‘Wolverine: Patch #1’ Review (Marvel Comics)
Written by Larry Hamma | Art by Andrea Di Vito, Le Beau Underwood | Published by Marvel Comics
Everything old is new again. The return of the Patch persona, from Wolverine’s Madripoor days, is another in Marvel’s recent nostalgia push. As their main line of books modernizes, with changes to characters and themes not universally enjoyed, Marvel is trying to keep that older market with previously untold stories from classic runs by classic creators. We’ve got the classic 90’s pairing of Ron Marz and Ron Lim on Silver Surfer, we’ve got X-Men Legends revisiting classic periods of the past with Claremont, and now we have Larry Hama back writing Wolverine from the classic 90’s run. Which is great news. Hama brought a real freshness to the book when he wrote it, and I still have all his issues which stand up well today. He ‘gets’ Wolverine.
Let’s see what we get.
So, quick recap time for those that came in late. In the early 1990’s Logan relocated to Madripoor, where he was known as Patch. He owned a nightclub, the Princess Bar, and had a series of adventures with Tyger Tiger, who co-owned the club, and Archie Corrigan, an old school pilot. It had a 1930’s Pacific Island vibe, and was great fun while it lasted. No costume, no Wolverine, no X-Men, no problem. We kick off the first couple of pages hinting at this, before jumping straight into the story. Patch and Archie are asked to investigate some strange goings on across the island, which they duly do. They find an old crashed Soviet aircraft, and also find someone else looking for it. S.H.I.E.L.D. As we know, where S.H.I.E.L.D goes Nick Fury isn’t too far away. Fury warns Logan away, telling him he’s interfering with official business. Logan and Archie leave as requested.
Or they don’t. Logan can’t sneak back quick enough. He also has the ability to survive falls from a great height, with his mutant healing factor, so just jumps out of a moving plane. That’s commitment for you. As he gets his bearings we find there are a third party involved, seemingly also looking for that crashed plane, General Coy and his mercenary army. Seems some Russians are in town too, as well as the Japanese underworld. Doesn’t take a genius to realise there’s going to be a race on to nab the cargo from that plane.
Larry Hama loved his brutal fight scene choreography back in the day, and we get a nice burst here, as two mutants try to take out Patch. One’s super strong, one super fast. They leave him for dead…until he gets up. Sometimes the healing factor takes a little while to kick in, but it always does. So, just what is going on here? Several groups, none of them really on the right side, all looking to snag whatever is in that Russian plane. Classic Hama stuff, all in the spirit of those old adventure serials. We get some mystery, some violence, some intrigue, what more could you want. Logan being Patch being Wolverine. It most definitely had the period feel of the Patch era, as though the last thirty years never happened (though the cover price most definitely reminds you it has).
This was enjoyable stuff, but then I remember the original era and so have a nostalgic connection to it. All the things I was looking for were there. Hama’s writing was excellent, Di Vito and Underwood’s art both top notch and reminiscent of that era’s feel and style. I’m not so sure if people without that connection would necessarily have enjoyed this as much, with the lack of any relevance to the modern Marvel universe and current characters. It’s a fun diversion for modern fans, but little else. For me, a welcome walk down memory lane.
Most definitely a Patch on the original.
