Uncanny X-Periment # 101: Origin

Origin # 1-6

A young woman by the name of Rose is brought to the Howelett estate to be (basically) a playmate for young James Howelett – the thin, sickly son of the rich John Howelett and the crazy Emily Howelett. They befriend the boy called “Dog,” how is the son of Thomas Logan, the groundskeeper. Logan is in love with Emily (who went crazy after her and John’s first child died). Eventually, trouble is a brewing and Thomas Logan and Dog get kicked out of the estate.

They return to the estate, kidnap Rose and make her take them to Emily, so as to take her with them. Once there, the commotion brings in both James and John. Logan kills John, and then James pops some claws from his hands, kills Logan and tears up Dog’s face. Rose is later blamed for the murders and she and James go on the run (with the help of James’ asshole grandpa).

They make their way to a small mining camp, where James begins to discover a wild, animal side to himself. His memory is all messed from the trauma. Rose calls him “Logan” to help protect them. So as Logan goes out and plays with wolves, then works in the mines and deals with a man named Cookie, Rose begins to fall for the leader of the camp, Smitty. There’s some rivalry between Logan and Smitty, but Logan eventually stands aside . . . and that’s when Dog shows up, now sporting blonde hair.

A fight breaks out between Dog and Logan, with Rose getting in the middle and getting stabbed. She dies, Dog runs off (I guess), and Logan just goes off into the wild.

I’m very mixed about this one, to be honest. On the one hand, it’s a well-told story and the first half is really quite good. On the other hand, it flakes out a little bit in the end.

The theme of the story is not so much “Hey! It’s young Wolverine!” as it is about this boy going through all this shit and growing into man – all the while dealing with this animal within himself that grew out of all the mess that his pretty young life covered up. It’s a very interesting and appropriate origin for Wolverine.

Unfortunately, while the theme holds it together, it suffers from being predictable in the end. You know from the moment that Rose shows up that she’s going to die. And while having James turn out to Logan is a surprise, having Dog turn out to Sabretooth (right?) is just a little too much; it was exactly what you’d expect. A show-down between Logan/James and Logan/Dog? Rose gets in the middle and James/Logan accidentally kills her? Yep. That was coming from a mile away. And just how does one die of a wound in the upper, right-side of the chest? Even in those days? It didn’t even look that deep.

Despite the predictability, there’s some fleshing out here. John Howelett (James not-real father), Dog (as a youngin’), Thomas Logan (James’ real father), Smitty, and Cookie all add so much to the story and really paint Wolverine’s early influences rather well. You can see a little bit of John’s honor in Logan in the modern day, just like you can see the gruffness of Thomas Logan (up-bringing versus heredity).

The art is phenomenal. Andy Kubert’s best work, hands down. Isanove also brings his A-Game. These two really bring to life almost every panel, breathing life into the story.

In spite of the predictability of the story as it neared it’s ending, “Origin” does offer a decent and somewhat insightful true origin of Wolverine.

~W~