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A review by the23rdjoker
Wolverine: Origin by Paul Jenkins
4.0
For the most part, this was quite an enjoyable read; witnessing the origins of the man who would become Wolverine (via something that ISN'T "X-Men Origins: Wolverine", because...well, you know, anything's better than that) is always going to be an intriguing story to tell.
Luckily, Wolverine's back-story herein is a fascinating, deeply tragic, often very brutal and unforgiving tale.
The reveal of young Logan's powers early on was pulled off very neatly and unexpectedly (albeit quite gruesomely). I won't spoil it for you if you've not read it, but things do not happen quite as you expect them to.
Unfortunately, as the story goes on into Logan's adolescence and adulthood, things do not remain so unpredictable. This is a disappointment, especially when things kind of devolve into soap opera (with added bone claws and somewhat savage violence), which pulled me out of the story dramatically because I couldn't believe in certain character's motivations and actions, due to them seeming more necessary in moving the plot forward (which is probably due to this being a limited series, which couldn't really allow the story much room to breathe).
There's also - in hindsight, as I write this - a very strong whiff of "Watchmen" about this as well. William Blake's "Tyger Tyger" poem is used significantly at one point, and the ending has a similar mood of ambiguous dread revolving around what happens to an object that has formed the backbone of the story from the very beginning.
Despite these flaws, though, I was never bored of reading this story; I liked the way Wolverine's character was developed bit by bit into the ferociously awesome character we know today, but in a believable enough way; I really liked the little complexities and layers afforded to some of the side characters in Wolverine's story, and I really liked the scenes when Logan beats up on some dudes (because when is that not cool?)...
Luckily, Wolverine's back-story herein is a fascinating, deeply tragic, often very brutal and unforgiving tale.
The reveal of young Logan's powers early on was pulled off very neatly and unexpectedly (albeit quite gruesomely). I won't spoil it for you if you've not read it, but things do not happen quite as you expect them to.
Unfortunately, as the story goes on into Logan's adolescence and adulthood, things do not remain so unpredictable. This is a disappointment, especially when things kind of devolve into soap opera (with added bone claws and somewhat savage violence), which pulled me out of the story dramatically because I couldn't believe in certain character's motivations and actions, due to them seeming more necessary in moving the plot forward (which is probably due to this being a limited series, which couldn't really allow the story much room to breathe).
There's also - in hindsight, as I write this - a very strong whiff of "Watchmen" about this as well. William Blake's "Tyger Tyger" poem is used significantly at one point, and the ending has a similar mood of ambiguous dread revolving around what happens to an object that has formed the backbone of the story from the very beginning.
Despite these flaws, though, I was never bored of reading this story; I liked the way Wolverine's character was developed bit by bit into the ferociously awesome character we know today, but in a believable enough way; I really liked the little complexities and layers afforded to some of the side characters in Wolverine's story, and I really liked the scenes when Logan beats up on some dudes (because when is that not cool?)...