This story in Wolverine #40 is continued in Wolverine’s new monthly title named Wolverine: Origins. Wolverine #41 will continue on with a different storyline. Yay. Just what we need. Another Wolverine title. He is already appearing in every title in the Marvel Universe as it is. Anyway, on to the review.
Creative Team
Writer: Daniel Way
Penciler: Javier Saltares
Inker: Mark Texeira
Rating: 3 Night Girls out of 5.
Synopsis: The issue starts with Bucky apologizing for killing Wolverine’s wife, Itsu. We then go back in time when Wolverine went to this small village in Japan to seek redemption. There, Wolverine falls in love with Itsu, marries her, and gets her pregnant. To celebrate the marriage, Wolverine takes part in a ritual ceremony that involves mock fighting with the other men in the community.
During the mock fighting, an explosion occurs on a nearby mountain causing Wolverine to involuntarily extend his claws injuring one of the men. The explosion was due to Muramasa, who is an evil man who takes men and makes them weapons of destruction. That night, Bucky killed Wolverine’s wife.
After that, Wolverine left the peaceful community and joined Muramasa in order to become a weapon of pure vengeance. Bucky was sent to capture Wolverine and send him to some place in China. Bucky accomplished his mission and Wolverine was picked up and taken to central China.
We go back to the present day and Wolverine tells Bucky that they still have unfinished business. Then he decides to return Bucky’s favor and tells Bucky some secret that Wolverine knew about Bucky. We don’t know what it was, but Bucky had a look of shock on his face.
The issue ends with Wolverine hooking up with Muramasa to claim a sword to use to get his revenge.
Comments
The Good: The story was solid, but not spectacular. The Revolution is interested enough in Wolverine’s past so I’ll be adding Wolverine: Origins to the Revolution’s reading list. Daniel Way is a solid writer. He doesn’t blow us away, but he is technically sound and crafts an entertaining story. He has pretty good dialogue and doesn’t need a lot of action to tell an interesting story. I definitely like how Way writes Wolverine. I think Way has a nice grasp of Logan’s character and does a nice job writing him.
I like that Marvel is slowly trying to integrate the Winter Soldier into the history of the Marvel Universe.
Wolverine’s healing factor allowing him to live much longer than the average human makes him a neat character to write about concerning his past. With being alive for so long, a writer can place Logan in various time periods and create an interesting tapestry or backstories.
The art was well done. The Revolution is a huge Mark Texeira fan. I absolutely adore his artwork. If Texeira is doing the art, then the Revolution will probably pick up that title.
The Bad: Not too much in the way of criticism for this issue. It was a very sound issue. It only got 3 Night Girls, because the story wasn’t all that amazing. It was nice, but nothing all that fantastic. This 5 part Origins storyline is just a setup plotline for the launch of Wolverine’s second title. That would explain why the storyline has been less than impressive.