Way back in 2001, in the wake of the first X-Men movie making a much bigger splash than anyone really anticipated, Marvel got this crazy notion into their heads. So convinced were they that if they did not tell the immensely popular Wolverine’s origin, which had theretofore been unknown to both character and audience, that Hollywood would do it first (and indeed, a few years later, they did just that…since after all, a character’s origin can remain unrevealed for over 25 years in the comic medium but if a film audience doesn’t know what their childhood dog’s name and breed was within two years its unacceptable.) It truly was a watershed moment…Wolverine’s inability to remember his early years due to the machinations of the nefarious Weapon X program was one of the biggest mysteries of the Marvel canon…and many worried that revealing them would sully the character, and in the hands of any other writer it very well might have. However, the expertly crafted tale Paul Jenkins wrote not only fleshed out Logan’s origin, but remained respectful to everything that came before and even paid lip service to the initial mystery. That, combined with the career defining art of Andy Kubert lead to one of the best comics I have ever read, a book simply called Origin.
I originally picked this one up in single issues, back when my comic addiction was still in its infancy, and since then I have very rarely been as excited to go to the shop every month to pick up a single issue. Reading through them again for the first time in almost ten years, I can safely say the excitement of it all remains intact. Sure the revelations therein have become canon already and any fan of the character knows them by now, but the sheer, daunting impact of that first reveal still sticks to the comic, a legacy that many writers try for but few achieve.
The first two issues may as well be one chapter of the story, and I won’t spoil the massive reveal at the end of the second issue, but within these two issues you get the full, heartbreaking story of Wolverine’s childhood. Where he came from, who his parents and family were, all laid bare. Knowing how the story ultimately turns out made my recent re-read even harder, which is just another testament to its greatness.
Issue’s 3 and 4 deal primarily with Logan’s teen years and detail some of the formative experiences that made him the character we know. The savage, brutally real imagery within is nothing short of completely engaging. Which leads to the final two issues wherein young wolverine’s past comes back to haunt him and the second tragedy in a life that will come to be filled with tragedy occurs, leading Wolverine into the open ended conclusion and some very obvious dangling plot threads that, despite rumors of a sequel, have never been picked up. Which is the beauty of the series in my mind: while a lot of the “money shots” of the origin are shown, the story ends with Logan as a young adult, leaving a large chunk of his history still to be explicitly revealed, thus paying a sort of lip-service to the initial mystery that surround the origin itself.
I’m unsure why I just went out of my way to avoid spoilers for a ten year old story…I suppose that even if you know what happens the story is still just as powerful…but a little suspense never hurt anyone. Regardless, if you even remotely care about Wolverine and want to know why he digs redheads to badly, the real truth behind his amnesia, who his first kill was, how he came to use the word “bub” and where the name “Logan” came from, in addition to other tasty tidbits, then by all means pick this sucker up. However, even if you don’t give a heaping sack of crap about the character but fancy sharply written, gorgeously illustrated, inspiring and tragic coming of age stories, then this one may also be for you. In short: ten years later and the sucker still holds up.
