Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

Wolverine Origins #28
Marvel Comics
Way, Deodato & Beredo

The prologue for the Original Sin crossover is literally just a way to introduce the characters and level set the continuity. Wolverine has a son, Daken, that maybe not everyone is aware of, so he gets introduced. Also, Wolverine gives a bit of a recap as to how he came into the X-Men fold all those years ago. The story is okay, but isn’t essential reading that I can tell. The artwork has a harsh look that I actually liked.

Daken had been trying to kill his father for a long time. Something happened to him and his healing factor was slowed down. Add in a bullet to the brain and he doesn’t remember that he hates Wolverine or that Wolverine is his father. Wolverine wants to take advantage of the situation and get him help.

Xavier decides to bring him to the X-Men and in the process it kicks off some memories of his own introduction into the X-Men. The bulk of the issue is spent on his mission to confront the Hulk, which was Wolverine’s first comic appearance. The retelling of this confrontation does add some context to the bigger story of Wolverine’s origin. But again, it’s not essential.

The issue concludes with Wolverine getting introduced to Xavier.

It’s a fast read. There are a couple of things that don’t quite line up though. For example, the connection between Xavier and Wolverine’s mission to fight the Hulk doesn’t quite make sense or it isn’t fully fleshed out. Although the comic does its best to place this story in with all the others it still doesn’t make a ton of sense that Wolverine is reluctant to involve the X-Men in his business when you consider how many other teams he actually belongs to. Wouldn’t the same argument of them not wanting to get hurt apply as well?

What I did like about the comic was the fact that the story isn’t running away from any oddity in all the Wolverine stories. It replays the killing of Creed. It shows Wolverine killing innocents and getting beaten badly by Hulk. I can’t deny that the comic isn’t trying its best to keep the reigns on the character.

The artwork is almost savage and I liked it. Hulk looks like a freak. He doesn’t look like a dumb oaf or a ballooned up pile of muscle. He looks like a man that was horribly stretched out and deformed by abnormal growth tearing through his skin and it fits. Wolverine also looks animal-like. Especially when he pulls that hood off and shows his ugly mug. It’s nice to see the character look like oddities.

If you plan to follow Original Sin you probably can skip this comic. If you ever wanted to know how the dots connected between the X-Men and Wolverine’s first appearance then this is worth a look. The comic doesn’t really do much with Daken or Xavier so this really is just a light introduction to the coming crossover.

2 out of 5 geek goggles