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WOLVERINE: THE ORIGIN #1
"Origin, Part I of VI: The Hill"
Recommended (8/10)
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Marvel Comics
Writers: Paul Jenkins, Bill Jemas & Joe Quesada
Pencils: Andy Kubert
Colors: Richard Isanove
Letters: Comicraft
Editor: Mike Marts
Price: $3.50 US/$5.25 CAN |
I have to admit, I found this pretty interesting, and it's going to really interesting seeing the reaction to it. The big audience for this book are the people who are devoted Wolverine fans, fans of a character whose main attraction is violence and edge, and this book delivers very little in the way of either, really. In fact, there are no costumes, no super-heroics and really very little action. Instead, this is the story of wealth and poverty co-existing in an ambiguous time and place, and for those wishing that Marvel would do something else besides super-heroes, this might be a place to start. It's quite a good read, although there really aren't many answers about Wolverine yet, and Kubert and Isanove are using the sort of "flashback" painted style they used in parts of Ultimate X-Men to good effect.
This book has stirred up some minor controversy in some circles over minutia such as whether Wolverine is still Canadian or how the story will avoid contradicting the hundreds of tidbits of information we've been given in various Wolverine and X-Men stories. Jenkins dodges the issue this
time out, as we're not told where or when this takes place, and the setting is
kept somewhat timeless. While this is wise in that he's not contradicting
anything, he's also not giving anything in the way of information, and it's that
kind of teasing and non-revelation, combined with all the hype, that has
irritated fans before and will likely do so again. In addition, they have named
the most likely candidate for becoming Wolverine "Dog," avoiding giving him a
first name once again. While Marvel is dodging the complaints of those who fear
change, they are also delivering an anemic story unlikely to satisfy most of the
target audience for the book.
Though it is the origin of one of the more well-known super-heroes in American comics, this is not a super-hero book. Instead, it's a coming-of-age tale and a class conflict tale, working surprisingly well despite the undefined setting. Readers who aren't diehard fans of the character but instead merely curious may find a story that is engrossing and entertaining here. I certainly did, when I wasn't really expecting to be that interested. The relationships between the three children and the conflicts they cause among their own parents and grandparents is fascinating stuff, from Logan's cliched but believable abusive behavior to the confrontation between John and his father over how to treat the servants. This book has more in common with The Adventures of Tom Sawyer or Dickens than Weapon X or Frank Miller, and the result is a stronger
story than I ever expected from Wolverine's origin.
On the artwork front, Andy Kubert is delivering career-best work. The "digital painting" effect that is being used on X-Treme X-Men works considerably better here, with Isanove displaying incredible skill and the ability to fill in detail as well as many inkers. The work is beautiful, easy to read and has a definitely different mood to it than most comics art, and while I'll be the first to proclaim the uninked style of X-Treme X-Men a dismal failure, I'm
just as happy to say that the use of the process here was the right decision.
There's not much in the way of action here, so the job of Kubert and Isanove is
to make the non-physical conflict and lush settings interesting, and they
accomplish it with skill and style.
Is Wolverine: The Origin an important story crying out to be told? No, probably not, although
many fans would admit to curiosity about it. But whether it is a comics
milestone or not, it has started out as a story well-told, and I'm curious to
see what's next.
Email Randy Lander comments about this review. |
