Dances with Wolverine
Not content with having him in almost every book it publishes, Marvel has released a sequel to Wolverine’s story.
THE only thing more annoying than Wolverine’s presence in almost every Marvel comic book out there is the company’s neverending attempt to inject more depth into his past.
Considering the character’s immense popularity, it’s no wonder that most writers would want to leave a mark on his constantly evolving history; but why does it have to be at the collectors’ expense?
Whenever a major “revelation” is made, it ends up dividing the comics fraternity. On one hand, you have die-hard fans who welcome any form of expansion or solidification to the Wolverine mythos; on the other, you get the “died hard” collectors whose finances have been gutted by years of trying to keep up with the Ol’ Canucklehead’s myriad of appearances.
Me? I’m on the fence on this. While I struggle to figure out how Wolverine manages to juggle his multiple X-Men, Avengers and solo escapades, I welcome any origin-refining effort ... provided it comes with groundbreaking content.
Unfortunately, most attempts to demystify Wolverine’s past have been duds with lame angles, ranging from memory implants to him being Sabretooth’s son (*groan*).
After Wolverine made his debut in 1974’s Incredible Hulk #180 and #181, Marvel made a laudable attempt to keep him an enigma for 17 years. This was especially so considering his meteoric ascension to be, hands down, the most popular X-Man (sorry, Cyclops).
To date, the two best efforts to define Wolverine’s origin have been Barry WindsorSmith’s Weapon X (in Marvel Comics Presents #72-#84), and Paul Jenkins and Adam Kubert’s six-part Origin.
The 1991-92 Weapon X 13-parter gave us some long-awaited insight into how he got his adamantium-laced skeleton, with details on the event and the ordeal he went through. At that time, fans were easily appeased and the level of detail (i.e. name, social security number, etc) really did not matter.
Then came the first X-Men movie. The movie not only made the X-Men a household name, but unsurprisingly made Wolverine popular with a wider audience beyond fans of the comics.
While this paved the way for a wider range of comic and movie appearances, it also gave the powers at Marvel a big headache concerning the character’s true origins – that Hollywood might eventually reveal
Kieron Gillen, adam Kubert, Frank
Marvel After accidentally killing his childhood friend/crush Rose during his battle with Dog Logan, Wolverine went on a self-imposed exile from civilisation. Living with a pack of wolves, his days were spent hunting and providing for his newfound family, thus discovering inner peace in this most unorthodox fashion.
Even this peace doesn’t last long, however, because the animal kingdom is a savage place, and there are always animals (normal or genetically engineered) around with a penchant for destruction!
From a lone wolf to a great white bear, Wolverine’s newfound challenges here are a clear departure from his past confrontations with mankind, as well as his future battles to save the world. In fact, with all the animals and fights between bears and wolves, the first issue of Origin II seems more like an issue of National Geographic than a superhero comic!
But if you’re worried about the series turning into a Nat Geo: Wolverine Special, don’t fret – if the ending of Origin II #1 is any indication, things are about to get a lot more sinister for our feral hero.
Plot-wise, Gillen certainly has his work cut out for him on this project, because he has to work within the confines of the character’s existing mythos. he revelations. covers and to overexposure once evident brother
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