In this week’s issue of Wolverine, we once again were given a recap of one of the members of the Red Right Hand and why they have chosen to go on this epic revenge quest on Wolverine. In the process, we are given two brief scenes featuring the father and husband of our central character, both in front of mysterious boards full of random phrases of information. So the question on our mind is: well, what does this all mean?
So let’s start by breaking this down as much as we possibly can (at least, based on my knowledge/Google skills):
- Keep an eye on Victor Creed – a reference to Sabretooth, who features heavily in this particular issue.
- The Marvels Project will destroy us all – a reference to the Brubaker written miniseries, the Marvels Project.
- Drop the bomb on Madripoor – Wolverine hides out in Madripoor for a considerable amount of time as Patch, back in Frank Tieri’s run.
- The Winter Soldier must die – the Winter Soldier was revealed to be Bucky post-Captain America in Ed Brubaker’s first Captain America arc.
- Never trust Raven Darkholme – this would be Mystique, perhaps even a reference to Jason Aaron’s Get Mystique arc of Wolverine.
- Landau, Luckman and Lake – one of the fictional companies in Marvel that is controlled by a cabal trying to bring about heaven on Earth – the mean way (first appearance in Wolverine #5 by Chris Claremont). Wolverine was once an agent, as well as Deadpool and Captain America.
- Where is Weapon II? – during Grant Morison’s run on New X-Men, he established the existence of the Weapon Plus Program, where Wolverine’s moniker Weapon X referred to the tenth roman numeral in a series. Weapon II has never been established in continuity (although apparently Morrison has implied the animals from his series We3 are Weapons II-IV (according to information on the always reliable Wikipedia).
- John Sublime is lying – another Morrison creation, John Sublime is the man behind the Weapon Plus program, although John Sublime was actually just the host for the sentient bacteria that was Sublime.
- Who is Romulus? – Romulus is a creation of Jeph Loeb, and is the “man” apparently behind the manipulation of Wolverine’s entire life (see the now complete Wolverine: Origins series for Wolverine’s saga to find and kill Romulus).
- Save Seraph – Seraph was a woman romantically involved with Wolverine during his extended stay in Madripoor, and the owner of the bar where Wolverine spent his time.
- The Hudson Bay Company – While this is actually a real company, the Hudson Bay Company is something that Jason Aaron brought into the title during Weapon X (as far as I know), and it’s a company that has been keeping a lot of his personal information (including his real name) in files. It also has something to do with Maverick, although the arc was never resolved.
- Whatever happened to Dog Logan? – Dog is the Sabretooth-esque character from Wolverine’s past introduced during Wolverine’s “true” origin story. Dog has been missing since Wolverine killed Rose, although he and Thomas Logan have been implied to perhaps be returning.
- The Gamma Bomb is coming – This seems to be a pretty easy reference to the bomb that turned Doctor Bruce Banner into the Hulk. Given that Wolverine’s first appearance was in Incredible Hulk #180-181, I would assume that this is a reference to that.
- Omega Red is just the beginning – Omega Red is a classic X-Villain, created as a Russian/KGB attempt to create a super soldier like Captain America (like the Red Guardian). It didn’t go well. While I’m not sure the exact implication, it’s possible that Aaron plans to introduce some new villains of the former Soviet Union variety?
- Is CIA planning coup in Wakanda? – Through some research, I’ve found that this is apparently a reference to Black Panther: Enemy of the State by Christopher Priest and Joe Jusko, in which T’Challa discovers that the CIA is attempting a coup in Wakanda. While I’m not sure the specific reason for the reference, I will note that Jason Aaron wrote Black Panther during Secret Invasion (and it was quite great). Continued below
- What is Fury’s secret plan? – This could literally be anything.
- Beware the offspring of Lord Dark Wind – Lord Dark Wind would be the father of Lady Deathstrike, a rather famous foe of Wolverine’s (and for those who watched the animated X-Men series, a former lover!).
- Kill the Gorilla Man, live forever – Ken Hale from the Agents of Atlas is the recipient of an ancient curse which damns him to the body of a Gorilla. The reference here is fairly obvious with that knowledge.
- Infiltrate Department H – Department H is a branch of the Candian Department of National Defense responsible for Alpha Flight, Beta Flight, and Gamma Flight. It’s also involved with the Weapon X program (although Weapon X was run by Department K for reference).
- Buy stock in Roxxon – Yet another fictional Marvel universe corporation, it is the largest conglomerate in the world as well as a staple for all stories that need a villain.
- Control the Adamantium – This is a fairly obvious reference to the indestructible metal that makes up Wolverine’s bones, but it could be more than that. It seems possible that this is a reference to Lady Deathstrike’s involvement with Logan, as she had been attacking him due to her fascination with his adamntium skeleton and her belief that this was her birthright.
- Life Model Decoys are everywhere – This is another of the more obvious references.
So we have the Marvel timeline as given to us by Bendis, and now we have a new set of boards from Marvel Architect Jason Aaron. Granted, there is a third board labeled “how to hurt him” (him being Wolverine), but that’s just a list of Wolverine’s lovers that have been killed (assumedly now in connection with this group).
While the current arc is all about Wolverine’s past and why Wolverine has (literally) been going through Hell recently, is there any additional information we can glean towards what is to come from Aaron and his plans for the ol’ Canucklehead? See/know anything here that I missed?
