20 Of The Best Wolverine Stories

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17. Wolverine and Mariko

Okay, this is the last Wolverine story here to involve Japan. Probably. At the very least, though, this one is an especially big deal with regards to Wolverine’s overall story.

In this arc, we meet up again with Mariko Yashida. Poor Mariko rarely seems to be the agent of her own story. Instead, she’s buffeted about by forces largely beyond control, including her family’s unfortunate ties to the Japanese criminal underworld.

Things could be a little better, but she is practically obsessed with honor and duty, in near-stereotypical fashion. It’s to the point where she delays a happy marriage with Wolverine until she can sort out her family’s Yakuza-related messes.

In Wolverine Vol. 2 #57, we inch achingly close to that final goal. However, Mariko is struck by an assassin’s dart containing tetrodotoxin, a deadly toxin derived from a blowfish. Suffering from a slow, painful decline and yet again worried about honor, she asks Logan to end her suffering. He releases his claws and obliges.

Though this would hardly be the last time that Wolverine does the whole “honor killing” thing using his adamantium claws, it was very likely the most affecting and heartbreaking. It’s hard to read it and somehow not be affected by the pathos of the moment.