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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
It’s such a classic Wolverine story and I had never read it. Sure I’d seen the cartoon version but never the original print. The late 80’s must have been a hell of a time cause this book stank! Sure the art is crazy good. All the burly, hairy, wired Logan you can handle. The art really stands out. No idea how all those wires and lights and computers were drawn without going blind.
But the story and dialogue were ruffffff™️. There’s just a constant barrage of random scientific words and phrases that mean nothing. And the Professor? What a pest! Also why make a character called the professor who’s totally bald? That seems needlessly confusing.
It’s worth the read for art and action alone. Just buzz right through the story for your own sanity!
But the story and dialogue were ruffffff™️. There’s just a constant barrage of random scientific words and phrases that mean nothing. And the Professor? What a pest! Also why make a character called the professor who’s totally bald? That seems needlessly confusing.
It’s worth the read for art and action alone. Just buzz right through the story for your own sanity!
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Two stars is generous. Cliched and generic. This didn't feel like "the origin of the person who would become Wolverine" this felt like "let's get as melodramatic as we can possibly get- none of these characters matter cause they're all dead so let's not bother actually fleshing them out." They even managed to make Logan feel flat and I was not sold at all on his love for Rose. It definitely shows that they wrote this because they wanted to beat the movies to portraying an origin for Logan. One of the most unnecessary comics ever written to be honest. There's something interesting to dig into here about the theme of strength and Logan being so sickly at the beginning but ofc they don't actually DO anything with that. That might actually be a good story!
adventurous
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
So the funny thing is that I apparently already knew many of the general plot beats of this story, thanks to the X-Men movies — which meant most of the intended “gasp! what!!!” reveals, which were meant to surprise readers, didn’t catch me off-guard.
The most interesting thing for me was reading the background material that went into the making-of Wolverine’s origin, particularly the behind-the-scenes emails trying to beef up the plot. I hadn’t actually known that it took that long for Marvel to come up with a background for one of their most iconic characters, nor that it was the impending movies that finally jumpstarted their doing it, in order to beat the films to the punch. As a result of his background in coming so much later than the character himself, his details do feel a bit shoehorned in or like they’re ticking off a checklist to get through his origin: his claws, a fetish for redheads and love triangles, a fascination with Japan, the name Logan, the name Wolverine, Sabretooth, check check check. Reading some of the long long process that went into the writers beating around this story and throwing things against the wall to see what sticks, you can get a sense for why they initially struggled.
And did it work? Sort of. It’s a tragic drama set against a mountainous Canadian backdrop and which evokes the Old West (the writers reference Mark Twain & Jack London, which seems apropos), and it’s all pretty fitting for Dark & Brooding Logan, Gruff But With A Heart Of Gold. The main thing that drives me honest-to-god bonkers — and which is in large part why I’m rating this so lowly — is superhero comics’ requisite fridging of a female love interest in order to drive his dark dark manly manpain. I mean, I’ve seen the movies, I know that that’s practically Wolverine’s #1 hallmark, but that doesn’t mean I’m not tired of it. I love character archetypes like his so much (I own Logan on Blu-Ray and I’ve seen it like five times and wept buckets every time), but I do wish we could all build them on different tropes going forward.
The most interesting thing for me was reading the background material that went into the making-of Wolverine’s origin, particularly the behind-the-scenes emails trying to beef up the plot. I hadn’t actually known that it took that long for Marvel to come up with a background for one of their most iconic characters, nor that it was the impending movies that finally jumpstarted their doing it, in order to beat the films to the punch. As a result of his background in coming so much later than the character himself, his details do feel a bit shoehorned in or like they’re ticking off a checklist to get through his origin: his claws, a fetish for redheads and love triangles, a fascination with Japan, the name Logan, the name Wolverine, Sabretooth, check check check. Reading some of the long long process that went into the writers beating around this story and throwing things against the wall to see what sticks, you can get a sense for why they initially struggled.
And did it work? Sort of. It’s a tragic drama set against a mountainous Canadian backdrop and which evokes the Old West (the writers reference Mark Twain & Jack London, which seems apropos), and it’s all pretty fitting for Dark & Brooding Logan, Gruff But With A Heart Of Gold. The main thing that drives me honest-to-god bonkers — and which is in large part why I’m rating this so lowly — is superhero comics’ requisite fridging of a female love interest in order to drive his dark dark manly manpain. I mean, I’ve seen the movies, I know that that’s practically Wolverine’s #1 hallmark, but that doesn’t mean I’m not tired of it. I love character archetypes like his so much (I own Logan on Blu-Ray and I’ve seen it like five times and wept buckets every time), but I do wish we could all build them on different tropes going forward.
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Wolverine: Origin is an ambitious project – at long last, Marvel had decided to create and tell Logan’s backstory. Yes, that elusive story that has been lurking behind the scenes since Wolverine was first introduced around 1965 or so and no one knew yet what it was.
This is one of those rare books, comic or otherwise, where I first read it by borrowing it from the library and then purchased a copy for myself because I loved it so much. Creating Wolverine’s backstory, more specifically his origins, and writing about where he came from that could possibly offer up a suitable mold for who he becomes and evolves into, is a tall order, but this collection fills it. Sure, some of it is going to offer a direct and strong parallels to who we know him to be today (such as his tendency to end up in love triangles with redheads), but I find that doing that, instead of being a crutch for the story, instead sets up a stronger case for his personality and who he is and complements the story and enriches who he is.
Jenkins, Kubert, Isanove, and everyone else who contributed to the brainstorming sessions and drafting (as we learn a bit more about in the bonus ‘making of’ content at the end of the book – well worth the read!) have created a backstory for Wolverine which both illuminates and deepens who Wolverine is and how he is the way he is, with his heart of gold but the exterior of a tough hunter/killer. They even weave in some questions about Wolverine’s bloodline for good measure, which I found especially enriching as it really plays to the dichotomy of his nature: nature versus nurture, or can it be a bit of both?
The artwork is beautiful, a technique that in 2001 when it was drawn was new, combining line art with a painting appearance or something. It is stunningly rendered at any rate, and made it a joy to look at the images closely to see what all was going on in them. The artwork also plays a solid role in the story, notably in how Wolverine is represented when he is a kid at the beginning to how he looks by the end after a number of years has passed (though it was not always very easy to tell just how many years had passed; indeed the speed of his ageing seemed quite similar to Rose’s, who has no healing mutant abilities). In addition to the portrayal of character aging for him and others, I also found that the artists differentiated Wolverine the heart-of-gold guy who takes care of those important to him and Wolverine as the wild hunter who can easily rip any prey or opponent to shreds – it was in how the faces were drawn; to put it simply, it seemed that one was softer and the other was harder.
Note: Previously read dates in 2011 and 2006 are nothing but approximate... I know I've read this book at least 3 times now, but not at all when it happened!
This is one of those rare books, comic or otherwise, where I first read it by borrowing it from the library and then purchased a copy for myself because I loved it so much. Creating Wolverine’s backstory, more specifically his origins, and writing about where he came from that could possibly offer up a suitable mold for who he becomes and evolves into, is a tall order, but this collection fills it. Sure, some of it is going to offer a direct and strong parallels to who we know him to be today (such as his tendency to end up in love triangles with redheads), but I find that doing that, instead of being a crutch for the story, instead sets up a stronger case for his personality and who he is and complements the story and enriches who he is.
Jenkins, Kubert, Isanove, and everyone else who contributed to the brainstorming sessions and drafting (as we learn a bit more about in the bonus ‘making of’ content at the end of the book – well worth the read!) have created a backstory for Wolverine which both illuminates and deepens who Wolverine is and how he is the way he is, with his heart of gold but the exterior of a tough hunter/killer. They even weave in some questions about Wolverine’s bloodline for good measure, which I found especially enriching as it really plays to the dichotomy of his nature: nature versus nurture, or can it be a bit of both?
The artwork is beautiful, a technique that in 2001 when it was drawn was new, combining line art with a painting appearance or something. It is stunningly rendered at any rate, and made it a joy to look at the images closely to see what all was going on in them. The artwork also plays a solid role in the story, notably in how Wolverine is represented when he is a kid at the beginning to how he looks by the end after a number of years has passed (though it was not always very easy to tell just how many years had passed; indeed the speed of his ageing seemed quite similar to Rose’s, who has no healing mutant abilities). In addition to the portrayal of character aging for him and others, I also found that the artists differentiated Wolverine the heart-of-gold guy who takes care of those important to him and Wolverine as the wild hunter who can easily rip any prey or opponent to shreds – it was in how the faces were drawn; to put it simply, it seemed that one was softer and the other was harder.
Note: Previously read dates in 2011 and 2006 are nothing but approximate... I know I've read this book at least 3 times now, but not at all when it happened!
adventurous
emotional