Each day in November, I will read and review/discuss/whatever one comic taken from a box of some of my childhood comics. Today, it's Wolverine #25.

The Nostalgia November archive can be found here.

Wolverine #25 by Jo Duffy and John Buscema is a solid little one-off story that wouldn't really work as well now as it did then. It takes place during a time that Wolverine was, apparently, thought dead and he was living in Madripoor as Patch. An old favour by a friend who is trying to gain control of the Wharfside neighbourhood is called in and Logan finds himself guarding a six-year old boy against possible retaliation from the rival mob boss. The boy can't sleep, so Logan tells him the story of a young boy who lived in the Canadian wilderness and was cast out for being too small and weak... he's adopted by a pack of wolverines and lives the wild, saving them from hunters and trappers. After the story, the rival criminals attack, there's a big brawl, and it ends in a stalemate, Logan having repaid his debt.

The story that Logan tells the boy is obviously meant to be a hint to the readers that this happened to him without actually confirming anything officially. He could be making it up or it could be true... we'll never know because Logan's past is mysterious, his origins unknown. Of course, that doesn't work as much now that his origins aren't unknown and his past is being mined constantly to create a cohesive whole. Not that the story here is that impressive either. Duffy doesn't really do anything with the story Logan tells or provide any real insight beyond the idea that this is what happened to Logan as a boy. The only thing of real consequence is that he does kill humans to protect the wolverines, possibly showing his first killing.

Buscema's art is good, very solid. He does the story scenes well, but the Madripoor stuff isn't as impressive. The end brawl is cluttered and chaotic, and difficult to really follow at times. The colouring has a weird moment at the end where Logan's clothes switch colours from blue to brown to yellow, making him look like Dick Tracy by the end.

All in all, a solid but forgettable issue.