Wolverine Origins: Born in Blood Review

Writer: Daniel Way

Artist: Steve Dillon

Over the last few months I've been trying to get through as many of my graphic novels, and comics series as I can, reviewing them along the way, whilst also reading the Marvel events that fall in between. I also plan on reading the series at the same time, reading each story that falls in line (e.g. a Spider-Man story followed by an Avengers, followed by something else, then back to Spider-Man). I'm continuing with my Wolverine collection, starting my first review on Wolverine: Origins, which is my eighth Wolverine review overall.

Plot

Wolverine has all his memories back, and is looking for the person who caused him so much suffering, fighting Nuke along the way.

Review

This was a very interesting start to the series, and although it wasn't perfect, having a lot of questionable moments, it was overall very enjoyable. Daniel Way did a brilliant job of not just starting this series, making it easy to understand, but also managing to continue from his Origins & Endings storyline perfectly. Way also did a good job of showing Wolverine's lust for revenge, as now that he has all his memories he's bound to want payback. I was however in two minds about the flashback memories, as although I felt Way did a good job in making them fit in with the story, I didn't like this merciless Wolverine, as although he was being controlled, I don't think he'd act like the villain that he was portrayed as, more just a savage killer. I did however like how Way managed to keep this very exciting, and entertaining, as although it's nothing spectacular, it was still a very good story.

The art on the other hand I wasn't overly fond of. To be honest I've never really been a fan of Steve Dillon's work, as although I didn't mind his art on The Punisher, I've never really rated it much. I especially dislike how Dillon draws faces, and especially around the mouth area, as they make the characters look very awkward, with their emotions seeming rather stiff, and unrealistic. I also am not a fan of how he draws women, and never have been, as I don't think he makes them feminine enough. I did however like how he drew Wolverine himself, as well as Nuke, and especially liked how he drew Wolverine out of costume, as he looked much more natural, with his face inside the costume looking slightly awkward in places. Dillon did however also manage to show some great emotion when the characters faces filled the page more, as although they weren't perfect, they didn't look quite as awkward as they did before.

S.H.I.E.L.D. would also once again feature in this story, as they would through a fair few Wolverine stories at the time. It's always interesting to see S.H.I.E.L.D., and although I sometimes feel that they are over used, this was one of their better additions, as they really helped give another dimension to the story, as well as give another person to hunt Wolverine down. I also enjoyed that Dum Dum Dugan was the main S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent in this story, and ultimately the series as I've always liked him as a character, and feel that he's not used as much as he should.

This story would also have a great villain for Wolverine to go up against in the form of Nuke, a failed attempt to recreate Captain America. Now I've enjoyed Nuke has a character in the past, and look forward to seeing him return in the next Captain America story. I did however feel that he wasn't used to his best advantage in this story, as although it added a classic character for Wolverine to fight, as well as feel regret about his prior actions, it just felt like it was missing something. The fighting between the two was however very exciting, and entertaining.

Nuke wasn't the only character to go up against Wolverine in this story, as Captain America himself would get involved, feeling partially responsible for Nuke. It's always a pleasure to see Captain America make an appearance in any story, and this was no different, adding yet more variety to the story, helping to make it more dynamic. The interaction between Wolverine, and Cap in this story was outstanding, with the fight sequence between them been even more so. I also found this even more interesting considering they were both at the time fellow New Avengers members, making the fight even more personal.

Now you may think that with S.H.I.E.L.D., Nuke, and Captain America in this story that it couldn't get any more big name cameos, but it would, as the X-Men would have a presence with Emma Frost, Cyclops, and Hellion turning up following a vision that Emma Frost had. I really enjoyed seeing the X-Men in this story, as it would add more of Wolverine's life to the story, showing the variety of people that he has affiliated himself with. I also liked how this was a shortened down version of the X-Men, with Emma, and Cyclops being the necessities, and Hellion being there for realism, as well as to try and contain Wolverine.

Final Verdict

A brilliant start to the Wolverine: Origins series, and although it wasn't perfect, it was extremely enjoyable, being exciting, as well as dramatic, and suspenseful, also having plenty of mystery about it. It also had some interesting cameo appearances, as well as a very interesting storyline, and I'd highly recommend it to anyone.

Rating: 7/10

The next Wolverine book I'll be reviewing will be Wolverine Origins: Savior.