Kitty Pryde and Wolverine

Supercbbox| title = Kitty Pryde and Wolverine


caption = "Kitty Pryde and Wolverine #4"
schedule = Monthly
format = Limited series
publisher = Marvel Comics
date = November 1984 - April 1985
issues = 6
writers = Chris Claremont
artists = Al Milgrom

"Kitty Pryde and Wolverine" is a comic book limited series of six issues written by Chris Claremont and drawn by Al Milgrom, and published by Marvel Comics between November 1984 and April 1985. A spin-off of the series "Uncanny X-Men", it chronicles a Japanese adventure of two of the most popular X-Men of the time, Kitty Pryde and Wolverine.

The story arc is remarkable for Kitty Pryde, because it is arguably her coming of age. Previously, Kitty was written as a sweet, gentle "kid sister" for the older X-Men, and as a literary foil to provide comic humour. In six issues, Chris Claremont takes her fresh from her breakup with Colossus in "Uncanny X-Men #184" and puts her through a trial of fire in which she confronts her inner demons and emerges victorious. She became a strong, capable young woman, and from then on, writers portrayed her in a much more mature way, and her previously campy, colorful costumes were discarded for a more serious look. "Kitty Pryde and Wolverine" is also directly responsible for her code name "Shadowcat," which she took on after this adventure and has held on until today.

Plot

Kitty Pryde's father Carmen has run into trouble with the Japanese Yakuza. In order to help him, Kitty follows him on a business trip but is captured by mob boss Shigematsu and the evil ninja Ogun, who brainwashes her into becoming a deadly ninja assassin. After she single-handedly slices up a group of ninjas, he orders her to kill Logan (Wolverine).

A masked Kitty almost kills Wolverine, before she is knocked out by Logan's friend Yukio and comes to her senses. Terrified at having been turned into a killing machine, Kitty wants to flee, but Logan forces her to overcome her conditioning by focusing on her inner strength. When Kitty, Yukio and Logan vanquish their opponents, Kitty has the chance to kill Ogun. But she balks, stating she cannot do it. For Wolverine, it is the proof that she is truly herself again. When Ogun tries to kill her, Wolverine impales him on his claws. They clear Carmen Pryde's name and return.

Much of the series revolves around Kitty, and Claremont especially plays off on the differences between her and Logan. Wolverine is a ferocious, hardened character, a direct contrast to the innocent, gentle Kitty. When she is turned into a killer who almost murders Logan, the older Wolverine pushes a frightened Kitty to beat the mind control by confronting her inner demons. In the end, Kitty has matured into a strong young woman, having grown as a character while retaining her innocence. Not much later in the regular series, Wolverine would even consider her as a potential leader for the X-Men, if it were not for her sheer youth. The two very different characters establish a deep, platonic big-brother-little-sister-like rapport which lasts until this day, and has recently been showcased in the series "Astonishing X-Men".

In other media

Kitty's and Logan's close, platonic relationship is also hinted at in many episodes of the TV series "", where Wolverine calls Kitty "half-pint." In one such episode, Wolverine (under mind control) attempts to kill her, but Kitty reaches him and manages to wipe out his mind control. This is in stark contrast to the X-Men cartoon of a decade earlier, the "Pryde of the X-Men" pilot, in which Wolverine sees Kitty as an upstart, unfit to be an X-Man.

Notes

*Although this limited series was important for both Kitty Pryde and Wolverine it has never been reprinted in a trade paperback. But it has been reprinted in the British magazine Wolverine and Deadpool some 15 years later. But the limited series is being reprinted into a Hardback Graphic Novel in June 2008.

ee also

*History of the X-Men comics

External links

* [http://www.uncannyxmen.net/db/issues/showfaq.asp?fldAuto=43 "Kitty Pryde and Wolverine" plot summaries and covers @ uncannyxmen.net]