Wolverine: Origin

AUTHOR: Jemas, Bill; Jenkins, Paul; Quesada, Joe

ARTIST: Richard Isanove (digital painter and cover artist); Andy Kubert (penciller); Wes Abbott (letterer); Oscar Gongorra (letterer); John Roshell (letterer); Saida Temofonte (letterer); Joe Quesada (cover artist)

PUBLISHER: Marvel Comics

FIRST BOOK PUBLICATION: 2002

Publication History

The publication of Wolverine Origin grew out of the last major revelation in Wolverine, Volume 2, issue 75, when it was revealed that Logan’s claws were made of bone. This revelation occurred a decade before Wolverine Origin was conceived as a story idea. Before Logan’s early years were shown, his origin was teased to fans but never completely revealed. It was too risky to the Wolverine franchise to reveal his origin and take away the mystery.

Under the new management of Bill Jemas, the risk was finally taken at an editorial meeting with Joe Quesada and Paul Jenkins. They decided to attempt the story and offered the concept development to various top creators, such as Grant Morrison. Each writer that was approached had specific reasons for not taking the project. It was Paul Jenkins who was brought back in to write the story, and Andy Kubert was selected as the artist. Once Richard Isanove joined the team to do digital painting and help Joe Quesada with cover art, the project went into full development.

There was intense pressure not to alienate fans and their expectations. There also was an urgency to tell the Wolverine Origin story before Hollywood got the chance to tell it differently.

Originally published as six single-issue volumes from 2001 to 2002 by Marvel Comics, Wolverine Origin was later published as a deluxe hardcover edition. Since initial printing, there have been several reprints by Marvel Comics.

Plot

Wolverine Origin is the tale of how James Howlett’s mutant powers and his identity of Logan (Wolverine) began. The story starts when an orphaned girl named Rose arrives at the Howlett estate, where she is to take care of James, the son of John Howlett. James is a weak and lonely child, neglected by his parents, who are grieving over the loss of his older brother. Until Rose arrives, the only other child on the estate is Dog Logan, the caretaker’s son. Dog takes great pleasure in being mean and mischievous, especially to Rose and James.

Rose notices several things at the estate are not quite right. An unresolved mystery surrounds the “death” of the elder Howlett son. Elizabeth Howlett is mentally unbalanced and remote toward her remaining son, James. Thomas Logan, the drunkard caretaker of the estate, regularly beats his son, Dog. An affair between Thomas Logan and Elizabeth Howlett is implied.

After several incidents involving Dog, John Howlett fires Thomas Logan for not controlling his son’s actions. Logan strikes back by trying to steal Howlett’s money and his wife. His plan goes awry, resulting in Howlett’s death when he interferes. James witnesses this event, and it triggers his mutant powers. When his bone claws appear, his angry rage results in the death of Logan and the scarring of Dog’s face. While Rose and James escape into the night, Elizabeth commits suicide.

After the trauma and tragedy of the night, Dog frames Rose by lying to Mr. Howlett, James’s grandfather, and the police. Since James is in shock and recovering from his outburst, Rose takes charge and the two of them escape to a remote mining camp run by a man named Smitty. When they arrive at the camp, Rose introduces James as her cousin named Logan. Work is labor-intensive and Logan must complete long days despite being bullied by the camp cook, Cookie Malone. The tough environment, Cookie’s bullying, and Smitty’s mentoring start Logan on his evolution to become the character fans will eventually know as Wolverine. In fact, two minor characters briefly mention that Logan is like said animal in terms of tenacity. Yet Logan shows his humanity when he takes a dive in a money fight with Smitty after he realizes he is the odd man out in a love triangle with Rose.

On his deathbed, Logan’s grandfather feels remorse and asks a now-adult Dog to track down his grandson and Rose and bring them back to the estate. Dog eagerly accepts the offer with the intention of killing Logan and Rose and, with a few lucky pieces of information, he tracks them to the camp. In the ensuing fight between Dog and Logan, Rose is killed when she stumbles into Logan’s bone claws. This loss causes Logan to become feral and retreat to the woods. Smitty follows and tries without success to call Logan back to his humanity. The story closes with Cookie burning Rose’s diary, which would have revealed Logan’s origin.

Characters

•James Howlett, a.k.a. Logan, the protagonist, is a foppish, sickly-looking boy. As an adult, he is still short for a grown man, but well built. His key traits include bone claws and an angry intensity. His main role in the story is to grow as a character into the man known as Logan who eventually becomes Wolverine.

•Rose, the protagonist, is a red-haired girl with a Victorian fashion sense. She is the primary narrator and the reader’s point of entry into the story. She is initially characterized as sweet natured but naïve. When she is a woman, she still has those characteristics, but she has gained an edge of wisdom from living in the mining camp.

•Dog Logan, the primary antagonist, is a boy who looks like a dirt-poor farmhand. He creates major havoc on the estate. When grown, he is tall and has three facial scars. His outstanding trait is his cruelty. His primary role is to mislead the reader at first and to help the writer push James over the edge.

•Cookie Malone, the secondary antagonist, is an ugly and obese man. His primary traits are his perverted cruelty and thievery. He takes on the role of James/Logan’s primary bully during Logan’s time working in the mining camp. This moves the plot forward by forcing Logan to grow stronger or die. He plays a central role in creating the mystery of Wolverine’s origin by nonchalantly burning Rose’s diary at the end of the story.

•Mr. Smith, a.k.a. Smitty, the key supporting character, has the look of a mountain man. His most obvious trait is his gruff but fair attitude when it comes to the people at his camp. He is a love interest for Rose as well as a mentor and friend to Logan.

Artistic Style

The artist, Andy Kubert, felt that penciling needed to be more intricate because digital painting was going to be used instead of the traditional method of inking and coloring. Kubert makes his characters look realistic in their expressions. Little nuances, such as Smitty handing a book to Logan, allow Kubert to give more life to the characters. The images, as a whole, are crisp and full of depth.

As a digital painter, Richard Isanove brings an artist’s eye to the inking and coloring process. As the story progresses, the colors change from lighter and richer during James’s childhood to darker as he grows older in the mining camp. When the setting changes, the coloring also changes to fit the environment or the character’s mood or emotions. The covers of each issue are of particular interest because they not only suggest the essence of each story, they also tie them together in a warm, monochromatic color palette. Isanove most likely saw the covers as a complete work of art rather than separate pieces.

In each volume, there are no unnecessary panels. Each panel feels like the reader is following the shots of a carefully edited film. In fact, Wolverine Origin is as close to animation without being animated as one can get.

Word balloons are well placed, so that the reader knows which one to read first. The characters’ individual word balloons are easy to follow. A different background color and font style are used to reflect Rose’s diary entries to great effect.

Themes

Loss is the main theme of this graphic novel. Whether one looks at the plot, the characters, or the art, one can see the theme of loss throughout. Rose comes to the Howlett estate after losing her parents. Elizabeth Howlett loses her sanity after the death of her husband and Thomas Logan. Every time James gains something, whether it is a puppy, a friend, or a traumatic memory, he eventually loses what he has gained. This is not just attributed to other characters’ actions, but also to his healing powers of recovery. When James becomes Logan and fully assumes this identity, he tries to lose himself in camp work and in the wild of the wolf pack. He literally wants to lose the human and the animal sides of himself and this sets up the duality of the Wolverine character.

Regarding the plot, there is a loss of answers in many ways. The reader does not know what happened to James Howlett’s brother and this information is lost with the deaths of his parents. Thomas Logan seems to take out his grief over his dead wife on his son, Dog, but the reader cannot be sure that this is the only reason Thomas is so cruel. Logan’s dying grandfather feels that someone else must undo his mistakes and rectify things with his grandson. Logan loses his fantasy of being with Rose when she reveals her marriage plans with Smitty. When Rose is killed in the fight between Logan and Dog, Smitty loses his hope. Ultimately, Logan loses his humanity as he disappears into the woods.

Loss also is conveyed through the art in a few instances, when the death of Logan’s new puppy is represented through his eye just as Rose’s final moments are portrayed through his eye.

Impact

Wolverine Origin is an atypical Modern Age graphic novel in that it presents an origin story for a non-costumed superhero character. While it is not the first to tell an origin story, it was the first to tell the origin story without flashbacks. Instead, the reader has a sense of chronology through the use of Rose’s diary. In terms of cultural relevance, this story opened the door for certain comic book taboos to be broken. If Wolverine’s origin could finally be revealed, then anything was possible. For example, it has influenced Ed Brubaker and his work on Captain America, Volume 5 (2005) by bringing back Cap’s original partner, Bucky Barnes, from the dead as the Winter Soldier. The taboo of exploring Logan’s memory was also broken with the publication of Wolverine Origin: Logan regains his memories in the House of M (2005-2006) graphic novel.

According to Wizard magazine, when Wolverine Origin was initially announced, some viewed the concept in a negative light. However, it affected readers positively after publication, winning several awards from Wizard magazine based on fan votes. In this same issue of Wizard, Andy Kubert mentions how he has grown as an artist because he varied his style to allow for digital painting by Richard Isanove.

Films

X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Directed by Gavin Hood. Twentieth Century Fox, 2009. This film stars Hugh Jackman as Logan/Wolverine and Liev Schreiber as Victor Creed. The film differs from the novel in that several characters and events, including Rose, are removed from the story in order to quicken the pace toward the film’s present. Wolverine’s original identity of James Howlett remains, but Victor replaces Dog and is made James’s half brother. The film won Choice Movie: Action Adventure at the 2009 Teen Choice Awards.

Television Series

Wolverine and the X-Men. Marvel Animation, 2008-2009. This series stars Steven Blum as Wolverine and Jim Ward as Charles Xavier. The series differs from the novel in that, while both follow the character of Wolverine, the name James is referenced briefly in only one episode (Episode 14, “Stolen Lives”). Another major difference is that, as an adult, Wolverine remembers, albeit in flashback, that he once used the name James. Thus, the episode is more in line with the film X-Men Origins: Wolverine than the graphic novel.

Further Reading

Claremont, Chris, and John Byrne. X-Men: The Dark Phoenix Saga (2006).

Jenkins, Paul, and Claudio Castellini. Wolverine: The End (2004).

Lobdell, Scott, et al. X-Men: The Complete Age of Apocalypse Epic, Book 1 (2006).

Morales, Robert, and Kyle Baker. Truth: Red, White, and Black (2004).

Robinson, James, Tony Salmons, and Bret Blevins. Vigilante: City Lights, Prairie Justice (2009).

Bibliography

Bendis, Brian Michael, et al. House of M. New York: Marvel, 2005-2006.

Brubaker, Ed, et al. Captain America: Winter Soldier, Volume 2. New York: Marvel, 2006.

Jenkins, Paul, Andy Kubert, and Richard Isanove. Wolverine Origin. New York: Marvel, 2002.

Lawrence, Christopher. “Secret Mission.” Wizard 120 (September, 2001): 40-46.