Columns 

Longbox Diving – "A Good Man" (from Wolverine v2 #175)

By | October 19th, 2011
Posted in Columns | % Comments

Schism is over, Regenesis has taken place, and in a week Wolverine and The X-Men #1 will launch to mark the true beginning of a “new era”. Or something along those lines, anyway.

But did you know that Jason Aaron has been writing Wolverine since 2002? Kinda sorta, anyway.

Let’s talk about that one short story and what it did for a young man’s career, after the jump. Spoilers are discussed rather heavily, but this is an eight-page story almost a decade old. You’ll be ok knowing what happens if you’ve never read it before.

Back in 2001, Marvel ran a talent search contest with the prize being that you’d get to write an eight-page back-up story in an issue of Wolverine. A young and completely unknown writer submitted to the contest, and ended up winning it, and soon after, “A Good Man” by Jason Aaron and UDON Studios appeared in the back of Wolverine #175.

In “A Good Man,” Wolverine pauses to help a Christian woman in distress who has a flat tire. In dire need of help, Wolverine is forced to stop to help her, despite warning her that no good can come from this while she in turn tells him about how he needs Jesus in his life. Eventually, dogs attack the two, and Wolverine kills them, giving the woman one last chance to escape before hunters arrive, enraged and firing upon both Wolverine and the woman. The woman reminds Wolverine that he would be better off if he found God in his life before he died before passing on herself, and Wolverine later buries her, takes her car and debates his own religious quandry as he drives off (with the bodies of the hunters dead on the ground in the background).

Aaron would later return to the character in 2007 with “the Man in the Pit,” but everything that Jason Aaron has attempted to do with Logan since he started writing him is present here. Jason Aaron’s basic mantra for his ongoing Wolverine story is one that is rather readily familiar with his work, and that is that even with characters with horrible histories of violence like Logan (or, to compare, Red Crow, Frank Castle, and now the Hulk) could have moments of saving grace. A lot of readers see Wolverine as a black and white character, one who is the best there is at what he does, and what he does isn’t very nice; he is a whirlwind of chaos and violence, tearing up lives and families wherever he goes with his horrific influence and past. While this is still ostensibly true, since Aaron started writing Wolverine stories, the general point has been less about seeing who Wolverine can kill any given week but rather trying to explore Wolverine as a more human character, one that has a quiet soul and a makeshift family, even if it isn’t one that he is every willing to fully acknowledge.

In the case of this story, the woman acts as Wolverine’s foil, offering him salvation in exchange for a simple favor. While Wolverine essentially knows what will come from offering his help, he helps regardless, in selfless parallel to the idea of what “a good man” is. The title, derived from the phrase “a good man is hard to find” (which Aaron took from the Flannery O’Connor story of the same name) postulates that someone of true value who is a decent human being is a rarity. This woman, a woman who has given her life to God, sees Logan as someone to be saved, not realizing the trouble his association will bring her. And lo and behold, try as he might, Logan winds up being not a good man; he may want to be a better person and even debates his own religious aspects, but by stopping to help this woman instead of convincing her to immediately leave or running off himself, Logan gets her killed. A good man is indeed hard to find, but with his history the road to salvation for Logan is essentially null and void (which Aaron would play up later by literally sending Wolverine to hell).

Continued below

From a philosophical standpoint while attempting to analyze Logan as a literary character, “A Good Man” is generally the perfect analysis of Logan in eight pages, which is considerably surprising for a writer who had simply entered a contest and lucked out. There is no real reason for this story to be great; Aaron was a 28 year old writer no one had heard of who simply realized not to just throw Logan in a bar (yet) and write about what happens there. Aaron has been writing great Wolverine stories since he took over the title simply because he realizes that the trick to writing a great Wolverine story is to work on the character himself, not just the mountains of history and the story possibilities that present themselves. Wolverine is a multi-faceted character who is literally limitless, and that aspect often seems intimidating – “Well, should I tell a bad ass story? Who can he fight today?” But Aaron avoids that, telling stories of his friends, of his life, and of his existential quandries. These are the stories that make Wolverine interesting, and Aaron knew that from the beginning.

Now, this isn’t to say that Aaron is a flawless writer. He’s damn good, but you can feel the edges on this story. It was published almost a decade ago, after all, and a good seven years before Aaron got to write his first Wolverine ongoing (after an arc or one-shot here and there). It’s a damn clever story, and one that fits perfectly into the longer character arc that Aaron has been taking Wolverine on for quite some time now. It’s also interesting to compare it with the rest of the issue, written by Frank Tieri, which is a much more violent romp with less inherent character development although plenty of tropes and elements that clearly went on to influence Aaron’s writing in the future. Aaron tells the personal story, while Tieri simply tells the ongoing one, and when viewed in isolation, it’s Aaron’s story that succeeds in telling the more intriguing tale.

For those without the issue, “A Good Man” was later reprinted both in the Dark Reign: The List – Wolverine one-shot, as well as the Aaron Omnibus of Wolverine stories. It’s an interesting read, especially now given how prolific and involved in the Marvel U Aaron has become. It should also given aspiring writers everywhere hope, because hey, looks like it’s pretty to easy to break into comics after all — provided you’re good, of course.


//TAGS | Longbox Diving

Matthew Meylikhov

Once upon a time, Matthew Meylikhov became the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Multiversity Comics, where he was known for his beard and fondness for cats. Then he became only one of those things. Now, if you listen really carefully at night, you may still hear from whispers on the wind a faint voice saying, "X-Men Origins: Wolverine is not as bad as everyone says it issss."

EMAIL | ARTICLES


  • Columns
    Longbox Diving – Amazing Spider-Man #574

    By | Jan 11, 2012 | Columns

    One of my favorite ongoing comics right now that only seems to get better and better each month is Rick Remender’s Venom. Starring long time Spider-Man bully/super fan/friend Flash Thompson as the newest host of one of Spider-Man’s greatest foes, The Venom Symbiote. While for more than a decade, Venom has skirted the line between […]

    MORE »
    Columns
    Longbox Diving – The Crew

    By | Dec 22, 2011 | Columns

    Throughout the 90s and the early 2000s, Christopher Priest (or simply Priest for a good while) was one of the most prolific and critically acclaimed writers in mainstream comics. His impact on books like Black Panther and Captain America & The Falcon is immense and the highly politicized, street level storytelling her infused his books […]

    MORE »

    -->