Origin: The True Story of Wolverine

Rating:
Summary: True Believers, Every Legend Has a Beginning...
Review: The tagline on the inside cover to "Origin" describes the book as "The greatest Marvel story never told." Many fans, for years, insisted that it never be told: the beginnings of the mysterious, likable X-Man Wolverine. When Joe Quesada and Bill Jemas took over and Marvel Comics and reversed its almost 15-year downturn, one of their first projects was "let's do a story on the origins of Wolverine." Considered sacred ground - untreadable because part of Wolvie's appeal was his unknown past - the project was reluctantly, and then vigorously, accepted, with top minds from the Marvel universe turning in treatments.

"Origin" is the gorgeous final result of that process.

Somewhere in the 19th Century, on a massive estate in Canada, a young boy called "Dog" Logan escapes his father's drunken beatings by playing with James, the sickly child of the rich landowner in the House, and Rose, James' Irish nanny. The three forge a childhood bond broken too easily when class distinctions and family squabbles get in the way of their friendship. One night, the tensions come to a head when the three, now adolescents, are involved in a life-changing tragedy that leaves one horribly scarred, another without a memory and in possession of strange new abilities, and the third frightened for all three. Two of the friends flee into the night, while the third is left to pick up the pieces.

A quote on the back of the book compares "Origin" with "Watchmen" and "Maus," and suggests it will enter the annals of comic-dom's highest-regarded works. While it doesn't measure up to those examples, or to "V for Vendetta" or "From Hell," "Origin" is certainly worthy of praise and deserves a place next to "The Killing Joke," or "Batman: Year One." Kubert's illustrations are mind-bogglingly beautiful, managing to combine the serious nature of the story with the comic origins of the players without effort. The only complaint, and it is minor, is that the book seems short compared with similar series efforts. The story is told without becoming overlong, but the reader can't help but feel it could have been deeper and more involved. Overall, "Origin" is worth its price, and the hardcover book preserves the fantastic art in a great coffee-table format. Wolvie and X-Men fans will want to read it - unless, of course, you would rather not spoil the mystery, which is perfectly understandable.

Final grade: B+

Rating:
Summary: This is a masterpiece of art and literature!!!
Review: Well let me start off and say I'm not a huge X-Men fan but no matter. I was in one of my comic shops and I ran across this book that had a preview of the first issue of Origin and then I looked closer and found out it was the true story of Wolverine. Wolverine has always fascinated me and I've always wanted to know his story and here I was reading it. The artwork is the best I have ever seen and the story is a multilayered pulls no punches tale of an awesome history of a very unique individual. It should be placed besides the great classics of literature and take my word for it. If you don't like X-men but have always been curious about Wolverine buy this. If you are in the mood for a page turner and one [heck] of a good story buy this book. Romance, Mystery, Drama, Conflict, Horror, Fist Fights this has it all and beats any movie. Thank you marvel for this awesome masterpiece of Logan otherwise known as Wolverine.

Rating:
Summary: Origin
Review: The last comic I collected was Origin. This series was absolutely fabulous. Long time comic collectors had their doubts about revealing Wolverine's origin. Hints and scraps were offered involving Weapon X but this series completes the story. I've been finding myself going back into comic shops in between semesters in college picking up graphic novels and this series is one of the reasons why.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Rating:
Summary: Good story, but leaves you wanting more
Review: After all the hype surounding it, Origin: The True Story of Wolverine manages to make for compelling storytelling on the previously unknown past of Wolverine; but by the time the climax is reached and the story is over, you can't help but want more. The story is interesting enough: more insight is given into young James Howlett's (yes folks, Wolverine's real name isn't Logan afterall!) early beginning, the manifestation of his powers (and the first time he pops his clws), and his tragic life. The art by Andy Kubert and Richard Isanove is absolutely superb, but the overall story manages to fall short of it's potential. Plus, by the time we get to the eventual end of the story; it is clear that there is so much left to tell. Rumors have been swirling about a sequel to Origin since the six issue mini-series concluded; and I for one am anxiously awaiting it. All in all, Origin is a solid tale of Wolverine's past, but long time X-fans might not embrace it and take it seriously as much as newer fans will.

Rating:
Summary: okay good story but raises more questions
Review: I like wolverine this raises more questions than answers for 1 I seewhy logan went crazy I'm not sure does he wanna remember his past come on you discover your mutant powers by killing your dad's murderer wolverine's chose to forget that part of his life you blame him he has no memories of his mom as he staTED AND this story tells why his mom was a fruitcake and then again it's made clear that his mom had an affair with thomas logan what's worst it seems like th boutwell family seems to be cursed, then again I'm a writer myself and I for one would have made wolverine older fans check out the unofficial wolverine chronolgy to see what I mean it seems the logan we know of today was an adult around the late 1800's and also wolverine met demons and stuff at some point in his young life and when he first joined the x men tests showed that logan was more than a mutant plus somebody pointed in japan that logan had powers he was'nt aware of.

this story here explains why wolverine is attracted to redheads it's explains why he became what he is now isolation, abuse from all ends, toughning up by mine work an urge to hunt and kill because he does'nt know he's a mutant yeah but i also thought that wolverine knows more about his past than he lets on as sabretooth points out weapon x never touched his memories but weapon x did indeed mess with his mind come on the abuse logan took in weapon x was unbelievable and the professor did indeed toy with his mind.

at the end where rose dies it seems like she knew dog was coming this might explains why she was eager to elope with smitty cause dog seemed to easily find logan this story should have been longer than 6 issues that's my only fault folks think does dog become sabretooth no he does'nt.

maybe origin 2 will reveal more details more logan's young life.

Rating:
Summary: Essential book of Wolverine's origin story; must own..
Review: "Origin: the true story of Wolverine" TP, essentially is the origin story of Wolverine finally told. Origin turned out to be a superlative, higher than norm dramatic yarn, coalescing elements such as allegorical, domestic & discordance, dark & depressing, Loneliness & alienation, & survival rolled into one.

The writers of "Origin" are Paul Jenkins, Bill Jemas & Joe Quesada. But, I think, the primary writer is Paul Jenkins, whereas the other two serve more as an auxiliary writers.The story is written in linear fashion(straight-forward) manner. They deliberately delve further & deeper into Wolverine's past, his mysteries, & other unresolved matters. The story explores into Wolverine's childhood up to his young manhood life. "Origin", surprisingly, turned out to be one of the best comic book the comic industry ever produce. These trio of writers cetainly deserve every adulations & acclaims they ever received, as this book undeniably a fruit of their love & labor.

The artwork on this book are superb & impeccable. The artist/penciler & colorist are Andy Kubert & Richard Isanove respectively. I had never saw such flawless an art from Andy Kubert before. This is certainly his best work to date. His overall combinations of excellent anatomys, gestures, directing, having adequate comic panels & gorgeous artwork in this book serve as industry's elite. The brilliant hues, vividness & garishness of deftly Richard Isanove's colorings is gorgeous, as well as his colorings should be comics pre-eminent benchmark. He showed us how to use & enrich each panels & layouts with myriad of colors that are still aptly, even to a gloomy story, & without detracting from the story & layouts themselves. Kudos to both of them.

The genre of the book, has a dramatic feel encompassing the story. They are allegorical; domestic & discordant. These depictions espoused Wolverine's earliest life. Portraying him from stripling, where he was reared indulgently by his affluent family. Although, not only he was pampered as a child, he also need to tolerate domestic discordance that permeate his household. For example, his old, cruel grandfather, endlessly disputes with his son John Howlett, Wolverine's father, about priciples & petty matters; his deranged mother, despite mentally ill and a vegetable, can still inflicts a direct, physical harms. She is also capable of stirring heavy foul moods such as sadness & anguish inside their home; the gardener, who was a boy named Dog constantly agonizes James(Wolverine) with his nasty & coercive antics, to the extent of James suffering heavy emotional tolls & psychological disturbances.

Loneliness, alienation & survival broadly pervades the latter half. For example, James & Rose, James housemate, fled to a grim mining camp after a tragic event transpired back home. James was not well-received by his colleagues from the outset, because of his youth. In fact, he persistently suffered a lot of physical abuses such as beatings, as well as verbal abuses from his grown-up co-workers, especially Cookie Malone. This effected James to become despondent & adversely alienated, until he was acclimatized by Smitty, the mining's foreman. Since then, James becones a rennaisance of a man in the eyes of his peers. He is not the erstwhile frail kid anymore, in fact, he grew up to be quite an able & efficient young man, especially in context to his work. Life at the mining village is bleak & arduous, people need to fend for themselves, to pull through. For eg., James needs to be self-reliant, as an act of defense to his tormenter Cookie Malone; he needs to be potent, as life in mining village dictates a man to be strong, to endure.

Essentially, the primary purpose of Origin is to explore his remote childhood background progressing naturally in gradual manner, in linear fashion & up to his young manhood only. Nothing More. Plusing to that, is to implement "ties & binds" from Wolverine's past to his portrayal in Origin, with the main purpose of imbueing & enriching his origin.

The integrals ties and binds employed from Wolverine's past to this yarn, are as follow:

1. The first time he popped out his claws.
2. The character of Thomas & his son Logan.
3. His family upbringings, John Howlett, Rose & Smitty.
4. His first encounters with Wolverine animals.
5. Cage match.
6. Life at the mining village & Cookie Malone.

The ramifications of these "ties and binds" to Wolverine are collectively transparent. The first sensation & experience he felt from his claws popping out of his hands signifies he discovered his intrinsic identity. That claws will eternally synanymous to his character. The vindictive posture he acquired plausibly stemmed from Thomas & his son dog's consistent affliction of miseries, the lasting traumas due from it & their considertable roles pertaining to the cause of deaths to his households. On the brighter note, his familial upbringings & his familial cultivation of values played a large part on influencing & developing his optimism & positive outlook towards life. In the same vein, so are Rose & Smitty, in regards to contribution to Wolverine's persona.

During his phase at the mining village, he encountered for the first time, in the forest, nearby to his workplace, a pack of wolverines, a type of carnivorous, wild animals resembling a fox. Undoubtedly, that experience translated to the forming of his self, his life, his beliefs & his ways of thinking. Hence, became & christen himself as Wolverine later on. At the mining village, that place also clearly accounted for his other side of character-- brutal, rough & ill-mannered. So was his constant tormenter, Cookie Malone. the scene at the cage match largely honed & presented his proficient fighting abilities & resiliencies, that one day will forever be a part of his character.

This comicbook comprises of softcover, glossy paper & comic size. It included an opening introduction from Tom DeSanto, the X-men film producer, & Two-page remarks from both Jemas & Quesada. However, given this book historical significance, valuability & timelessness, it maybe more reasonable to choose the hardcover version, if you could see one.

In 1963, it was a foreshadowing time, because of the dawning of a new era. Creators, Stan Lee & Jack Kirby, writer & artist respectively, unveiled a novel, high-concept approach of superheroes called "mutants". The maiden composition of the team were Marvel girl(Jean Grey), Cyclops, Beast, Angel & ice man.

The inaugural appearance of Wolverine was seen on the pages of the Incredible Hulk. Issues (vol.1)# 180-182. The year was 198_ (?). He was intially portrayed as a villain, as an antagonist of the Hulk who subsequently engaged him to a toe-to-toe brawl.

Highest possible recommendation !

Rating:
Summary: one of the best superhero book told; drama genre
Review: "Origin" is a masterpiece. A beautiful, sincere story. I only vaguely knows Wolverine's background, yet in my opinion, the book is handsomely and meticulously crafted with an eyes and ties to his past or origin.Paul Jenkins, Joe Quesada & Bill Jemas should be highly commended for their efforts as writers as they set new standard of top-notch yet relevant storytelling for this book.Also, kudos to Adam Kubert as he evidently churns out his best efforts to ensure high-quality of arts to support the book top-notch writing.

Origin tells the story of Logan's childhood upbringings up to his growings, to his manhood.The genre of this book is drama, grounded as in domestic in it's setting and environment,a bit talky,dark, depressing & slow-moving, with little action sequences every now & then. Mainly,the story delves further & chronicles the path that Logan's is known for. For examples, from his childhood life- wealthy,which is in contrast of our perception of him ,his first experience the first time the claws pop out of his hands during a dire situation & the effect & trauma resulted from it.Also, the story that link to his personality is quite apparent- such as his graft personality whom he developed during a time from his mining life stage, portraying the cage match fight that is a trademark to Wolverine's fighting ability, his first interactions with wolverine animals whom he certainly named himself after them, his positive strenght of character, resiliency,& compassion whom he acquired early on from his father and his early familial upbingings, and from Rose and Smitty, later on.

All in all, Origin is a one-of-a-kind book in the superhero genre. A good buy & highly recommended to reader who is incline to read slow-moving, dramatic & memorable superhero book.However, In my opinion, this book is suitable for anyone who simply wants to read a good quality story.I personally think this is one of the best crafted superhero book ever.

Rating:
Summary: Did I miss something?
Review: (...) I think ORIGIN is flawed on its own terms. From its trite character reversal to its uneven story-telling, this reads more like a series of "cool twists" hodge-podged together than like a coherent narrative. At several climactic moments (particularly early on), following the action was made fairly difficult due to similar appearances of critical characters -- even after several rereads, for example, I'm still not quite sure what happened in the scene where Wolverine's father dies. My impression is that there is a suggestion that his titular father was cuckolded by the groundskeeper, but beyond that, I'm at a loss.

The story has its requisite throw-ins to the comic (a cage fight, young Wolvie getting a book on samurai *snicker*, and so forth), but because it is so far removed from the standard X-Men universe, I feel like it should be judged more or less on its own rights. There, it has weak pacing, mediocre writing, faux anime art, and not much character development beyond bare archetyping. Maybe for die-hard fans it's good enough, but I'd recommend a pass.

Rating:
Summary: In addition to this graphic novel I'd like to recommend...
Review: THE ADVENTURES OF DARKEYE: CYBER HUNTER...a fun, fast-paced Sci-Fi, that reads like a graphic novel, written by myself, Dan Bivens, and my partner, Gerald James Seward.

Rating:
Summary: In addition to this graphic novel, I'd like to recommend...
Review: THE ADVENTURES OF DARKEYE: CYBER HUNTER...a fun, fast-paced Sci-Fi written by myself, Dan Bivens, and my partner, Gerald James Seward, that actually reads like a graphic novel.