Appearing in "Basics!"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Prince Baran
- Tyger
- General Coy
- Police Chief Tai
- Archie Corrigan
- O'Donnell
- Bloodscream
- Shingen Harada (Only in flashback)
- Mariko Yashida (Only in flashback)
- Noburu-Hideki (Only in flashback)
- Daredevil (Main story and flashback)
Locations:
- Australia
- Madripoor
- Princess Bar
- Royal Palace
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for "Basics!"
The Past:
Deep in the Australian outback, Wolverine hunts a wild bore using his enhanced senses. He easily hunts down and kills the boar, and begins feeding on the creature he reflects back to when he lost his battle against Lord Shingen[1] and how back then he called him nothing more than an animal. As Wolverine considers himself to be nothing more than Lord Shingen said that time ago it begins to rain and he spots the cause of the unseasonal weather: his fellow X-Man, Storm. Wolverine is furious that she has seen a side of him that he wishes his fellow X-Men not to see. Storm however assures Logan that he is more than a beast and that he should consider his superior tracking abilities as a gift and not a curse. Logan tells her that the X-Men are his family and he doesn't feel comfortable parading his animal side in front of them. Shortly thereafter Logan decides to depart once more for Madripoor telling Storm that if he's needed they can get Psylocke to contact him telepathically. With that established, Logan has Gateway open a portal to his second home and jumps through.
The Present:
At the Princess Bar there is a fight that breaks out between Logan (in his Patch persona) and General Coy's enforcer Roughouse. Everyone is placing bets and the lease on the Princess Bar is up for grabs as Coy has placed it on the betting table. To everyone's excitement, Patch easily bests Roughouse in a brawl, knocking him unconscious. Tyger Tiger wins the lease on the Princess Bar and turns it over to O'Donnell before departing with Patch to celebrate his victory. Witnessing his enforcers defeat, Coy and his minion Bloodscream meet with a mysterious man who agrees to purchase Roughouse off Coy.
At the palace of Prince Baran, Police Chief Tia brings news of a shipment of cocaine (one of the few illegal substances in Madripoor) that was shipped in for General Coy was captured thanks to the help of Patch. Baran is upset that Coy would bring a substance that would upset the balance of power and thanks his chief for bringing the news. With Tia gone, the man who purchased Roughouse emerges from the shadows. He is the man who brought the cocaine to Madripoor and apologizes for bringing the substance to the land and offers the Prince a hefty some of money for his troubles. He also gives Baran some advice: if he is worried about the balance of power in Madripoor, he should be concerned about Patch's activities his kingdom.
The following morning, as Tyger Tiger is sleeping off the previous night's debauchery, Logan watches the sun rise. He suddenly detects the scent of the cocaine he helped bust the night before and sees that it is being driven out of Hightown in trucks. Curious, Logan tracks the truck to the docks where he sees the mysterious man paying the men for their delivery of the confiscated goods, load it up in his boat and leave. Leaving Logan with more questions instead of answers.
As the ship sails, the man introduces himself as Geist to his prisoner, Roughouse. He explains to the strongman that his brand of cocaine has interesting results. He tells of Hammer Cody, a former New York boxer out of Hell's Kitchen who had become a drug addict looking for his next fix. After getting a fix of Geist's special blend of cocaine he went on a rampage on the streets attracting the attention of the super-hero Daredevil. Daredevil had a hard time knocking out the doped up Cody. He choked him until he passed out from lack of oxygen. Before Daredevil could turn him over to the police Hammer suddenly revived and attacked Daredevil before suddenly dying. The body was recovered by Geist's men before anyone could investigate the cause of death.
With his explanation done, Geist doffs his trench coat revealing himself to be a frail old man in a cyborg body. Geist explains that Roughouse has been sold to him as a new test subject for his experimental cocaine. As Roughouse protests the prospects of becoming a slave, Geist removes one of his mechanical hands and replaces it with a straight razor.
Outside the ship, Wolverine has been holding onto the chain on the boat anchor listening to the whole story and realizing that Geist needs to be stopped decides to climb aboard. As he does so he is shocked to hear Roughouse screaming...
This story is continued next issue...
Notes
- Williamson inks one panel on page 2, according to Byrne.[2]
- This is the very first issue of the Wolverine series that begins to use the name "Bloodscream" instead of "Bloodsport".
