Kitty Pryde and Wolverine #1-6 (1984-1985): Kitty becomes Shadowcat


Kitty’s dad is in trouble with the Yakuza, who are using black magic. So Kitty and Wolverine go to Japan to kick some Yakuza butt. 

Chris Claremont writes Kitty well. Even though this is a very serious and dense miniseries, he gives her space to be playful.

Kitty’s dad is somehow in trouble with Yakuza, so she and Wolverine head out to help. The meet evil ninjas. Like this guy:

Ogun. He’s a minor character in the Marvel ninja pantheon. He cuts Kitty’s har, she gets a new codename (“Shadowcat”), and a new outfit.

She also gets trained in ninja skills, which explains why she kicks so much ass in X-Men stories that occur following this miniseries.

He starts acting as her mentor, but of course he turns on her.

Wolverine claws Ogun through the heart in issue #6, so he seems to be dead. He’s not. His ghost comes back years later.

Yukio is also in this.

It’s a perfectly fine story, albeit a little too plot-heavy–with details that are forgettable and don’t matter. But it’s a Claremont joint, so of course it’s overwritten.

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