Wolverine: Son of Canada

Issue Date: 
April 2001
Story Title: 
Wolverine: Son of Canada
Staff: 

Howard Mackie, Ron Lim and Walden Wong (Story and Art), Ralph Macchio (Editor), Dave Sharp (Lettering), Sotocolor (Coloring), Joe Quesada (Editor-in-Chief)

Brief Description: 

Wolverine, the Hulk and Spider-Man are thrown out of a portal in Vancouver, Canada. They are confused as to how they got there and Wolverine suggests going back through the portal to find the answer. Hulk grabs them and they jump through and find themselves in the distortion field between their dimension and the Negative Zone. They see Thor, Captain America, The Thing, Storm and the Silver Surfer all stuck to a giant sphere of darkforce energy. They try to free them but the sphere fights back and the heroes soon retreat back through the portal. They find themselves in Calgary and, when tendrils coming from the portal continue to attack them, the Hulk pulls one of the tendrils and with it the rest of the creature. The darkforce creature says that Blastaar is looking to take over the planet and has attacked the heroes first to get them out of the way. The creature escapes back through the portal and so the heroes follow it. They end up on top of CN Tower in Ontario. Spider-Man surmises they must be using the transmitters to create portals all over Canada. After defeating more creatures, they jump through the portal again and, though they are once again in the distortion field, Wolverine frees the Silver Surfer, who blasts the darkforce sphere with his power cosmic. With the other heroes freed, they split up to destroy all the transmitters Blastaar has set up over Canada. After doing this, they all go to the site of the main transmitter in Newfoundland. Blastaar tries to come through the portal with his army but the heroes destroy the final transmitter, close the portal and save the Earth.

Full Summary: 

In Vancouver, the heart of Canada’s British Columbia, the magnificent city now finds itself caught in a strange and ferocious weather pattern. The source of the disturbance is a bizarre energy portal which rips through the skies above the metropolis. From the alien portal, the gamma-irradiated brute known as the Hulk appears. Next to him emerge Spider-Man and Wolverine as well. They land in a street, poised to fight.

Spider-Man says he was hot on the trail of the Green Goblin when suddenly a ball of energy appeared and now he is here. He looks around and asks the others where he is. He spots a building with the sign “Greco Unlimited” on it, but must again asks where he is and who brought them there… and why. Hulk says he doesn’t like this place, something feels bad. Wolverine says it’s not the place and he tells them it’s British Colombia. Spider-Man is startled that he is in Canada. As the portal and the storm rage over them, Wolverine tells him to look up. He says that’s where they came from and that’s where they are going to find answers.

Hulk grabs Wolverine and Spider-Man and says he will take them there and smash whatever is doing this. Spider-Man says that wasn’t what Wolverine was suggesting but Hulk leaps towards the portal in the sky. Spider-Man says maybe they should come up with a plan and look before they leap. He says he has a bad feeling about this and fires a web behind him. They enter the portal and see a giant black sphere with Captain America, Silver Surfer, the Thing, Storm and Thor all stuck to the outside of it by its dark energy.

The tendrils of dark energy start to seek the three heroes out and Wolverine slashes at them with his claws. He says they have got to free the others by cutting them loose. Wolverine continues to slash at the energy with his claws but Spider-Man tells him it’s not working. He says it’s the distortion field that exists between their dimension and the Negative Zone. They are out of their element, he continues, and suggests the Hulk pulls them back up the web line he shot earlier. They manage to get back through the portal but now find themselves in a snowy forest. They see a large wooden house in the distance and Wolverine says they are at the Banff Springs Hotel in Calgary. Spider-Man jokes that Wolverine is their little genetically enhanced tour guide.

Spider-Man looks up at the portal and says he hates to tell them but they have company. The tendrils of dark energy whip down towards them through the portal. Hulk picks up a chunk of ice and says he will smash the energy and then pull apart whoever is sending it after them. Wolverine, slashing at the tendrils, says it won’t be that easy. Spider-Man tells him to hang on a minute and points out that Hulk might have a point. The energy is coming from somewhere or someone, so maybe it’s attached to someone. Wolverine gets what he is saying and guesses it’s their direct link to whoever is behind all of it. He shouts to the Hulk to grab one of the tendrils and pull.

When one of the energy tendrils attacks Hulk, he grabs hold of it and pulls hard, and in doing so manages to yank a dark energy creature from out of the portal. The creature lands on the ground in front of them and says they have found the darkforce. It tells them it won’t do them any good, as the darkforce’s master will defeat them and conquer their realm. It’s already too late, as the transmission has begun. The creature tells them to heed the coming of Blastaar and then leaps back through the portal. Spider-Man notes aloud that Blastaar is the tyrannical ruler of the Negative Zone and he’s a real heavyweight. They will have their work cut out for them. With that, the three heroes leap back into the portal.

(CN Tower, Ontario )

The heroes exit the portal and find themselves at the top of the world’s tallest building. Wolverine tells Spider-Man not to admire the view for too long. They somehow beat the darkforce through the portal but it’s already on its way and it brought some buddies. They look up to the portal above them to see three darkforce creatures hurtling towards them. One of the creatures tells them that resistance is futile and it’s time to join their compatriots. Wolverine slashes at one of the creatures and asks why they would do that. Is it so Blastaar can launch another attack on their dimension? The creature says that Blastaar has learnt from his past mistakes and that his defeats were due to Earth’s heroes. So this time he is taking them out of the battle first. Spider-Man summarizes that Blastaar sent the energy portals to the most powerful heroes on the planet to engulf them and transport them to the distortion field. But somehow they were the wild cards.

Spider-Man looks around him and sees all the satellite dishes on top of the tower and guesses that they are being used as transmitters. Blastaar is sending the energies around the world and opening up the portals which he will probably use to transport his armies through. Hulk shouts that he will smash it so there won’t be any armies or Blastaar. Spider-Man yells for him to stop. He says he thinks he can use it to get to their main transmitter. If they destroy the other satellites without taking out the main transmitter, then they’ve lost. But if they take them all out at once… Wolverine realizes what he’s suggesting and calls him a genius.

As Hulk grabs them both and leaps towards the portal, Spider-Man creates a web line back through the portal so they can get out again. He says that, as long as they keep the line connected to Earth, they can go to the distortion field and free the rest of the heroes. Wolverine thanks him and says he will take it from here. He thinks if they free one of the heroes, they should possess enough power to free the rest. That one would be the Silver Surfer.

Wolverine slashes at the tendrils binding the Surfer down and frees him. The Surfer thanks him and crackles with energy. He summons his board and then tells the rest of them to stand back whilst he summons the power cosmic. With a concentrates blast, he shoots the darkforce orb and destroys it, freeing the rest of the heroes. Thor thanks the Surfer and says Blastaar has gone too far. There will be a heavy price to pay for attacking the god of thunder. Storm tells him to calm down as there is far more at stake than personal vengeance. Captain America agrees with Storm. He suggests they split up to take out the rest of the transmitters before Blastaar can unleash his inter-dimensional invasion force across the planet. Ecstatically, the Thing shouts his catchphrase, “It’s clobberin’ time.”

With those words, the battle to save the planet commences. With the information provided by Wolverine, Spider-Man and the Hulk, the heroes blanket the Canadian landscape looking for the transmitters. Captain America and the Thing engage a hoard of darkforcers guarding one of the alien devices in front of the parliament building in Ottawa, while in Quebec Storm uses her lightning to destroy another transmitter. Meanwhile in Nova Scotia, the Silver Surfer uses his power cosmic to blast yet another transmitter.

The final showdown takes place in front of Cabot Tower beneath Signal Hill in Newfoundland. At the site of the main transmitter, Blastaar gathers his army of darkforcers for one final push onto Earth to complete his long sought-after conquest, but Earth’s mightiest heroes have other ideas. As Blastaar exits the portal, he sees Wolverine and his team waiting for him. Wolverine unsheathes his claws and says as his buddy Puck used to say… “let’s do this.” Together, Storm, Thor and the Silver Surfer use their powers to destroy the main transmitter in a huge explosion. As the final portal fades from existence, the Earth is saved again. As the heroes revel in their victory Spider-Man asks Wolverine if he knows Puck and wonders if he still pals around with Alpha Flight. Wolverine tells him maybe and Spider-Man asks him if he has their number, because it’s a long web swing back to New York from there.

Characters Involved: 

Storm, Wolverine (both X-Men)

Captain America, Thor (both Avengers)

The Thing

Silver Surfer

Hulk

Spider-Man

Blastaar

Darkforce creatures

Story Notes: 

This issue was created by Doritos and was only released in Canada as a free comic. As well as having an advert within the pages of the comic, Doritos also got their logo in the background of some panels.

Issue Information: 
Written By: