Uncanny X-Men #205 (May 1986)

Uncanny X-Men #205
"Wounded Wolf"
10.0/10.0 - an absolute Must Read!
Penciler:  Barry Windsor-Smith
Author:  Chris Claremont
Inker:  Barry Windsor-Smith

Let me preface this by saying that my first encounter with Lady Deathstrike was Uncanny #248 and she only showed up in a single page.  So when I finally laid my hands on this gem of an issue, I was totally psyched.  I also feel I should remind everyone that I am not a fan of Wolverine.  Don't get me wrong, he's a complex character but he is totally overused and usually written very poorly and one-dimensional.  I haven't liked Wolverine since the mid 90's.  Yeah.  It's been that long.

This issue starts with Lady Deathstrike undergoing a complete transformation.  Her first appearance (a few months prior in Alpha Flight) was that of a jilted daughter of a scientist who was honor bound to kill Wolverine.  However, she was only human and her only real weapon was an electro-magnetic sword that was destroyed pretty easily by Vindicator.  Now, you find that sometime afterward, she found Spiral who transformed Deathstrike into a cyborg with extendable "finger claws".  Deathstrike also hooks up with Cole, Macon, and Reese, three ex-Hellfire Club goons who were critically injured by Wolverine during the Dark Phoenix Saga (one of Claremont's strengths is to use plot lines from stories that happened years ago) and were given cybernetic enhancements by Donald Pierce.

Flash forward a small amount of time and Katie Power is run into by a horrible injured Wolverine who is on the run from Deathstrike and her trio.  Wolverine is so out of it, he doesn't know who he is and can't even speak at first.  He and Katie both flee as their pursuers do their best to kill their prey, no matter what collateral damage they inflict.

Eventually, Wolverine finally comes to his senses and hides Katie while he deals with the threat.  He turns the tables and hunts the hunters.  One by one, Macon, Cole, and Reese each fall to Wolverine's claws.  Wolverine then turns on Deathstrike and after a vicious battle, Deathstrike is left on the ground, critically wounded.  She begs Wolverine to kill her with honor, but Wolverine denys her, stating that she must earn that honor first.  He walks off, leaving Deathstrike behind.

This issue is one of the greatest single stories in the X-Men for several reasons.  Smith's art captures the ferocity of the fight and the feeling of the blizzard perfectly.  I'm not always a big fan of Smith, but his work on this issue is some of the best I've ever seen.  Wolverine is shown to be extremely deep.  His walking away from Deathstrike is such a great ending.  And he demonstrates his compassion, especially towards kids, when he handles Katie perfectly, hiding her from the horrors that he must do.  Claremont also perfectly writes Katie, which is hard to do when the character is a 6 year old.

Every time I pick up this issue, I eagerly flip through it.  Some stories I get tired of and will only skim as I've read them several times.  But not this issue.  I take my time with each page, relishing every single panel.