Did you shell out $10, to be disappointed? You could have spent that on the graphic novel and been satisfied.
If you are like me, you were extremely excited to find out Hollywood was making Wolverine's origin story into a movie. Once the articles and pictures started coming out giving insight into the movie, I ran out to buy the graphic novel to have background. Wolverine Origin reads like you would hope, lots of depth, character development and mystery. The perfect formula for Marvel's darkest and least known character.
Spoiler Alert!!!
Origin starts by describing the life of James Howlett (Wolverine) as a sickly, scared little boy (around 10/12). James lives on an estate in Alberta, Canada with his parents and grand father. Mr. Howlett is a warm and caring man, but not without the ability to be firm and just. Mrs. Howlett is very mysterious and is rarely seen or heard from. There is also a young maid, Rose, who is hired to care for James. James and Rose become close friends and spend most of their days together. On the estate is the groundskeeper, Logan, and his son, Dog. Logan is an angry drunk and Dog is a friendly boy, is good friends with James and Rose. However, through no fault of his own, is turned by his father into a small terror. As the children become older Dog begins to terrorize James and Rose.
Around Christmas time Logan gets drunk and bursts into the Howlett estate with a gun, looking for Mr. Howlett. This is the part of the story that the movie got correct. I will not spoil it for anyone who wants to read the graphic novel. After the events that occur, James deploying claws for the first time. Rose tries to take the Grandfather Howlett, but he casts them off, wanting nothing to do with his mutation of a grandson. Rose and James take off. This is the last time that the movie and the novel are anywhere near similar.
James and Rose run away to the other end of Cananda and start new lives at a lumber colony. Befriend by the foreman, Smitty, antagonized by the cook, Cookie. Here the sickly, scared little boy begins to become a man.
While taking beatings from Cookie and being looked after by Smitty. James begins to become quiet, distant and very assertive. As the years pass, we see Logan grow into a strong, young adult. Around 16/17 Logan is taking a beating from Cookie, when Smitty shows up. Fending off Cookie, Logan begins to see his claws protruding from his hands, takes off into the woods. While in the woods he is approached by a wolf. With his claws darn and the wolf growling. Logan collapses and the wolf nuzzles up to Logan. A kinship is formed. After at this point the transition from James to Wolverine is almost complete. The rest of the story continues the growth and development of the dark hero. By the end of the story the boy from the beginning is extinct and we are left with the man known as Wolverine.
This is a great, great origin story. It has everything you could hope for being a Wolverine fan. It tells his story leading up to his adult character, known from the Frank Miller Wolverine set in Japan. There is a scene towards the end where Smitty gives Logan a book about Samurai's. Great tie - in.
I recommend that any fan of Wolverine or even a fan of just the movie go purchase Wolverine Origin and fully understand the character.
In terms of linking the novel to the movie. The movie tells most of the events out of order. I am not sure why Fox had to screw up this amazing story by adding characters, terrible plot development and really never finding out who or what Wolverine is. The movie could, literally, just have been made from this graphic novel. It has everything that all of fans wanted, with the perfect set up for many sequels. I will continue to see the movies, but only after I have read the stories first.
This is my first post and review. To give you a preview of what is to come. I will be giving my review of the following graphic novel/comic story arch's and comparing them to their movie counterpoints. In the coming weeks, I plan to post my reviews for Wanted, Batman: The Long Halloween (Harvey Dents origin ), Batman: Dark Victory (What The Dark Knight was based on), Watchmen, The Wolverine Origins series. Also I am going to do reviews for comics that future movies could be based on. Spider-man: Kraven's Last Hunt (Would be an awesome movie), Cable and Deadpool, and any comics you would like reviewed.
- Aaron
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Greenhatter02
5/28/2009
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