Wolverine – Origins

Wolverine: Origins

Every fictional character has a gimmick, something that makes them stand out in a crowd. This gimmick can anything from a character trait, a piece of equipment, or even a backstory. In this respect, Wolverine is a jack-of-all trades: he’s got three claws in each hand, an unbreakable Adamantium skeleton, and a healing factor that regenerates wounds almost immediately after infliction (and slows down the aging process). But probably his most fateful gimmick are the huge gaps in his memory. Every time Wolverine thinks he has a handle on his past, those memories are revealed to be fake, put there by his enemies to better manipulate him. All his life, Wolverine’s past has always been a mystery.

That is, until the 2006 graphic novel Wolverine: Origins.

Born in the 1800s, (again, the healing factor slows his aging), James Howlett is a frail, sickly boy confined to his family manor. Consequentially, his family hires Irish girl Rose to keep him company. Together with Dog Logan (son of family gardener Thomas Logan), the three enjoy a happy childhood.

But trouble looms in the form of hormones. Dog is banished from the estate due to Rose’s near-rape and the murder of James’ dog, and together with his father raid the manor for revenge. James witnesses his father’s murder at Thomas’ hands, and for the first time exhibits the ferocious savagery essential to his future Wolverine persona. With Thomas dead, James has no choice but to flee with Rose, and eventually finds refuge in a mining colony.

The mine proves to have a major influence on James. No longer sick and frail, James wins the miners over with his incredible work ethic and soon becomes the right-hand man of the miner leader Smitty. For the first time, James (operating under the alias Logan) has a family.

But Wolverine’s savage side is as much a part of him as his gruff persona, and here Origins doesn’t disappoint. James spends his days in the mine, but his nights are spent hunting with wolves, fulfilling needs beyond that of civilization. Rose’s romance with Smitty threatens James’ equilibrium, but he steps aside for Rose’s happiness.

But it’s naught to last. Dog appears to exact revenge, and Rose dies in the ensuing struggle. Robbed of everything he’s built, James retreats to the wilderness, his broken mind finding peace with the animals rather than humanity.

Wolverine is the quintessential tough guy: he’s got an unbreakable skeleton, claws that can cut anything, plus a healing ability that renders him almost immortal. This is the man readers have been hooked on for decades. Wolverine: Origins allows the reader insight into those early times before Wolverine became Wolverine, as well as delivering a creative backstory befitting to a man haunted by a past he can’t remember. As Marvel Comics founder Stan Lee would say, Excelsior!