Welcome back to this week’s installment of Ye Olde School Cafe’! This week, I’ll be featuring part 2 of Wolverine Classic TPB (trade paperback). Last week we saw Wolverine beat down a bunch of thugs, then get possessed by an ancient sword. He even tangled with the Silver Samurai. We also saw an appearance by Jessica Drew and her partner Lindsay McCabe (they were private investigators). Today, we’ll be taking a look at Wolverine’s first run-in with Bloodscream and Roughouse. These two villains would be a thorn in Wolverine’s side for quite a while, and unless I’m mistaken are still running around somewhere today. Let’s now journey to Madripoor for part 2 of this mystery from Wolverine’s past!
Our story begins with a man running for his life in the sleazy alleyways of Madripoor. The man is Chancellor Ranjamaryam of the prince’s estate, and within minutes he’s confronted by two of the most sadistic men in Madripoor. Bloodscream (Bloodsport) and Roughouse, are two henchmen that are mercenaries who work for the highest bidder. They quickly slay the chancellor and leave his scarred body by the docks for the police to find the next morning. Patch (Wolverine) decides to meet up with the police and see what they know about the murder. The police and Patch speculate that rival crime families are to blame for this atrocity.
Next, we see Bloodscream and Roughouse interrogating and also serving notice to Archie Corrigan, that his days of helping Tyger (the new crime boss) are over and he will only serve their boss from now on. We then switch to Patch, who is following the scent of the two murderers back to its origin. He finds himself at General Coy’s palace, and quickly gets interrupted by Karma (of the New Mutants). The General is her uncle and she has sworn to help him, but she doesn’t realize the brutality of his ways. Patch tells her about his extracurricular activities and she’s shocked to learn her uncle is such a beast.
The next morning, Jessica and Lindsay are walking the streets when suddenly they’re grabbed from behind by Roughouse. He manhandles both of them and then kisses them both as well. Luckily for the girls, Bloodscream shows up to remind him of their mission and its importance. Seconds after running into those two brutes, Jessica and her partner discover one of Tyger’s safe-houses, and find that everyone inside has been beaten to a pulp. The two girls then meet with Patch to discuss some strategy on how they can eliminate Coy and his men. No sooner does Patch leave with Tyger, than he’s attacked by the two hired guns. They pretty much kick the crud out of Patch, then turn their attention to Tyger. All seems lost, but then Karma shows up and possesses their minds and forces them to let Patch and Tyger go. Back at Patch’s secret hideout, we see Jessica and Lindsay taking care of first aid issues with Tyger, and Patch pacing around like crazy.
We later then see Patch pay a visit to Archie’s airfield, and he tells him that he wants to rent an airplane and also to tell Archie that he better not be playing for both sides on this one. General Coy in the meantime is giving his troops a pep talk before battle. General Coy has figured out that Patch has 
left Madripoor, not to run away, but to try and hurt Coy financially by destroying his Opium plantations on a neighboring island. The General and his assassins go to make preparations for Patch on the island, and Karma is left wondering how she can help her friend.
After a flight that shows an enemy airplane try and shoot them down, Patch and Archie get in close enough for Patch to jump out of the plane. The only problem is that he doesn’t have a parachute. Patch jumps out of the plane, and slashes at the wings of the other plane and takes it out. Meanwhile, back in Madripoor, Jess and Lindsay are trying to find help for Tyger. They take her to a place that Patch told them might be able to help. It’s the business office of Landau, Luckman, and Lake. Back on the island, Patch is starting to slice his way through General Coy’s troops. Back in Madripoor, Lindsay and Jessica are hanging with Chang of L, L & L . Just when things are getting comfy, Bloodscream and Roughouse smash right through the wall. Switch back to the island, and Patch is making short work of Coy’s army. Archie gets in on the act as well and mows down a few of the mercenaries too. After finishing the last few dudes off, Patch and Archie head back to the plane; but little do they know that back in Madripoor, things aren’t looking good for Tyger and his friends.
And this concludes volume 1 of this series. I know I’m leaving you hanging, but tune in next week for the conclusion to this storyline, and also some fun with The Hulk and Sabretooth!
Billy Dunleavy
billy@comicattack.net
Great review of this book! Sounds like an exciting read.
this series of trades is definitely my all time favorite for Wolverine.
I only read a couple random issues from this run as a kid, but I got them all from ebay a year are so ago and was still instantly nostalgic.
Plus I’ll never like any outfit for him better than his patch get up.
@Ian-TRO- These Wolverine stories are really. If somebody out there thinks that right now Wolverine is too “all over the place”, read these Tpb’s. It will take you back to a time before the mainstream media thought Wolverine was “cool”. Thanks for the comments!