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This six-issue mini-series, written by Chris Claremont and drawn by Al Milgrom first saw the light of day in 1984. It was the most notable of the Kitty Pryde and Wolverine team-ups, something which is fondly remembered in the current Wolverine: First Class series. The story itself is relatively simple, Kitty’s parents are getting divorced and she heads home to be with them. While there she learns her father may be in trouble with Japanese mobsters and follows him to Japan. Turns out, her father was in with the mobsters and Kitty is devastated. She flees, but is captured by one of the mobsters named Ogun. Ogun brainwashes Kitty, cuts her hair, and makes her the ultimate killing machine. Before she was captured, she called the X-Mansion looking for help but hung up when Wolvie answered. Wolverine came to Japan to help, meets his old friend, Yukio and ends up getting stabbed through the heart by Kitty. The story leads on to Wolverine trying to break Kitty from Ogun’s control, Kitty having a confrontation with Ogun while coming to terms with her father’s actions and protecting Wolverine’s lover, Mariko. Wolverine and Ogun have a long history and it is all settled by the time the mini-series closes.
-The Bottom Line- The story, in a word, is riveting. I got through the six issues in one sitting. To see the transformation of Kitty (Claremont’s baby) from a timid young girl, to a much more adult, short-haired, capable woman. She gets a new name in this mini, that would stick to her “death” in Astonishing X-Men, Shadowcat. It is more than just a standard Wolverine/Kitty team-up. Wolverine is not just the guy who shows up to save Kitty. He leads her on the right path, but she must defeat her demons on her own. The writing was very well-done, the art by Milgrom wasn’t flashy but suited the story, and in the end you’re left with just a really well-told, well-drawn six-issue mini that changed the way we saw Kitty Pryde. The hardcover is short on extras, it has an illustrated introduction by Milgrom (surprised Claremont didn’t write anything), and the original splash page to issue #6 that was changed due to its possible similarities to the one at the end of #5. The original sketches that were finally used is included as well. Lack of extras aside, this was just a great story, and that’s enough to carry the 12th volume of Marvel’s Modern Age of Story-telling that hasn’t been in print for years.
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