Logan: The Five Best Comic Book Stories Starring Wolverine

Madripoor Knights

Uncanny X-Men #268 (1990)
By Chris Claremont and Jim Lee

With Madripoor Knights, Claremont showed everyone that Wolverine was quite a bit older than most fans had assumed.

I mean, we all knew Logan’s past was shrouded in mystery and that because of his healing factor, he was probably older than he looked. But this was one of the first times we saw Wolverine in action during World War II. And if you are going to have Wolverine in running around during World War II, it only makes sense to have him meet Captain America.

Madripoor Knights followed a pair of storylines, one in the present and one in the past, both taking place in Madripoor, the island nation Logan had started calling home. While the story taking place in the present was well and good, it was the second one where Logan met a still wet behind the ears Steve Rogers that made this issue a classic.

Claremont’s script was perfect as he alternatively showed the grizzled, worn down Logan in the present and the younger, still hopeful Logan of the past. It was a fascinating juxtaposition few writers have tried since, which is probably a good idea. I really don’t think anyone could have done it as well as Claremont.

But what pushed it over the top was the art of Jim Lee. Lee was still relatively new to the comics scene and was still finding his “voice” on Uncanny X-Men when this issue came out. By the final page, readers were amazed what he could do when given the right script and the right characters.

Madripoor Knights is considered by many to be Lee’s single best issue of his run on Uncanny X-Men and honestly, it’s hard to argue with that.