X-Men Vol. 1 #173 Newsstand Edition

Description

Wolverine and Rogue crack some Yakuza skulls in a Ginza District bar. Their goal: to pick up the trail that will lead them to the Silver Samurai and Viper!

Wolverine and Rogue mix it up with the Yakuza in Tokyoís Ginza district, until they get the information that leads them to the crimelord Nabatone, who in turn is supposed to lead them to Viper and the Silver Samurai. They infiltrate Nabatone’s estate – with Rogue being horribly cocky and find Nabatone dead. He has been for over a week. The man who arranged the meeting between Mariko and the Silver Samurai was an impostor and, while they’ve been wasting time here, their foes might be attacking the hospital where Mariko and the poisoned X-Men are. The fears are correct: Viper and a team of ninja assassins are attacking the hospital and dispatching of the agents posted there. Rogue flies in, grabs Viper and the Ninja and tosses them out of the building. Wolverine, in the meantime, challenges the Samurai and wins their brutal battle. As he intends to kill him, Mariko asks him to spare her half-brother. They are joined by an armed Viper, who demands they let the Samurai go. The Samurai faints, Wolverine and Mariko make a run for it and, before the gun’s energy ray can hit them, Rogue throws herself into the ray’s path, suffering severe injuries. After the gun overloads, Viper teleports herself and the Samurai away. Wolverine lets Rogue absorb his powers to save her life. In the meantime, Yukio and Storm battled some muggers and Storm, inspired by Yukio, starts to revel in her emotions, even her darker ones, instead of suppressing them, One week later, at the Yashida’s ancestral seat, Mariko, preparing for the wedding, is visited by Mastermind, who influences her in some way. At the wedding reception, the X-Men meet Cyclops’ girlfriend, Madelyne Pryor, for the first time and are shocked by her similarity to Jean Grey. Also, Storm returns, changed in a startling manner. She has gone punk, much to Kitty’s horror. As the wedding ceremony is to start, Mariko breaks it off in front of everybody, insulting Wolverine as unworthy.

Fun Fact: There have been a lot of homage covers to this cover, as seen in X-Men Classic issue 77 and Rogue issue 9 among others.

Newsstand Edition