Michael Regan
Aug 21, 2008, 06:33 pm
Spider-Man vs. Wolverine #1
February 1987
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/marvel/spidermanvswolverine1thumb.gif" hspace=3 align=top align=left alt="Spider-Man vs. Wolverine #1" border="0"> (http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/marvel/spidermanvswolverine1full.jpg)
Story Title: High Tide
Writer: James C. Owsley
Penciler: Mark Bright
Inker: Al Williamson
Colorist: Petra Scoteses
Letterer: Bill Oakley
Editor: Ann Nocenti
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter
Some time ago, Wolverine had been on a mission with his friend Charlie in East Berlin. Things had taken a bad turn and were being pursued, but in spite of the odds Wolverine did what he does best and prevailed but when the second line of defence attacked, it was another story. The K.G.B. agents disguised as townsfolk were willing to blow their covers to stop the two. Charlie had been working as a freelance operative for the K.B.G. which had gotten them into this situation and Wolverine was going to get them out of it. Giving into his berserker rage, Wolverine took down dozens of men and women, and he smiled as he did it. When Wolverine finally came to his senses he was surrounded by bodies. A heart-shaped charm had been left on the ground nearby, indicating that Charlie had left alive.
It is Saturday night and Spider-Man is swinging through New York City. For the past three hours he's been trying to get some go photographs to sell to the Daily Bugle but has not had any luck. He suddenly hears a scream from the street below and notices a young girl running through the crowd. He is briefly distracted by a stunningly beautiful woman who appears to be out of place in the neighbourhood, but managed to pull himself away from the woman to catches up to the young girl. All she is able to say is "Sophie... Burt...", referring to a nearby Hell's Kitchen corner store. Spider-Man rushes to the store and finds a trail of blood leading to a stock room. Sophie and Burt have been murdered by a professional. Spider-Man takes out his camera and snaps some shots.
At the Daily Bugle, Cushing is impressed with Peter's photos. Jonah takes Peter under his wing and tells him he wants him to take on an out-of-town assignment for Now Magazine. They are interrupted by Ned Leeds who has something urgent to discuss with Jonah. Peter uses the opportunity to slip away.
Peter finally arrives home too late for dinner. He has missed the meal but is forgiven. He and MJ go out for the evening and he reminds himself that she is not his girlfriend. As they walk through Times Square his spider-sense begins to warn him of danger. He tells Mary Jane to get off the street, and while changing to Spider-Man in a nearby alley the air is filled with the sound of gunfire. Exiting the alley, the police mistake Spider-Man's actions and begin to shoot at him. He is unable to find the source of the gunfire and when the S.W.A.T. team arrives he leaves the situation in their hands.
Back at Mary Jane's apartment, Peter is upset that he has once again been helpless a life and death situation. Mary Jane begins to tell him that there was nothing he could have done, but her cuts her off by a passionate kiss. Mary Jane is visibly shocked by the action, so Peter leaves. She is not his girlfriend he again reminds himself. Not for the fist time, Peter decides to give up being Spider-Man.
Back at the Bugle, Ned Leeds continues to talk to Jonah about what he has. He has a list of secret K.G.B. operatives and they have been slowly murdered including Sophie and Burt at the corner store followed by pedestrians at Time’s Square and several others. They were all on the list he has. There have also been heart-shaped charms left at the scenes; the calling cards of Charlemagne. Jonah agrees to allow Ned to pursue the story giving him Peter as a photographer.
In West Berlin, Wolverine investigates the recent killings of K.G.B. operatives and recognizes Charlie’s work. He has been followed for the past few blocks and he deals with the two men in non-lethal fashion, but as they run they are cut down by K.G.B. agents. As they approach Wolverine, he simply smiles. The agents step backwards, knowing better than to engage Wolverine in a battle. They have been assigned to follow him hoping to find Charlie. As soon as they are out of sight, Wolverine catches the scent of Charlie on the air and there are two more bodies to add to the list. He knows these two were likely part of the old operation he and Charlie were on together and old scores are being settled. He continues his search for Charlie over the next few days, but is unable to find a trail.
Logan suddenly picks up a familiar scent. He connects it to Peter Parker and recognises the scent of Spider-Man. Spider-Man has helped the X-Men in the past but he is essentially an unknown element. He could be working with anyone, on any side, and Logan feels that he needs to be watched closely. He crashed through Peter’s hotel room window. Peter pretends to not recognize Logan when he appears in his window, but Wolverine has no time for pleasantries and pulls Peter's web-spinners from his suitcase. Although he is self-conscious about swinging around without a costume, Peter agrees and they leave the hotel room. They may not trust each other, but they share what they know. Logan tells Peter to go back home where he will be safe, but Peter asks about the man named Charlemagne Ned Leeds is looking for. Logan, again, tells Peter to go home before leaving him back at his hotel. Peter decides that it is probably the best course of action and goes to tell Ned that he is leaving, but instead finds the reporter dead. He's been tied to a chair and his throat has been slit. Peter is so shocked that he fails to notice the four armed me in the room with him. One first speaks to him in German, then in Russian, but all he can think about is poor Ned. Wolverine suddenly bursts through the window and stands between Peter and the armed men. Before Peter realizes what is happening, bullets fly and Wolverine goes into a flurry of action. With the men cut down, they leave through the window and Logan tells Peter to go back home again.
He is at the bus station in minutes with intention of leaving right away. He starts to think about how Ned may still be alive if Wolverine had not pulled Peter away from the hotel. He decides that something should be done about Ned's death and Wolverine may have had something to do with it. He finds a local costume shop and when he cannot buy a black body suit, he is offered a very familiar red and blue costume. It is almost identical to his original costume, but with the words "Die Spinne" on the back.
Following a previously planted spider tracer, he finds that Wolverine has gone over the Berlin wall to East Germany. He cautiously tries to get past the guards when he is suddenly spotted. He cannot understand the language, but they don't try to stop him either and he easily jumps over the thirteen-foot wall straight into gunfire on the other side. He must avoid land mines, razor wire, and more gunfire until he can trip up the border patrol with some well-placed webbing to get away. He continues to follow the tracer signal to a hotel and bursts through a window surprising the two innocent occupants in bed. The spider-tracer has been left behind with a note of warning for Spider-Man to go home.
Meanwhile, Wolverine searches a steel mill; a K.G.B. front. Everyone inside has been recently killed and in the middle of it all he finds Charlie sitting quite comfortably on a desk. He is unimpressed with the merry chase Charlie had led him on, but Charlie removes her hat and glasses to reveal the same, beautiful woman Peter had seen walking down the street. He wants to hit her but instead he kisses her. They go to Charlie's house and she tells Logan that she wants to leave the vast fortune she has accumulated over the years to Wolverine when she is gone, but he declines the offer. She fears that every spy agency in the world is out to get her, but Wolverine won’t let that happen. He will protect her.
After a few days they decide to go out for diner in spite of the danger. Wolverine easily detects the scent of poison on the food and decides they should leave but Charlie is well aware of the danger and chooses to stay. Spider-Man suddenly bust in from the kitchen, hoping to help but simply hastens the attack. Bullets fly, but they are no match for the men in the restaurant. Charlie slips out during the fight leaving Spider-Man and Wolverine trying to follow.
Wolverine tells Spider-Man Charlemagne's story. She had been hired by the K.G.B. and they had attempted to terminate her when the job was finished. She took it very personally. Wolverine is able to track down more of the agents who will be targeted by Charlemagne hoping to find her but she has beaten them to the location and they are already dead. Even though the men she is killing are killers themselves, Wolverine knows she must be stopped. No matter where they go she manages to stay ahead of them until there is no one left on the list alive. Wolverine blames Spider-Man for their failure - for getting involved - and after a few harsh words they go their separate ways. Wolverine meditates and rationalizes that she is likely to contact him next. Peter, on the other hand, can't sleep wondering if he actually is responsible for all the killings; for Ned's death.
Wolverine meets Charlie in a Soviet cemetery. Her luck will soon run out and she knows it; when they get her they will kill her... slowly. In order to avoid that suffering he holds her close and pops his claws. Despite his honourable attempt, he fails to administer a killing stroke. He holds up his hand and pops his claws once more intending to end her misery but Spider-Man stops him. They begin to fight, neither pulling any punches. Spider-Man feels he may be no match for Wolverine’s ferocity and begins to fear for his life. He allows himself to “go on auto-pilot”, relying on his spider-sense. He begins to hammer Wolverine with punch after punch, but Wolverine quickly recovers and gets the upper hand, placing his fist under Spider-Man’s chin threatening to extend his claws. The situation is interrupted by flood lights from an overhead helicopter. Wolverine dives to cover leaving Spider-Man in the glare of the lights. There is sudden movement behind Spider-Man and he turns to punch with all his strength... hitting Charlemagne. She only lives a few moments more. She knew what she was doing and committed suicide. They are suddenly surrounded by silent, unrecognizable agents. It does not matter which agency they are with. Wolverine tells them that Charlemagne is dead and in a flash of light they are gone.
Logan and Peter return home with the help of forged passports. All the way Peter cannot get the image of killing Charlemagne out of his head. Back at his apartment the phone rings. Jonah has received Peter's photos and loves them and the story that goes with them. He then asks where Ned is, but Peter tells him to simply contact the authorities for answers and hangs up the phone. Mary Jane comes to the door and welcomes Peter back home. He holds her close; very close. He can use a friend right now.
Characters:
Bert
Charlemagne
Katherine Cushing
J. Jonah Jameson
Ned Leeds
Maude
May Parker
Sophie
Spider-Man
Storm (flashback)
Victor
Mary Jane Watson
Wolverine
February 1987
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/marvel/spidermanvswolverine1thumb.gif" hspace=3 align=top align=left alt="Spider-Man vs. Wolverine #1" border="0"> (http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/marvel/spidermanvswolverine1full.jpg)
Story Title: High Tide
Writer: James C. Owsley
Penciler: Mark Bright
Inker: Al Williamson
Colorist: Petra Scoteses
Letterer: Bill Oakley
Editor: Ann Nocenti
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter
Some time ago, Wolverine had been on a mission with his friend Charlie in East Berlin. Things had taken a bad turn and were being pursued, but in spite of the odds Wolverine did what he does best and prevailed but when the second line of defence attacked, it was another story. The K.G.B. agents disguised as townsfolk were willing to blow their covers to stop the two. Charlie had been working as a freelance operative for the K.B.G. which had gotten them into this situation and Wolverine was going to get them out of it. Giving into his berserker rage, Wolverine took down dozens of men and women, and he smiled as he did it. When Wolverine finally came to his senses he was surrounded by bodies. A heart-shaped charm had been left on the ground nearby, indicating that Charlie had left alive.
It is Saturday night and Spider-Man is swinging through New York City. For the past three hours he's been trying to get some go photographs to sell to the Daily Bugle but has not had any luck. He suddenly hears a scream from the street below and notices a young girl running through the crowd. He is briefly distracted by a stunningly beautiful woman who appears to be out of place in the neighbourhood, but managed to pull himself away from the woman to catches up to the young girl. All she is able to say is "Sophie... Burt...", referring to a nearby Hell's Kitchen corner store. Spider-Man rushes to the store and finds a trail of blood leading to a stock room. Sophie and Burt have been murdered by a professional. Spider-Man takes out his camera and snaps some shots.
At the Daily Bugle, Cushing is impressed with Peter's photos. Jonah takes Peter under his wing and tells him he wants him to take on an out-of-town assignment for Now Magazine. They are interrupted by Ned Leeds who has something urgent to discuss with Jonah. Peter uses the opportunity to slip away.
Peter finally arrives home too late for dinner. He has missed the meal but is forgiven. He and MJ go out for the evening and he reminds himself that she is not his girlfriend. As they walk through Times Square his spider-sense begins to warn him of danger. He tells Mary Jane to get off the street, and while changing to Spider-Man in a nearby alley the air is filled with the sound of gunfire. Exiting the alley, the police mistake Spider-Man's actions and begin to shoot at him. He is unable to find the source of the gunfire and when the S.W.A.T. team arrives he leaves the situation in their hands.
Back at Mary Jane's apartment, Peter is upset that he has once again been helpless a life and death situation. Mary Jane begins to tell him that there was nothing he could have done, but her cuts her off by a passionate kiss. Mary Jane is visibly shocked by the action, so Peter leaves. She is not his girlfriend he again reminds himself. Not for the fist time, Peter decides to give up being Spider-Man.
Back at the Bugle, Ned Leeds continues to talk to Jonah about what he has. He has a list of secret K.G.B. operatives and they have been slowly murdered including Sophie and Burt at the corner store followed by pedestrians at Time’s Square and several others. They were all on the list he has. There have also been heart-shaped charms left at the scenes; the calling cards of Charlemagne. Jonah agrees to allow Ned to pursue the story giving him Peter as a photographer.
In West Berlin, Wolverine investigates the recent killings of K.G.B. operatives and recognizes Charlie’s work. He has been followed for the past few blocks and he deals with the two men in non-lethal fashion, but as they run they are cut down by K.G.B. agents. As they approach Wolverine, he simply smiles. The agents step backwards, knowing better than to engage Wolverine in a battle. They have been assigned to follow him hoping to find Charlie. As soon as they are out of sight, Wolverine catches the scent of Charlie on the air and there are two more bodies to add to the list. He knows these two were likely part of the old operation he and Charlie were on together and old scores are being settled. He continues his search for Charlie over the next few days, but is unable to find a trail.
Logan suddenly picks up a familiar scent. He connects it to Peter Parker and recognises the scent of Spider-Man. Spider-Man has helped the X-Men in the past but he is essentially an unknown element. He could be working with anyone, on any side, and Logan feels that he needs to be watched closely. He crashed through Peter’s hotel room window. Peter pretends to not recognize Logan when he appears in his window, but Wolverine has no time for pleasantries and pulls Peter's web-spinners from his suitcase. Although he is self-conscious about swinging around without a costume, Peter agrees and they leave the hotel room. They may not trust each other, but they share what they know. Logan tells Peter to go back home where he will be safe, but Peter asks about the man named Charlemagne Ned Leeds is looking for. Logan, again, tells Peter to go home before leaving him back at his hotel. Peter decides that it is probably the best course of action and goes to tell Ned that he is leaving, but instead finds the reporter dead. He's been tied to a chair and his throat has been slit. Peter is so shocked that he fails to notice the four armed me in the room with him. One first speaks to him in German, then in Russian, but all he can think about is poor Ned. Wolverine suddenly bursts through the window and stands between Peter and the armed men. Before Peter realizes what is happening, bullets fly and Wolverine goes into a flurry of action. With the men cut down, they leave through the window and Logan tells Peter to go back home again.
He is at the bus station in minutes with intention of leaving right away. He starts to think about how Ned may still be alive if Wolverine had not pulled Peter away from the hotel. He decides that something should be done about Ned's death and Wolverine may have had something to do with it. He finds a local costume shop and when he cannot buy a black body suit, he is offered a very familiar red and blue costume. It is almost identical to his original costume, but with the words "Die Spinne" on the back.
Following a previously planted spider tracer, he finds that Wolverine has gone over the Berlin wall to East Germany. He cautiously tries to get past the guards when he is suddenly spotted. He cannot understand the language, but they don't try to stop him either and he easily jumps over the thirteen-foot wall straight into gunfire on the other side. He must avoid land mines, razor wire, and more gunfire until he can trip up the border patrol with some well-placed webbing to get away. He continues to follow the tracer signal to a hotel and bursts through a window surprising the two innocent occupants in bed. The spider-tracer has been left behind with a note of warning for Spider-Man to go home.
Meanwhile, Wolverine searches a steel mill; a K.G.B. front. Everyone inside has been recently killed and in the middle of it all he finds Charlie sitting quite comfortably on a desk. He is unimpressed with the merry chase Charlie had led him on, but Charlie removes her hat and glasses to reveal the same, beautiful woman Peter had seen walking down the street. He wants to hit her but instead he kisses her. They go to Charlie's house and she tells Logan that she wants to leave the vast fortune she has accumulated over the years to Wolverine when she is gone, but he declines the offer. She fears that every spy agency in the world is out to get her, but Wolverine won’t let that happen. He will protect her.
After a few days they decide to go out for diner in spite of the danger. Wolverine easily detects the scent of poison on the food and decides they should leave but Charlie is well aware of the danger and chooses to stay. Spider-Man suddenly bust in from the kitchen, hoping to help but simply hastens the attack. Bullets fly, but they are no match for the men in the restaurant. Charlie slips out during the fight leaving Spider-Man and Wolverine trying to follow.
Wolverine tells Spider-Man Charlemagne's story. She had been hired by the K.G.B. and they had attempted to terminate her when the job was finished. She took it very personally. Wolverine is able to track down more of the agents who will be targeted by Charlemagne hoping to find her but she has beaten them to the location and they are already dead. Even though the men she is killing are killers themselves, Wolverine knows she must be stopped. No matter where they go she manages to stay ahead of them until there is no one left on the list alive. Wolverine blames Spider-Man for their failure - for getting involved - and after a few harsh words they go their separate ways. Wolverine meditates and rationalizes that she is likely to contact him next. Peter, on the other hand, can't sleep wondering if he actually is responsible for all the killings; for Ned's death.
Wolverine meets Charlie in a Soviet cemetery. Her luck will soon run out and she knows it; when they get her they will kill her... slowly. In order to avoid that suffering he holds her close and pops his claws. Despite his honourable attempt, he fails to administer a killing stroke. He holds up his hand and pops his claws once more intending to end her misery but Spider-Man stops him. They begin to fight, neither pulling any punches. Spider-Man feels he may be no match for Wolverine’s ferocity and begins to fear for his life. He allows himself to “go on auto-pilot”, relying on his spider-sense. He begins to hammer Wolverine with punch after punch, but Wolverine quickly recovers and gets the upper hand, placing his fist under Spider-Man’s chin threatening to extend his claws. The situation is interrupted by flood lights from an overhead helicopter. Wolverine dives to cover leaving Spider-Man in the glare of the lights. There is sudden movement behind Spider-Man and he turns to punch with all his strength... hitting Charlemagne. She only lives a few moments more. She knew what she was doing and committed suicide. They are suddenly surrounded by silent, unrecognizable agents. It does not matter which agency they are with. Wolverine tells them that Charlemagne is dead and in a flash of light they are gone.
Logan and Peter return home with the help of forged passports. All the way Peter cannot get the image of killing Charlemagne out of his head. Back at his apartment the phone rings. Jonah has received Peter's photos and loves them and the story that goes with them. He then asks where Ned is, but Peter tells him to simply contact the authorities for answers and hangs up the phone. Mary Jane comes to the door and welcomes Peter back home. He holds her close; very close. He can use a friend right now.
Characters:
Bert
Charlemagne
Katherine Cushing
J. Jonah Jameson
Ned Leeds
Maude
May Parker
Sophie
Spider-Man
Storm (flashback)
Victor
Mary Jane Watson
Wolverine