Return of the Native

• Writer - Greg Rucka
• Artist - Darick Robertson
• Colorist - Studio F
• Lettering - Virtual Calligraphy
• Lettering - Rus Wooton
• Editor - Warren Simons
• Ass't Editor - Axel Alonso
• Editor in Chief - Joe Quesada

Summary

  Somewhere in the Canadian wilderness, in a well-hidden den, the Native is seen sleeping. She wakes up and looks outside of her cave. Out in the distance, she sees a small stream of smoke. With a slight snarl, she heads out to investigate.

  In Seattle, Sabretooth makes an unannounced visit to his clients, Mr. Murray and Mr. Willoughby. He tells them that he had found Logan, but he wasn't going to follow Logan because he knew that was what Logan would be expecting. Trust His clients expressed concern, but Sabretooth tells the that once Logan finds the Native, he would hunt both Logan and the Native down and capture both of them.

  Back in the Canadian wilderness, where Logan sits near a campfire, enjoying the warmth of the fire he heats a pot of coffee. He senses the native, and comments to the native how she "...smell right. Like the woods. Like you belong." He tells the Native that he was alone. Sensing that she was still nervous about him, he tells her that he was going to stand off to another side to wait for her to make her move. Hours pass, and the campfire slowly burns to ashes. Logan watches on, as the Native slowly makes her move, rummaging through Logan's belongings. A slight gust of wind blows across the campfire, momentarily flaring up, which frightens the Native. In a calming voice, Logan tells the Native that he wasn't going to hurt her as he slowly approached. As Logan moved closer, a brief image of Logan back in his Weapon X days flash across her mind, as the Native recognizes Logan from the Weapon X project. Infuriated, she unleashes her set of bone claws from her knuckles, leaps, and attacks Logan. She pushes Logan down, and punctures him with her set of claws before she makes her getaway into the woods, leaving Logan on the ground in pain.

  'Caveman' sketches' The next day, with his healing factor already fixing him up, Logan follows the Native's footprints to a cave in the mountains. He shines a flashlight into the cave, and finds the Native's lair. On the rear wall, Logan sees crude sketches that the Native had made. On one scene, a woman, man, and child with a heart in the child. In another scene, the child, with claws in both hands, is captured by three men in black. In another scene, three people (presumably the Native, Logan, and Sabretooth) are inside some kind of box as someone worked outside the box. In another scene, one of the character is in pain with wires running into the character. The next scene is of one of the encapsuled characters (presumably Logan) breaking free from the box. The last scene shows two characters (presumably Logan and the Native) standing over some dead and decapitated bodies who had weapons. Logan has a feeling he knows what the Native was trying to tell in the pictures, but he could not remember the events.

  Over in another corner, a box is hidden under a straw bed. Inside the box are a bunch of military trinkets. What catches Logan's attention, however, are two sets of dogtags: one set has his codename "Wolverine" engraved into them. Another set has the name "Feral" engraved in them. As he looks through the box, Logan catches a scent emitting from the cave's entrance. He looks over to see the Native, growling. The Native leaps away as Logan pursuits her into the woods. From behind him, the Native tries to attack Logan. As she continued her assault, Logan tries to tell her that she knows who he is, that they both weren't animals, and that he, too, knows the feeling of being alone. She manages to swipe her claws across Logan's back, which unleashes his feral rage. The two go at each other, both with their claws fully extended, attacking, slicing and wounding each other. The two take a fall down the mountainside, where the two stares each other down, claws extended, teeth snarling, waiting for the other to make a move. As they stare at each other, something happens between the two, as anger is quickly replaced by a sense of attraction to each other. She moves closer to Logan, and they both sheathe their claws. Their hands touch, bodies meet, and their lips lock in a passionate kiss.

Summary

  Rounding off the week's X-books, Wolverine continues "Return of the Native."

  As a rule, the Weapon X Project is an area of continuity best steered clear of. It tends to result in all manner of incredible convolutions. Greg Rucka's way of avoiding that problem is to write a story which doesn't really involve the Weapon X Project at all, so much as a character who's another victim of them.

  The Native seems to be the sort of character that Wolverine might have turned out as if, after escaping the Project, he'd simply stayed in the forest living feral. She's a Weapon X victim who's reverted to a prehistoric lifestyle, all of which plays nicely off the central theme of Rucka's run - Logan's discomfort with being seen as an animal.

  Thematically, it's a nice idea. On the other hand, the idea that the Native has been out there living as a neanderthal for something like ten years is a bit of a strain on credibility, and the issue doesn't really get over that one. It also seems more than a little convenient to give her claws of her own - yes, she's a distaff Wolverine, we get it.

  But the art and pacing generally manage to carry the story despite its credibility problems, and I'm intrigued to see where Rucka is heading with this. Hopefully the answer isn't going to involve hugely complicated flashbacks about the Weapon X Project, mind you.

  Despite having all the right ideas about the character, Rucka still hasn't really delivered any killer stories on this book. Instead, it's become bogged down in stories where Wolverine steamrollers through fairly low-rent opponents. The plot is fairly thin in this one as well, but the subtleties of Rucka's take on the character come through well.

  Rating: B+