{"id":12230,"date":"2014-07-30T08:10:54","date_gmt":"2014-07-30T08:10:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=12230"},"modified":"2014-08-16T14:30:07","modified_gmt":"2014-08-16T14:30:07","slug":"origin-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2014\/07\/30\/origin-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"Origin II"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nBy Kieron Gillen<\/strong>, Adam Kubert<\/strong> & Frank<\/strong> Martin <\/strong>(Marvel\/Panini UK)
\nISBN: 978-1-84653-590-1<\/p>\n

After years of mystery and imagination, in 2001 the perennially punching-above-his-weight feral fury Wolverine<\/em> was finally accorded a definitive back-story in the miniseries Origin: the True Story of Wolverine<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The Canadian Wildman had captivated audiences from his earliest appearances in the X-Men<\/strong> comics, and did it all over again for a far larger audience in his movie incarnation, but the story when it came did not please or satisfy everyone.<\/p>\n

Now writerKieron Gillen, artist Adam Kubert and colourist Frank Martin have collaborated on in-filling the next chapter and their 5-part miniseries Origin II<\/strong> (February to July 2014) makes an extremely appetising if perhaps controversial titbit to add to the canonical menu\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

In Canada at the turn of the 19th<\/sup> century, 12 year old Rose<\/em> was hired as the companion of sickly child James Howlett<\/em>, on the palatial estate of his wealthy grandfather. Among the servants she befriended an all but feral child called Logan<\/em>, abused son of the estate groundskeeper and general handyman.<\/p>\n

Tragedy occurred one night as a murder-suicide shattered the uneasy stability of the gothic estate forever, forcing Rose and the Wolverine-to-be to flee for their lives. For years they lived life on the run, eventually settling in a quarrying camp where the harsh conditions and physical toil rapidly matured the sickly mutant.<\/p>\n

However even here the repercussions of the Howlett Estate tragedy inevitably found them leading to a final, appalling confrontation in which a hasty unplanned unsheathing of bone claws cost Rose her life\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

A few years later: It’s 1907 in the icy wilds of Canada. A man more beast than human runs with the wolves, fully accepted by the pack as one of them. Their harsh but happy life is destroyed however when a colossal white bear enters the territory. The creature doesn’t know how to eat like other bears and inexorably tracks the pack to its den before destroying the cubs.<\/p>\n

The Wolfish Man’s peace of mind is shattered and after almost dying in killing the beast an even greater tragedy begins. The loss of his family has forced the not-wolf to start thinking again\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

The Polar Bear was no unhappy wanderer, but introduced by men into the unfamiliar wilderness. Now showman Hugo Haversham<\/em>, the trapper Creed<\/em> and his disfigured woman Clara<\/em> are scouring the icy wastes for other potentially profitable attractions. Creed and Clara share some strange secret; and react badly when their erstwhile employer – creepy English scientist Dr. Nathaniel Essex<\/em> – turns up in the frozen frontier town.<\/p>\n

He clearly knows something of her amazing affinity with animals and Creed’s uncanny healing abilities and is very angry that the entrepreneur has appropriated the butchered bear carcass for his circus show\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Haversham knows a dangerous rival when he sees one, too, and takes the first opportunity to leave when Creed announces they are heading out.<\/p>\n

The scientist continues his own endeavours, using his paramilitary \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Marauders<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to disseminate a poison gas of his own devising in the deep woods, intent on finding what killed his white bear\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

The tactic proves disastrous as the fumes drive a bizarre clawed aborigine to attack and butcher the gas-masked Marauders. Moreover the attacker seems utterly immune to the deadly vapours\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Essex’s remaining men pursue, driving the furious wild man straight into Creed’s traps. Although the snares don’t stand up to his claws, the human beast is helpless against Clara’s uncanny calming influence. To cruel Creed’s mounting fury the connection seems to be mutual\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Soon, suitably caged, the Clawed Man of the Woods<\/em> is the star attraction of Hugo the Great’s Travelling Circus<\/em>. Regularly tortured and baited by Creed and fawned upon by Clara, the no-longer mute beast-man has only one thought in his head: the sight of another beloved blond girl dying on his claws\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Essex is still in the picture too: following the show and trying to buy the feral exhibit for his ongoing experiments. When his frustrated patience finally expires so does Hugo – thanks to Essex’s gas – leaving the rapid-healing Clawed Man to undying agonies on the sinister scientist’s vivisection tables\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

When all hope seems lost, Clara, having convinced Creed to help, breaks her new pet out and the trio flee into the night. Thanks to the torture – or perhaps Clara’s devotion – the poor, benighted creature who now calls himself Logan<\/em> has begun to speak again\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

A month later the fugitives are starving in New York City and Creed has had enough. He is not there when Essex’s men try to capture Clara’s wild lover and does not see history tragically, bloodily repeat itself\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

He does however join the heartbroken, traumatised Logan in going after Essex, whilst happily concealing the true nature and extent of Clara’s powers\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

The man who will be Mr. Sinister<\/em> is unrepentant and working on his next project: an impossibly tempting solution that can lobotomise the imbiber and eradicate all painful memories\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

The saga ends in more horrific score-settling before Logan escapes into the night and into history, but this tales still has a couple of shocking twists to reveal\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Brutal, visceral and compulsive; cleverly laying as much intriguing groundwork for future stories as answering long-asked questions, Origin II<\/strong> is a superior yarn that will delight true aficionados of the complex Canadian crusader and this engaging tome also includes an impressive covers-&-variants gallery by Kubert & Martin, Salvador Larroca & David Ocampo, Steve Leiber, Salva Espin & Pete Pantazis and Skottie Young.<\/p>\n