The Punisher/Wolverine: African Saga

Wolverine: One-Shots

by Jim Lee

When Frank tracks some bad guys to the jungles of Africa he crosses paths with arguably the deadliest man alive - Wolverine. Can these two hard-case-heroes stop trying to kill each other long enough to stop the real bad guys? It's the Punisher vs. Wolverine!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Marvel, Comic Book, Fiction, Fantasy

48 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 1989

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Jim Lee is a Korean-American comic book artist, creator and publisher. After graduating from Princeton, he decided to attempt illustrating comic books, and met with success. Lee's distinctive, crisply hatched line art style and rigid, idealized anatomical forms established a new stylistic standard for superhero comic-book illustration and reinforced a popular trend away from brushed to penned inking in the late 20th and early 21st century. Lee is currently one of the most successful artists in American comics.

He has received a great deal of recognition for his work in the industry, including the Harvey Special Award for New Talent in 1990.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm giving this one five stars just for the early Jim Lee art alone. Punisher and Wolvie cross paths in the Congo when they are both on the hunt for poachers. Logan mistakes Frank for a poacher and they fight. I found it interesting that they don't even catch each other's names or even realize they are on the same side.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wolverine is my all time favorite character so when I saw this for $1.95, I had to scoop it up. Wolverine is hot on the trail of some poachers in the Congo. Punisher is with an expedition looking for long lost dinosaurs. They meet for the first time thinking each is the poacher. Loved the African back drop and Jim Lees art. Definitely glad I grabbed this one.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Punisher and Wolverine are my two favorite Marvel Characters, so I obviously could have some bias on this one. This was the first meeting of the two, and at the time they were arguably the hottest characters in comics. For some reason, Marvel really didn't put them together much during this time and I never really understood why.

As far as this story goes, it was very good. You had some of the best art in comics by Jim Lee, who actually cut his teeth drawing the Punisher before he got mega popular on X-Men. The story puts them in Africa and does have a slightly more realistic feel than most superhero crossovers, even with the dinosaur plot. (I won't spoil it but it's not as cheesy as it sounds.)

Overall, if you are a fan of the Punisher or Wolverine this is a no-brainer. If you like Jim Lee's art, you'd like this as well. Actually, unless you flat out don't like The Punisher or Wolverine, you'd probably enjoy this if you enjoy comics at all.

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The two Badass characters of the Marvel universe don't disappoint in this story. Recommended

[Devero · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ammetto che quando lessi questa storia per la prima volta, in edizione b/n italiana, la trovai carina ma nulla di più. Riletta anni dopo nella riedizione a colori, mi ha fatto un altro effetto. Doveva essere una storia d'avventura con Wolverine come comprimario e con un taglio ecologista/animalista, e dopo questi anni mantiene in pieno questo aspetto. Però trovo che abbia qualcosa di più. Spinge a riflettere sulla nostra percezione del mondo e su come stia cambiando velocemente nei trent'anni, quasi, dalla prima edizione di questa storia. Anche graficamente è invecchiata bene.
Pur non sembrandomi ancora un capolavoro, direi che se proprio dovessi salvare per i posteri una storia del Punitore, sarebbe questa.

[Christopher Rush · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not being a big Punisher fan (more on principle than experience), I haven't read too many of his stories, but this was a surprisingly good read. Some of the supporting cast is a bit confusing for those of us who are new to the Frank Castle scene, but that is true of any series and does not disturb the main story too much. It's basically a mixture of Jurassic Park stories, but the misunderstood antagonism between Punisher and Wolverine is impressive. Perhaps even more impressive was the non-resolution of that conflict. There's no "oh, you're the Punisher? I'm Wolverine." Considering they are both "heroes of the post-Captain America age," it's somewhat surprising they didn't know each other (though apparently this story takes place during a time when the world thought Wolverine was dead, a situation with which I'm not yet familiar). They are both after the same sort of goal (protecting the innocent animals from harmful human despoilers), and both go about it in ways similar to that against which they are fighting, but it all ends up well enough in the end, at least as far as the main story is concerned. It's a good standalone story, one not requiring a lot of prior knowledge about any of the characters involved.

[Rick · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well, I haven't read this since I first picked it up in '89 or '90. Now I see why. This is pretty bad. With names like Carl Potts & Jim Lee on this project, one would think it would be pretty decent. It's not. The story is poorly developed and helplessly rushed. There are aspects that are contrived and the dialogue is stiff and stereotyped. Even the art is disappointing.

[Logan · Rating 3 out of 5]

An okay read! So this is one of few crossovers between The Punisher and Wolverine, the two gritty badasses of the marvel universe! Not much in this though, the story is Frank Castle needs a vacation so he goes on an expedition to Africa, Wolverine is tracking poachers in Africa, and the two clash. Its nothing more then a big misunderstanding. Overall an okay read.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cool adventure and first meeting of these two iconic characters. :)

[Reyel2107 · Rating 4 out of 5]

one of my favorite crossover ever !!!!