Puck Part 68: Wolverine #35 (January, 1991)

We catch a glimpse of Puck’s pre-Alpha Flight days with Hemmingway in Spain.

I have this issue.

Judd’s spending some time away from Alpha Flight, filling in for a friend as a bouncer at a Vancouver bar. Judd kicks out a local named Freight-Train when Logan shows up, and Judd introduces him to Bambi Bolinsky, the regular bouncer who’s wounded at the moment. The two friends talk for a bit when Freight-Train comes back with two buddies, but Logan chases them away with his own unique spin on “Split the Fly”.

The next day, Judd and Logan are out fishing and talking about old times, old poets and old writers. Judd hands Logan a copy of “For Whom the Bell Tolls” and out drops a photo of Judd when he was younger and taller and sitting next to “Papa” and a woman Logan recognizes as Inez. Judd’s surprised that Logan knew her name, and tells him the picture was taken in Northern Spain in April, 1937. Judd asks Logan if he was there at the time, and Logan says he can’t remember. Next thing they know, Lady Deathstrike shows up on the boat out of nowhere and the three of them get sucked into a time vortex that takes them back to - Northern Spain, April, 1937...in the middle of a bullring…in the middle of a bullfight.

Apparently this is the same bullfight Judd originally entered and won and history repeats itself here, with Ernest and Inez in the audience. Judd asks to spare the bull’s life when a Nazi Stuka Dive-Bomber comes in and perforates the beast in an air raid. Hemingway tells them they’re in Guernica, and Judd tells Logan that everything is happening as he remembers it, except for Logan’s presence. The legendary writer offers to take both men with him and Inez into the Spanish mountains to join Inez’s Partisean Band, which they accept. As the four drive away, Judd mentions how happy he is that he’s just had two of his most cherished wishes come true.

Notes of Interest:

1) We get to see the infamous bullfight John Byrne mentioned waaay back in Alpha Flight #15.

2) It seems Judd likes to fish.

3) We are reminded how well read Judd is, not just with Hemmingway but also with Robert Frost and other poets.

WTF? Moment: Back in Alpha Flight #15, Byrne mentioned that Judd had trained to become a bullfighter while in Spain with Hemingway. Byrne also noted that Judd won a bullfight “despite his size”. I love how Hama made it so that it wasn’t the dwarf Judd that we all expected (and Byrne intended to be) in the bullfight, but the overly tall Judd that must have been, given the history Mantlo gave the character. This was a great touch. However…

WTF? Moment #2: ...For some reason, the time vortex not only sent Judd into the past, but made him the height he was at the time. Umm…okay, not exactly sure how that could have happened. Plus, no mention of it is made by anyone. Not Logan, now significantly shorter that Judd, or Judd himself. I can dismiss Judd’s lack of awareness since he’s deep in personal history with the bullfight and the air raid and all, but Logan should have noticed that his friend is suddenly about a foot taller than him.

WTF? Moment #3: I find it interesting that Judd likes to fish, considering all the water-related storylines he’s had with the Avengers, Marrina, Namor and the Master.

WTF? Moment #4: While it’s cool to learn that Guernica is later made famous in a painting by Pablo Picasso, it has nothing to do with the story and feels like Hama just threw that fact in.

WTF? Moment #5: This is a nit-pick. Why would Judd call revisiting his past "cherished wishes that came true"? Wouldn’t he call them cherished memories that he relived?