Okay -- the good stuff first. The artwork by Adam Kubert and Richard Isanove is absolutely wonderful. Kubert's sense of storytelling is second to none and Isanove's gorgeous, lush painted-colors process is something I'd love to see more often.

But the story... the STORY... Paul Jenkins, as he has proven with his work on Spider-Man, is a superb writer, so for the life of me I can't figure out how "Origin" wound up with such a so-so story. It felt like he was playing a "fill in the blank" game when he, Joe Quesada and (ugh) Bill Jemas put the story together. "Okay, what do we know about Wolverine? He's Canadian, he calls himself Logan and he's got a thing for redheads. Can we do anything with that?"

It isn't a BAD book, but the story doesn't really have any jarring or eye-popping revelations, no outstanding surprises and no real lasting repercussions for the regular X-Men titles, unless Wolverine were to somehow regain his memory of these events. Even then, I'm not sure how much of a difference that would really make, either in terms of story or characterization. Jemas said Marvel did this book because they wanted to do "The greatest story Marvel's never told." I've gotta say, if this is indicative of the rest of those "untold tales," they may as well stay that way.


True Believers, Every Legend Has a Beginning...   July 9, 2002
 31 out of 38 found this review helpful

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+


One of the best minis of the year   July 15, 2002
 16 out of 20 found this review helpful

Origin lived up to and exceeded the expectations of many. The story seems a bit farfetched when reading, especially compared to Wolverine in current times, but in the end it all fits nicely. The digital coloring method utilized on Andy Kubert's pencils fits very well and looks amazing. Jenkins writing is great, and the dialogue is well written. The story is at times even touching as we see the past of James Howlett and all the losses he faces at an early age. He transforms from a privileged, weak and often sick young boy to the beginnings of the feral Logan. I don't want to spoil it for anyone, so I won't reveal too much, but for someone who is an X-Men and Marvel fan, and not a relatively big Wolverine fan, I definitely recommend this. Even people coming off the movie who doesn't read much Marvel comics but likes Wolverine should try this out. The hardcover collects all 6 issues of this mini-series, and comes with some extras, such as some early sketches and ideas by Marvel COO Bill Jemas, EIC Joe Quesada, writer Paul Jenkins, and artist Andy Kubert. The hardcover also has larger pages than the original comics. For collectors, you can fish out the original issues from comic shops, but even then they may be more expensive than the hardcover edition. Origin explains much of Wolverine's foggy past that even he himself can't remember, but still leaves much to be revealed. Origin 2 is likely to materialize, it's only a question of when.


Disappointing   March 2, 2003
 14 out of 17 found this review helpful

If you expected to learn how Wolverine got his admantium skeleton, his true relation to Sabretooth, the peculiarities of his mutated healing powers, his affinity for the Orient, and other pivotal pieces of Wolverine lore, don't look for it in this slow-paced dismal book. Wolvie's just another hero who is - gasp!! - brooding over his daddy's unfortunate demise. Hint to Marvel writers: Freud did write more than one paragraph in his life, maybe you should try doing the same. Equally disappointing was the notion that so healthy and robust an adult started life as a sickly teenager, as if his homestead or uncaring mother were to blame (none of which is made clear by the book). I quit reading X-Men titles around 1985, at number 189 of "The Uncanny X-Men" series. Friends tell me that I've missed a lot of revelations in the intervening years and titles. Nevertheless, to call this the definitive origin of Wolverine seems misleading.


TERRIBLE.   July 2, 2006
 10 out of 19 found this review helpful

Wolverine; a little rich kid named James Howlett? No.

The whole appeal of his character was that he/we didn't know his past. It was a stupid mistake to ever reveal his 'origin', but they did and I gotta say that this is the LAMEST origin of any comic book character on the face of the earth! And the fact that it's the origin of Wolverine just makes it that much more disgraceful. Seriously, how could they screw it up this bad?

It was just a money making ploy on the part of Marvel Comics, and it really doesn't reveal anything that any Wolverine fan didn't already know. I knew he was born with the claws when Magneto ripped the adamantium out of him back in 1990 somethin'.

'Weapon X' is the only 'origin' of Wolverine that we really needed. Apart from the fact that it was a much better story, it told you all you really needed to know about why Wolverine is the way he is, how his brain got all scrambled, and how he got the adamantium. The mysterious past on top of all that is what made Wolverine a more interesting character, and they took that away.

Origin's story is just uneventful and boring. I read Wolverine comics for action, suspense, cool characters and good storylines. Origin had none of the above. After all these years and all this hype, they give us THIS?

I remember when they first started talking about revealing his past a couple years ago on Marvels website. They said that they were doing it because the writers of the movies were planning on revealing it, and they wanted to do it first, so the movie writers wouldn't screw it up. Well all 3 movies are out, Wolvernie's past was not revealed in any of them, and even if they did, who cares? Those are the MOVIES, not the comics. Wolverine isn't a 6'3" Hugh Jackman in the comics either. It's a seperate media.

Shame on you Marvel,

0 STARS.