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    Wolverine: Black Rio #1

    Wolverine: Black Rio » Wolverine: Black Rio #1 released by Marvel on November 1998.

    Short summary describing this issue.

    last edited by pikahyper on 02/09/21 04:30PM View full history

    Biker zombies? Alien prophets? Vampiric divas? It's Carnival time—X-Men style—when Wolverine hits Rio! Vacations are never fun for Logan. While visiting an old friend in Rio, the feral fan-favorite falls into a murder mystery which pits him against a creepy crew of killers! It's a festival of death at the height of Carnival—with Wolverine as the guest of honor!

    Logan (Wolverine) takes a holiday in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, during Carnaval, the festival honoring the spirits of the dead. His first stop is to the Central Police Precinct to visit Detective Antonio Vargas, an old friend who, years before, had owned the 'Devil's Grill', a watering hole where he had employed Logan as a bouncer. Vargas is overjoyed to see Logan, but he also expresses his frustration at so far being unable to solve a series of murder he refers to as "vampire killings".

    Another detective interrupts the two men with news of the discovery of several new victims. Logan accepts Vargas's invitation join him at the crime scene, a grotto on the shore. As they view the bodies floating in the inlet, a shark, attracted by the blood, leaps from the water at the pair. Logan slashes at it with his claws, killing the predator.

    In a run-down chapel outside the city, an aged man called Saint Cyrus Leviticus converses with a voice only he can hear. His companion, a woman named Ezra Asher, expresses derision at what she views as his schizophrenia. He angrily responds that just as she thirsts for blood, so he hungers for the spiritual energy he expects from the Carnaval celebrants.

    That evening, Logan attends the festivities, partying hard into the wee hours. Needing a brief respite, he ducks into an alleyway, where he is confronted by a gang of 'bate-bola boys' who intend to beat and mug him. Eager to brawl, Logan joyfully lays into them.

    The next morning finds him sitting in a café, recuperating from the night's activities. Vargas arrives and Logan offers his services in the contiiuing investigation. As they walk through the streets, Vargas talks about his wife, who had disappeared years earlier, and whom he presumes is dead.

    Not far away, the bate-bola boys lie in their flat, trying to recover from the beating delivered by their would-be victim hours earlier. Suddenly, Ezra appears, hanging upside-down outside their window. Intending to have sport with her, they move toward the window. But as they come closer, she flashes her fangs and leaps in, biting one of the gangbangers. She makes short work of them and then feasts on their blood.

    Later, having come up empty on the case, Logan and Vargas retire to a bar for drinks. Later still, the inebriated pair stumble to Vargas's apartment, where they find two strangers within. One of the bate-bola boys, now a walking corpse, knocks out Logan from behind with a baseball bat. The male intruder, Cyrus, tells Vargas his investigations have brought the detective to his attention, sealing his fate. As Cyrus leaves with the punk, the woman, Ezra, kisses Vargas, and then tells him to look into her face. When he does, he recognizes her as his missing wife. She then clamps her fangs onto his throat.

    When morning arrives, Logan comes to, only to find the blood-drenched corpse of his friend. He also recognizes the lingering scent of Vargas's long-lost wife.

    The next day, following the funeral, Logan takes it upon himself to track down the killers. After hours of searching, he and the dead bate-bola boys find each other. They clash, and this time, Logan fights for his life. But the gang spreads toxic fumes which overwhelm the X-Man, rendering him unconscious.

    When he comes to, he finds he's bound to a pew in the run-down chapel Cyrus uses as his base. He also sees several of Ezra's bite marks on his flesh. Cyrus approaches Logan and begins to speak of immortality and the higher destiny that awaits those live forever. He then lifts his cloak to reveal that his body has symbiotically bonded with a hideous alien creature, his 'other', with whom he has been conversing. Cyrus tells Logan he plans to send his zombies on a killing spree on the final night of Carnaval, so he can feed on the psychic distress of the murder victims, bringing about some form of ascension. He then exits with his minions, leaving Logan alone with Ezra.

    She begins to feed on Logan again, but he breaks free from his chains, and they savagely attack each other. When Logan gains the advantage, Ezra leaps out through a window. Logan does not follow, instead opting to trail Cyrus and the zombies. He reaches the city and faces dozens of the creatures.

    Logan defeats the undead mob, and then finds Cyrus on a rooftop overlooking the festival. Logan attacks him, but Cyrus fights back, holding his own and managing to overpower the feral mutant. With his plan gone awry, Cyrus intends to have his symbiote feed on Logan, but once the alien is exposed, Logan slashes it and kills it. He then impales Cyrus upon his claws, while the crowd below cheers, thinking the struggle is merely a performance.

    The next day, Logan makes one last visit to Vargas's grave, and then leaves on a motorcycle, while Ezra watches from the branches of a nearby tree.

    [Note: Inker Eduardo Alpuente is mis-credited on the inside cover credits as writer.]

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