—Wolverine (Logan)"I am what I am and that's all that I am." And what I am... is a guy who tries to do the right thing. I'm Wolverine. And that's enough.
Appearing in "Koan"
Featured Characters:
- Wolverine (Logan) (Main story and flashback)
- Shang-Chi
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- MI6 (Mentioned)
Races and Species:
Locations:
- Earth
- Asia
- Southeast Asia
- Madripoor
- South Vietnam (Mentioned)
- Saigon (Mentioned)
- Southeast Asia
- Asia
Items:
- Wolverine's Suit
- Bag of money
- Blanket of apples
- Arrows w/ bow-shooters
- Note from Sabretooth
Synopsis for "Koan"
Wolveine climbs a tower in Madripoor in search of the warrior known as Shang-Chi. Arriving at the top, he inquires with the man on whether or not he could teach him what he needs to defeat an opponent who has haunted him for years. Logan offers up a dufflebag full of cash, but Shang-Chi declines, insisting that he only teaches through koan, or Japanese apples. He then pulls an apple from the basket beside him and poses the question, "What is this?", qualifying that if he says 'an apple', he will be hit 30 times.
After many failed attempts to discern the answer and many blows between the teacher and student, the angered Wolverine begins to flee the rooftop. Shang-Chi insists that Logan is attached to vairous things like form, nothingness and nonsense, causing the frustrated Candadian to exit.
After pondering the riddle, Wolverine arrives at the waterfall Sabretooth told him to meet at in order to save the kidnapped Kitty Pryde. Creed informs Logan that he requires information on where he hid plunder from the 'commies' after the fall of Vietnam. Wolvering refuses to break his cool demeanor while refusing to answer any of Sabretooth's demands. He even manages to take down his opponent without popping his claws by not letting into Sabretooth's mind games, allowing him to free an unconscious Kitty.
Before leaving Madripoor, Logan returns to Shang-Chi's tower where he is immediately presented with the same koan. Rather than answer the question outright, Logan simply bites into the apple when asked what it is, proving he had risen above words and began to see things as they truly are.