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Despite Wolverine's massive over-exposure, I was tantalized by the hype for the new Wolverine: Origins series. Wolverine exploring his past, drawn by superstar artist Steve Dillon? How could that go wrong? A writer working on that series could explore all kinds of subjects. Logan in World War 2. Logan as a cold war op. Logan in post-war Japan. Logan before and after the Weapon-X storyline by Barry Smith. All kinds of shit. Wolverine: Origins #1 is nothing like that.
Call me crazy, but the first issue of a new series needs to set the tone for the later issues. Marvel doesn't really follow my way of thinking-they launched Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man in the middle of The Other crossover. If you haven't been reading House of M, New Avengers, and Wolverine's main series, you will be completely lost picking up this first issue. There's no recap covering Wolverine's known origin to date, which I find puzzling as hell, given the series title. Marvel just assumes all the fanboys out there already know it, but what about the kid who picks this up because they dig Wolverine from the X-Men movie? I think they should have stated the major moments of Logan's past (World War 2, Weapon X, Alpha Flight, maybe some moments from Origin) and then explained what he's seeking now. I'm even a bit baffled and I've read all this crap.
Daniel Way's lost me on many titles. I didn't think the Squadron Supreme Nighthawk mini was all the great, and Punisher vs Bullseye seems like a Road Runner cartoon with bullets. I listened to an interview with Way on a Word Balloon podcast and he's got tons of ideas for Wolverine, but I think his execution is a bit off. One thing I did like was hooking up Logan's missing past with Bucky's. However, this whole thing about Wolverine using the Muramasa samurai blade to enact vengeance just makes me think that Way misses the whole point about Wolverine. Logan is supercool because he takes on much bigger enemies with just his claws; he takes an incredible amount of damage in the process, but survives due to his healing factor. A prime example is Uncanny X-Men 173 when Wolverine fought Silver Samurai. Logan got sliced and stabbed but he took apart Samurai's armor like it was made out of tin foil. Wolverine needs a sword? It just seems dumb to me. What the fuck do I know, this debut issue has probably sold enough copies for both Way and Dillon to buy new houses. Nuff said.
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