Origin (comics)

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Origin is a six-issue comic book limited series published by Marvel Comics from November 2001 to July 2002, written by Bill Jemas, Joe Quesada and Paul Jenkins, and illustrated by Andy Kubert (pencils) and Richard Isanove (color).

Origin tells the story of the origin of the superhero Wolverine, best known as a member of the X-Men. Since the character first appeared in the early 1970s his history had often been shrouded in mystery, with bits of information revealed piecemeal over time (notably in Weapon X), but this series was the first to reveal Wolverine's early days and his original background.

The series revealed that Wolverine was born James Howlett, the son of rich plantation owners in late 19th Century Canada, and has long suffered fits of amnesia. He was a sickly child, so his loving father, John, brought an orphaned girl named Rose up from the town to be his companion. The two children also often played with Dog Logan, son of the Howletts' cruel groundskeeper, Thomas Logan. This friendship was spoiled by the tension between the boy's fathers centering on James' mother, Elizabeth, who went mad after her first son, John, died under mysterious circumstances.

Dog becomes increasingly like his father, and his misdeeds become so violent that he and his father are expelled from the manor. Thomas returns for vengeance, and kills John (James' father) before all three children and Elizabeth. The horror of his father's death causes James' powers to manifest for the first time, and he uses his claws to kill Thomas and injure Dog, before lapsing into shock. Elizabeth then proceeds to shoot herself.

Rose attempts to care for James, but his grandfather drives them both from the house due to James' powers. She takes him by train from Alberta to British Columbia, where she gets work for them in a stone quarry.

Rose claims that her male companion is her cousin and, for some strange unexplained reason, gives him the name Logan: the name of their enemies, the ones responsible for their problems and the death of James' parents.

Gradually James/Logan strengthens physically, though his memory is still shattered. He often goes into the woods to hunt game with only his claws.

James becomes like a son to the foreman, Smitty, who in turn loves Rose. He courts her with books, including poetry by William Blake and a history of the samurai. Logan's public identity as her cousin makes it impossible for him to declare his own feelings for her, so he works out his violence in a series of cage fights, where his brutality earns him the nickname Wolverine.

The final fight is against Smitty, but Logan decides to throw the match so Smitty can win the prize money and give Rose a happier life. Just before the couple leaves to be wed, Dog comes to the quarry, originally sent by the ailing grandfather Howlett to find his heir, but really there for revenge. In the ensuing fight, Rose is accidentally impaled on Logan's claws. Logan goes mad with grief and runs into the woods, where he will live for a number of years in a feral state. Rose's diary, which contained the truth of Logan's past she had been unable to tell him, was tossed on the fire by Cookie Malone, who had long hated Logan.

[edit] Analysis

The plot, while seemingly a very distant origin of Wolverine with very little real ties to his current place in the Marvel universe, contains a very good deal of subtext.

Rose and Dog are not simply Wolverine's childhood friends; they are archetypes on which he bases his future relationships. His love for Rose, who bears a striking resemblance to Jean Grey, carries over into adulthood with his painful unrequited love for his teammate. His hatred for Dog, who bears more than a passing resemblance to Sabretooth, fuels his bitter rivalry with his perpetual archnemesis.

Furthermore, the question of Wolverine's fragmented memory is finally answered. It had been previously assumed that the Weapon X programming had brainwashed Wolverine into being a killing machine, thus erasing all memory of his previous life. However, Origin heavily implies that his healing factor is the cause of his memory loss. His mutant power not only heals his body, but also his mind. Painful memories or other psychologically damaging events are protected from his psyche. They are not permanently lost - powerful telepaths have often hinted at knowing Wolverine's true origins. Indeed, on many occasions, characters (mostly villains, such as Cassandra Nova) have called Wolverine by his true name, James.

For reasons that are never explained, Rose changes James' name to "Logan", the name of their enemies, the ones responsible for their plight. This further hints at the fact that John Howlett is not James' father, but rather Elizabeth carried on an illicit affair with Thomas Logan and thus the strong familial resemblance between James and Thomas and Rose's choice of nomenclature.