Warning: Spoilers about Wolverine’s origin that were first revealed 20 years ago.
For seemingly no reason at all, Marvel Comics decided to release this softcover version of Wolverine: The Origin Deluxe Edition today. Inside you’ll find the six-issue miniseries that is now just over 20 years old, plus loads of behind the scenes bonus-material. But this story has been collected in various other hard- and softcovers before. In fact, this deluxe edition appears to be just a softcover version of the hardcover that was released a few years ago. So, I’m not sure why the world needs this release.
Anyway, every comic lover of the ’90s knows that the biggest mystery in comics was Wolverine’s past. It seemed to be the major driving force for him as a character as well as any of his plot lines at the time. So, in 2001, Marvel decided to reveal the actual origin story of the man called Logan.
For this task, Marvel got the absolutely on-top-of-his-game Paul Jenkins to write the story, although there is some confusion regarding the actual plotter. Bill Jemas and Joe Quesada, who were managing the business side of Marvel at the time, are just as often mentioned as co-writers or co-plotters. Whatever. This appears to be Jenkins’ story and script. For those interested in the behind the scenes stuff, you can find some tidbits in the massive amounts of backend extras.
At the very least, Joe Quesada did provide six beautiful covers, colored by Richard Isanove, the colorist for the whole series. Quesada really made a masterpiece out of each cover, full of detail and stunning from point-of-view and composition. Isanove uses an almost sepia-toned golden hue for all six covers, which adds to the impact. You’ll love looking at the covers alone.
Marvel Comics
Otherwise, Andy Kubert draws the interiors. And he does a truly wonderful job. He breaks from the traditional superhero art style of the time and instead presents a beautiful period drama. The solicit text calls the story “a cross between Great Expectations and Jane Eyre,” and Kubert definitely makes things look like what we would expect from a movie set in that time period.
Kubert also tries different perspectives than you would normally find in a Marvel comic. We find beautiful sweeping landscape shots of the Canadian countryside. At times, the “camera” is pulled back, so that the actual characters are just a small portion of the panel. Other times, he closes in to see the raw emotion on the character’s face. I keep thinking of words like “grand,” “sweeping,” “stunning,” and “cinematic” to describe the art.
Isanove’s colors are equally important to the overall feeling. Many pages or places have a certain color scheme, so that you can refer to a page as “golden-hued” or “greenish”. Scenes inside at night are darker and more muted, as any room lit only by candles should be. Only scenes outside in full sunlight receive bright and vibrant colors.
Marvel Comics
Jenkins’ story about Wolverine’s childhood and coming of age is about as tragic as you would guess for a character whose life has always been about surviving and overcoming tragedy.
I see the thematic connections to stories by Charles Dickens and Charlotte Brontë, but Wolverine: Origin is at times darker and even more scandalous. We’re talking about a story that involves class divisions, alcoholism, child abuse, mental illness, attempted rape, adultery, the death of two fathers and a suicide. And that’s just in the first half.
It’s quite amazing how much story Jenkins packs into the six issues, especially the first three.
The first half focuses on the childhood of the sickly but wealthy James Howlett; the beautiful, red-headed, orphaned girl Rose, who is brought in to care for James; and the rough son of an even rougher hired hand called Dog. The now well-known twist is when the sickly James turns out to be the boy who would one day become Wolverine.
But, this first half is packed with much more. There is a lot of interesting conflict generated by the class division between James and Dog. The strenuous family relationships also add tension and emotion. There are subtle questions about the actual parentage of young James. The subtext is provided almost completely and expertly through Kubert’s imagery. Why does the alcoholic, abusive father of Dog look much more like an adult Wolverine than young James’ father?
I really wish Wolverine: Origin had spent more time with the setting, themes and characters of the first half, before concluding this act so brutally at the end of issue #2 and beginning of issue #3.
Marvel Comics
The second part of the third issue then sends James off with Rose until they end up in a rough Canadian quarry. The rest of the miniseries is about James’ coming of age from the thin, sickly boy to the strong, confident man with a healing factor we now know as Wolverine.
Of course, there is also a love triangle with the red-headed Rose, because Wolverine is always in a love-triangle with a near perfect redhead. Rose and James – now called Logan – almost find a sense of prosperity until the tragic conclusion in issue #6. Unfortunately, this last issue feels a little too rushed or too full. I think the two main plotlines would’ve worked so much better as two individual issues, in order to give each more time to build up and create more emotional impact.
I’m not saying the ending is bad. The whole series is great, but the first half is definitely the much more interesting and better drawn part. Wolverine: Origin unfortunately gives us its best at the beginning and can’t live up to that high standard toward the end.
Fortunately, the miniseries definitely passes the re-read test. It’s just over 20 years old now and still feels fresh. There are various themes to be explored, from the question of nature vs. nurture in the development of the young Wolverine’s character, to the class politics of the time period creating conflict. Fans of Wolverine will enjoy finding all of the little allusions or parallels to Wolverine’s long history in comics.
So, should you buy this new softcover of Wolverine: Origin Deluxe Edition? Well, if you are a fan of Wolverine, the miniseries is basically essential reading. I’d also recommend it to any comic fan, because it’s that good. But, the massive amount of back-end bonus material jacks the price up for a collection of just six issues. If you don’t already own the miniseries and you are into bonus material like scripts and sketches, this is the collection for you. If you aren’t into that stuff, you can probably find an older collection at a cheaper price.
Either way, if you haven’t read Wolverine: Origin before, you should definitely correct that.
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