Wolverine #176

Publisher
Marvel
Year
2002
Month
7
LastChanged
2/11/2024 1:17:37 PM
The Logan Files: Epilogue

Summary

  Surrounded by a white light, Logan finds himself face to face with a red-headed woman, who Logan believed to be "Jean". Logan asks her whether he was dead, and wonders why "Jean" would be here since she wasn't dead. Her response was that his physical body had passed on, but his soul had not as of yet. He asks her whether Amiko was okay or not. Her response was that Amiko had been saved by the Weapon X program, strange as that may sound. Logan notices that he didn't see "...no St. Peter, no pearly white gates ... an' the man with the pitchfork an' hooves ain't come a' callin' neither", and asks "Jean" where he really was. She tells him that he was in a place "in between" ... the place commonly referred to where "... your life flashes before your eyes".

  As flashes of the past days' events passes through his eyes, Logan is asked what was disturbing about all those events .. about how his loved ones were getting attacked. Without hearing an answer, she tells Logan that throughout his life, he had always been a loner, and yet, family had always been important to him. She recounts the past people he had associated with as "family": as a member of the Canadian army's Devil Brigade, in Madripoor as Patch, when he was training under Ogun as a father figure, when he had teamed up with Team X, when he knew Heather and James Hudson (aka Vindicator and Guardian) and then as part of Alpha Flight. Only when he found the X-Men did he finally found a place to where he felt he belonged. Logan said that yes, the X-Men are his family, but if he's dead, why not just bury him right then and there and let him pass on.

  Her response to Logan about why he hadn't passed on yet was because Logan had "...to come to terms with all this, as well as with your [Logan] feelings ..." She tells Logan that throughout his life, he has always dealt with his feelings in two ways: either lashing out, or withdrawing inside from them. As Logan becomes frustrated with all these talk, he pops out a set of claws. She points out to Logan that in doing that, Logan had just pointed out that statement by himself.

  Meanwhile, through a gateway, two bystanders (whose shadows we recognize as Ogun and Cyber) notices who was out there, and could not believe their luck to now have the chance to face off against Logan once again, though they felt that "... a moment like this ... is sometimes best shared".

  As "Jean" and Logan continued talking, an image of the "new" X-Men appeared, those closest to Logan's life. She refers to Storm as someone Logan calls a sister; Nightcrawler, Colossus, and Banshee as brothers; and even Cyclops (through it all) and "Jean" Grey. She asks Logan "...what it was about her [Jean] that drew you [Logan] to her so?" Logan's response was that she knew exactly how he had felt about her, but that they should just leave it as is. She asks him why Logan always "secretly wince" whenever "Jean" and Cyclops were seen together, why he wasn't at their wedding with all of the other guests and instead choosing to watch from a distance. Logan finally blurbs out that he loves her now and forever. "Jean"'s response was that Logan was missing the point, that regarding the events that she had been talking about, how Logan tended to avoid events that would cause painful emotions within him. She refers back to Colossus' funeral, and how he didn't attend it. Logan's response was that he was angry at Colossus for sacrificing his life instead of giving the X-Men a chance to find a cure for the Legacy virus.

  "Jean" questions Logan as to whether the only thing Logan had felt was anger in all those events, and whether anger was the only emotion Logan would admit to, but not sadness or feelings of loss. She brings up the death of Mariko Yashida and why Logan had never had a meaningful, lasting relationship since that. She tells Logan that the reason behind this was because he, Logan, was afraid to be hurt again, and was afraid that to end up in another relationship may result in it ended up like all his other relationships: in death. She reminds him of all the other hurtful events in his life: the Weapon X program, when Magneto ripped Logan's adamantium off his skeleton, of when he became Apocalypse's first horseman known as Death ... and questions him as to why his recollection of all those events were at best fuzzy. She tells him Sabretooth was right: that his lost memories was a result of his own actions, that painful emotions that he endures, he keeps away from himself and those that he can't avoid, his mind heals over it. She tells Logan that only he could stop it from happening; he had to accept that it's okay to fail, to hurt, and to unlock the door to his mind.

  To his left, a door appears. "Jean" tells Logan that only he could open the door and find out what was on the other side. He uncertainly opens the door. Behind the door was a rolling hill with a grassy field. He hears voices, "...voices I vaguely recognize, some laughin', some cryin' ...", and asks who they are. "Jean" tells him that they were the answers to everything for him, "...the origin to it all" and that he now had to trust her to "...put aside your fear, your doubt ... go over the hill. I ["Jean"] promise you, my love, all will be revealed ..."

  From behind her, a voice calls out. Logan looks to see enemies of his past who had died appear. He unleashes his claws, ready to battle. "Jean" grabs him by his arm, telling him to remember what she had said about lashing out or withdrawing, and tells him to go over the hill before it was too late. Logan says throughout his life, he had never backed down from a fight, and he didn't intend to back down even now that he's dead. As he unleashes his fury against the enemies, from behind, a giant figure appears. Logan looks up to find himself face to face with Colossus. Getting up, Logan utilizes Colossus in a "reverse fastball special": he hurls Colossus towards his enemies, pushing them through the gateway. As they disappear, Colossus tells Logan to tell the X-Men that Colossus was now back with his family and that he was now happy.

  From the door that Logan had opened, "Jean" tells Logan that he had "...succeeded in losing your [Logan] one chance at peace -- possibly forever". As the door closes, she tells Logan "... one last thing before you go -- I'm not Jean". Logan runs towards the door, wondering who the redheaded woman he was talking with was, only to have the door close before he finds out. From behind the door, the red-haired woman is seen smelling a rose, saying "Farewell, James, my love ... perhaps we'll be reunited again someday ... someday ..."

  Logan's eyeball is seen refocusing. A clawed fist burts from a canvassed bag. Logan is aboard a helicopter with two pilots. From behind, Logan sneaks up to the pilot, claws drawn, and proceeds to take them out.

  Back at the X-Mansion, Logan tries to recall the "dream" that he had had. He had been dead for 23 minutes, and from what he could tell, the loss of his mutant power when the MPC weapon had been activated on him was only temporary, and his healing factor had kicked back in, which brought him back to life. As he wrestles with whether the visions he had had was just a dream ... whether he, himself, really was the cause of his own memory loss, the doorbell rings. On the other side stood Amiko with a note. As the two hugged, Logan read the note. The note was from The Director, who returned Amiko to him as a sign of good faith that what Sabretooth had done was something that neither he nor the Weapon X program had sanctioned, and apologized for the harm that had been caused to his loved ones. Logan, with Amiko in his arms, leads her to the kitchen for some food.