Issue(s): Marvel Comics Presents #54, Marvel Comics Presents #55, Marvel Comics Presents #56, Marvel Comics Presents #57, Marvel Comics Presents #58, Marvel Comics Presents #59, Marvel Comics Presents #60, Marvel Comics Presents #61 (Wolverine/Hulk story only)
Cover Date: Jul-Oct 90
Title: On the Road: "The long and winding road" / "With friends like these..." / "Shoot out at the fantasy factory" / "Death don't have no mercy" / "You can run... but you can't hide" / "Old friends" / "...Top of the world" / "Instant karma"
Credits:
Michael Higgins - Writer
David Ross - Penciler
Dan Day - Inker
Kelly Corvese - Assistant Editor
Terry Kavanagh - Editor

Review/plot:
After a string of poor quality Excalibur stories, Michael Higgins is not my favorite writer at this point, so seeing him getting the headlining Wolverine (and Hulk) feature in Marvel Comics Presents is a little disappointing. It seems to validate the idea that the people writing for this book are getting the writing assignments because they are editors at Marvel. On the other hand David Ross and Dan Day are both solid artists, so there's that. And if you're going to have perpetual Wolverine stories in addition to the ones in his own title and X-Men, a team-up with the Hulk is not the worst way to do it.

Wolverine is in the Carolinas (the story won't commit on North vs. South) looking for the missing X-Men, when he comes across a bear about to maul someone.

One dumb joke later, Wolverine is fighting the bear.

However, on the way to the hospital, the guy that the bear attacked demands to be let out of the truck. Wolverine complies, but waits a bit to see if he'll change his mind and return. And then he decides to follow the guy, and the trail leads him to the Hulk.

Wolverine just assumes that they have to fight now...

...but the Hulk holds back and eventually convinces Wolvie that he's making an ass of himself.

After a dinner of bear meat, the two get back in Wolverine's pick-up. But when they stop for gas, the attendant pulls a shotgun on Wolverine, claiming that someone matching his description is wanted for murder. The Hulk has transformed back into Bruce Banner at this point and is seen trying to hitch a ride. He's eventually picked up by some teens, who seem to be drinking. Wolverine, meanwhile, consents to being arrested but then thinks better of it and cuts his way out of the back of the cell. We then see (a) Wolverine having a bit of a freakout, and he breaks into a pharmacy and overloads on pills.

Then Bruce and the car-full of teens are pulled over, and Bruce is arrested as the "ringleader" (and a city-slicker). Bruce sees Wolverine, hunted by the police, get shot just as he's about to transform.

Hulk leaves without him (in Wolvie's pick-up!). Wolverine wakes up on the autopsy table, and escapes the hospital. And Hulk hears on the radio that someone matching Wolverine's description is attacking a pharmaceutical factory, and he jumps out of his truck to investigate. But while the Hulk confronts this Wolverine...

...we see that the real Wolverine is still on the run.

The Hulk figures out that the person he's fighting is not the real Wolverine, and whoever it is says that they've met before.

He's also confused.

The fake Wolverine runs off. Instead of pursuing, the Hulk stops to release the imposter's hostages. But after that, the Hulk catches up with the fake Wolverine, who he now recognizes, even though the character is supposed to be dead.

The imposter reveals that he's really the Mimic. The Mimic gives a recap of his history, but drops in some new information hinting that he may actually be a mutant, and that his father worked for Canada's Project Alpha / Project Omega.

And the reason he didn't die after his last encounter with the Hulk is because he subsequently started mimicking Wolverine's healing factor.

Actually the idea that he was mimicking Wolverine's healing factor is really my interpretation. It just says that he was drawing power from Wolverine, and it's also said that his father's work with adamantium could be a reason why he's developed an affinity with Wolverine. Having absorbed some of the Hulk's gamma radiation could have been a factor as well.

In any event, the Hulk recognizes that Mimic has not been himself (literally!) and is therefore not responsible for the crimes he's been committing. But when Wolverine shows up, Mimic wants to fight him.

Their fight doesn't last long, but it does last long enough for the sun to come up, and the Hulk transforms back into Bruce Banner. Luckily (?), Bruce's weird young friends show up.

Weirdly, Bruce starts drinking...

...and when the sun goes down again, he turns into an angry Hulk and goes on a rampage.

The Hulk is lured away by some lights.

Wolverine and Mimic (who is stuck with Wolverine powers) tag along. They wind up the cave where Mimic's father kept his hidden lab, and they see a holographic version of Mimic's dad. The idea is that Mimic's late father created machinery that kept Mimic's powers under control, but they stopped working when Mimic moved out of range. The holographic recording of Mimic's father has now lured Mimic back, but the machinery is no longer working.

The Hulk reverts to Bruce Banner, and thinks that he can repair the machines. But, in what feels like an incredibly truncated ending, Mimic decides that he's done with machines, so Wolverine teaches him how to meditate to keep his powers in control instead.

And, uh, that's it. The ending is a complete stinker (and is basically reversed the next time Mimic appears) but i guess it's interesting to see a revival of the Mimic. A villain with all the powers of a super-team is not unusual and can be pretty cool (Super-Skrull, Super-Adaptoid), but the Mimic didn't last long as a villain and was retired (i.e. killed off) not loo long after that. The idea of tying him in to the Canadian Alpha program is certainly something different (if not especially welcome) but this story doesn't really deal with that directly. It's just a series of fights, either Misunderstanding Fights or Out of Control Fights. No actual villain, and what feels like a tacked on resolution. At least we got to see David Ross drawing Wolverine fighting a bear and the Hulk.

Quality Rating: C-

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: Wolverine says that the rest of the world think the X-Men are dead, but he knows better and starts this arc off looking for them in the Carolinas. But the mutant activity he heard about in the Carolinas turns out to be Freedom Force, placing this soon after Hulk #369.

References:

• The mutants that Wolverine heard were in the Carolinas turned out to be Freedom Force, per Hulk #369.
  
• The last time Wolverine and the Hulk met, it was in Madripoor in Wolverine #8 (incorrectly footnoted as #12).
  
• The Hulk met Mimic in Hulk #161, where Mimic seemingly died.
  
• The Mimic's origin was in Uncanny X-Men #19.
  
• The Puppet Master forced Mimic to fight the X-Men again in Uncanny X-Men #27.
  
• Mimic then briefly joined the X-Men, until his powers were canceled out while fighting the Super-Adaptoid in Uncanny X-Men #29.
  
• Mimic began drawing power from Wolverine "shortly before" Hulk #181.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

In theory, this were a legitimate purpose for allowing newer writers to write for Marvel Comics Presents. It enabled up-and-coming young writers like Scott Lobdell, Fabian Nicieza and Len Kaminiski to get some practice without risking the sales of a major book. (And no matter what you might think of these gentlemen's writing personally, Lobdell and Nicieza would go on to write X-Men and Kaminiski would go on to write Iron Man, so it's understandable for Marvel to want them to get practice.) But too many stories were written by editors like Higgins, who never became a major writer and is just a footnote in comics history.
Fnord, it's clearly hinted that Project Alpha/ Project Omega became the Weapon X project. There's the references to Adamantium. And later on, Mimic's father tells Wolverine that some of his efforts paid off.
The idea that the Hulk can't be affected by Banner getting drunk really doesn't make much sense, since the Hulk's metabolism is many times Banner's, and is never mentioned again.
Note that this story suggests that an autopy could have killed Wolverine- at least there are still limits to Logan's healing factor at this point.

That should read "can be affected by Banner getting drunk". Sorry.

Huh. Never realized Mimic came back. Perhaps there should be a little side-project where someone goes through the original two Marvel Universe series issues of the Dead and figure out which ones are actually still dead.

Huh. Never realized Mimic came back. Perhaps there should be a little side-project where someone goes through the original two Marvel Universe series issues of the Dead and figure out which ones are actually still dead.

The number is shockingly high these days. For one thing, most of the Scourge morts were resurrected -- like, with demon magic and all -- in Rick Remender's run of Punisher. And before that, every vampire ever was brought back in the Marc Guggenheim/Howard Chaykin Blade series. Some of the "name" vampires "re-died" in Captain Britain and MI13, but not many.

I think the next time Mimic came back he inexplicably had the powers of the 5 original X-Men again permanently.

Never read this (didn't even know it existed till now), but I almost want to read the whole thing just to see if the whole thing's as weird as it seems. Just seems like out-of-character bad fanfiction from start to finish,

A bad callback to the Hulk-Wolverine fight from #340, with the Hulk saying "Hey! Is this really necessary?" when attacked? The Mimic now actually looks like the people he is taking powers from, but doesn't absorb the Hulk's power this time? Banner getting drunk with some young hitchhiker friends? (And if Banner being drunk could have an effect on the Hulk, why would he do it just before sundown when the Hulk's about to appear?)

I was wondering why an editor wasn't there to sort out this mess, but then it seems he is an editor.