverine's casual acquaintance Yukio, who has been lurking around in the shadows nearby him all this time, just in case any weirdos with swords showed up to serve him a receipt for what he did in the Wolverine Limited Series.

Hearing the commotion, Wolverine hops outside to join the fight, but Samurai uses his teleportation device to get away. (Wolverine nearly plunges to his death, but is saved by his own teleporting friend.)

Once the fight ends, Yukio bounces away into the night, only to slip on some rooftop sludge and plummet seemingly to her death. As you'll recall, Yukio has something of a desire to die spectacularly, so this seems pretty great to her, but she is caught by Storm, who finds herself intrigued by this madwoman with a zest for life. Me, I think she's a bit much.

Back at Mariko's fabulous apartment, Storm explains that she recognized the Silver Samurai - Keniuchio Harada, who works with a crimelord named Viper. This pairing recently had an encounter with the New Mutants, resulting in the death of poor Xi'an Coy Manh (sorry you had to find out this way - it happened in New Mutants #5-7 if you want to check it out.)

The group is unsure of the connection - could they be following the X-Men, or Mariko, whose father had deep connections in the Japanese underworld? Unfortunately, Mariko's father Shingen is unavailable for questioning, as Wolverine has recently killed him to death.

We soon learn that Harada has summoned Lady Mariko to meet tonight alone, so this is clearly a them-thing and not an X-thing. Meanwhile, Harada's associate Viper arrives and snatches the weave of Toni, Mariko's handmaiden, in order to disguise herself for nefarious purposes.

Over tea, Logan and Ororo discuss his recent situation, how strange it is that a roughneck Canadian should be married into an ancient and respected house of Japanese nobility. He also reflects on how he wants to take responsibility for untangling the clan from their criminal affairs, to protect Mariko from being corrupted, but worries that he doesn't have the knack for the subtle navigations that requires.

Unfortunately, before they can speak much longer, Wolverine realizes, a moment too late, that there's something wrong with the tea.

Mariko arrives at the warehouse on the waterfront, where her parley with Harada is to take place, mediated by the Oyabun (leader of the Yakuza) Nabatone Yokuse. We learn that Harada is the son of Shingen Yashida (and Mariko's half-sibling) and intends to take his place as the head of Clan Yashida. Mariko points out that Harada is a criminal, and has disgraced the Clan, like Shingen before him, and thus does not deserve the honour.

Offended by that for some reason, Harada draws his sword, to which Mariko objects as Yokuse had pledged safe conduct.

"I made my pledge to Mariko," he says with a knowing smirk, "But you are not Mariko!"

Yes, as it turns out, Yukio has swapped kimonos with Lady Mariko; we had been shown that Yukio had taken the place of Mariko's limo driver and evidently they made the switch in the car outside the warehouse. They tussle as Viper goes to find Mariko in the car, only to find Storm as the only X-Person to not have sipped the tainted tea. She dispatches Viper easily.

And joins the fight with Silver Samurai. However, as has been the case for a while, Storm finds her power is a little hard to control lately and slightly overdoes it.

Harada's armor feeds Storm's energy back into her, causing an overload that sets off sparks, which ignite explosives that have been planted in the warehouse.

The pair of heroes are propelled through the window, landing in the water to safety, where they catch a momentary glimpse of an image familiar to Storm...

That's right, it's the Phoenix's trademark firebird imagery! What could this mean??

As Yukio celebrates another hilarious near-death experience, Storm laments that she can never cut loose the way Yukio does, because she must always keep her emotions in check, or else the results could be disastrous.

We also see that Harada and Viper have survived, and the Samurai vows revenge, on Mariko, and on Storm and Yukio.

The heroes, exhausted from the fight, limp away into the night for a rest, while the mysterious Oyabun looks on... smiling.

A lot of attention is subtly placed on this Oyabun guy. I wonder what his part is in all this...

Back at the Hospital, Wolverine's healing factor has kicked in and he's ready to suit up and take down the Silver Samurai once and for all, much to Mariko's consternation. But he's going to have some unexpected company as Rogue insists on tagging along, having also had the poison diluted by her Carol powers.

Logan, whom we know holds a grudge against Rogue for her previous villainous ways, rebukes her, but can't argue with the fact that it would be handy to have some backup, especially someone with the power of Ms. Marvel.

And away we go!

Further Thoughts:

I have it on good authority that "Keniuchio" is not an authentic Japanese name, just a combination of vaguely Japanese-sounding syllables, making it a sort of American equivalent of a "Sleve McDichael."

Here was a fine issue, but maybe only fine. For whatever reason when the X-Men go to exotic locales it doesn't feel as pressing to me, even with the personal vendetta between Harada and Mariko, and by transitive property, Wolverine and the X-Men. Still, it's nice to see Yukio again, now unquestionably on the good side of things, and her interactions with Storm are way more engaging than if she had reverted to being Logan's tagalong-with-a-crush.

Instead, the role of tagalong-with-definitely-not-a-crush will be played by Rogue, and that's a pretty intriguing combo given that Wolverine hates hates hates her.

To me, it's all about the execution. It's a good enough story, to follow up on the Wolveirne mini-series, but while it looks more like a normal X-Men comic than that sparse, moody piece (as it should) it succeeds in integrating both, and pushing forward with the X-Men's overall story, which is currently that the Phoenix might be coming back. Could this have something to do with the mysterious Jean Grey lookalike Madelyne Pryor? And what about that smirking Oyabun, who definitely seemed way more interested in Storm than Mariko? Eh? Eh?