OPEN THREAD: Wolverine: Origins #33 & First Class #12: A Tale of Two Comics

Some issues are easy to review without giving away spoilers.

Unfortunately, ‘Wolverine: Origins’ #33 is not one of those, so…

SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT!

Wolverine: Origins #33 coverWolverine: Origins #33 (preview)
Writer: Daniel Way
Penciler: Doug Braithwaite
Inker: Bill Reinhold

I am of two minds on this issue.

There is one wonderful revelation. Genuinely wonderful revelation.

But it gets obscured, at least for me, by some serious chronological confusion that I will do my level best to chronicle.

In other words, SPOILER ALERT, WILL ROBINSON, SPOILER ALERT!

–Nick Fury suggests that the reason the Canadian government allowed Logan to work for the CIA was because the U.S. government knew about Weapon X and blackmailed the Canadian government into using Logan. But the accompanying visual shows Logan as part of Team X — BEFORE he received his adamantium at Weapon X…

–Nick Fury also talks of Frederick and Elias Hudson, the owners of the Hudson Bay Company. Slight historical problem here as the Hudson Bay Company was named for the Hudson Bay (think East India Company), not any owner named Hudson…

–The revelation of Logan’s mother is a genuine stunner and quite artfully done. Kudos to Daniel Way for pulling that one off (though the flashback suggests young James also walked in on his naked mother, apparently the mansion didn’t employ locks in the 1890s)…

–Hudson secretary Caitlyn MacDonald, however, is the revelation that causes the biggest confusion. From earlier issues in the series, it is revealed that Frederick Hudson ran the Canadian paramilitary camp from at least 1912 until approximately 1959, a staggering 47 years. And at the end of this run (as shown in ‘Wolverine: Origins’ #27), Frederick Hudson is virile enough to impregnate his secretary…

–She gives birth to Frederick Hudson II in 1960 who dies at age 30 after fathering three sons by three different women. So to be generous, all three sons are born between 1980 and 1990. One of those is Truett Hudson, the Professor from Weapon X. Another slight problem. Only five years ago in Weapon X #23, the Professor was revealed to have been a man by the name of Thornton who discovered the notes of Nathaniel Essex, the basis for Experiment X, in the final days of World War II! But even if we do take Nick Fury at his word, then Weapon X must have occurred only a few years ago for Truett would be 29 years old at present given the best of circumstances…

–Victor Hudson, the second son, is left a mystery. Guesses anyone?

–And the final son, is revealed to be James MacDonald Hudson, the man who found Logan after Weapon X, the man who created Department H and the man who founded Alpha Flight. Again having accomplished all that in the past few years before the tender age of 25.

In the next few weeks as I try to update the Wolverine chronology with the above “facts”, I will endeavor to explain away any inconsistencies. Such as Nick Fury was mistaken or willfully lied to Logan. The Professor was much like Benjamin Button and aged backwards into Weapon X. Marvel time blows chunks.

But I must give Daniel Way credit. The concept of imbuing Daken’s claws with metal from the Muramasa Blade is pretty awesome. And would make him the deadliest threat Wolverine has seen in a long time.

Wolverine: First Class #12 coverWolverine: First Class #12 (preview)
“The Substitute”
Writer: Fred Van Lente
Artist: Scott Knoblish

So why am I also reviewing ‘Wolverine: First Class’ #12?

Because for my money, Fred Van Lente is the best at creating terrific stories that respect the source material. Albeit, this is his final issue, but it is a doozy, artfully playing Wolverine and Cyclops off each other and touching an emotional nerve that is sorely lacking in ‘Wolverine: Origins’.

Plus, there is a wonderful exchange in this issue showing how Wolverine views his superhero gear as a uniform, and not a costume. It’s a very large part of the story and carries a surprising amount of weight.

And there on the first page of ‘Wolverine: Origins’ #33, Nick Fury talks about Daken wearing Wolverine’s costume. And Wolverine doesn’t bat an eye.

I know it’s a minor point, but to me, that is the difference in these two series. One is about nuances and the other is about sledgehammering home a point.

As always, please jump in with your thoughts below or join the discussion on the Wolverine Files Forum

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DiG
15 years ago

Great catch! I totally agree. Very impressive.

DF
15 years ago

Great job with WO 33 review. I left my opinions in the forum, I’d like to know what do you think about the possibility of Wild Child being Victor Hudson.

Logan
14 years ago

So what is Wolverine’s real name, this whole Hudson thing has me confused. Is it James Howlett, James Hudson, Logan Hudson, what?

15 years ago

In Origins and Endings he says that the restoration of his memories is painful and it actually causes him a lot of discomfort. It’s quite possible that it’s something that hasn’t been explored yet. And who knows if his healing factor is starting to erase his most painful memories already. That might happen down the road too. And we wonder why Logan is such a crazy bastard.

Ace couldn’t of said it any better. Bravo.

DiG
15 years ago

Ace, this is really good. You should consider posting in the forums under Origins. I agree with the challenges of the ever moving Marvel timeline, but I think writers should be clever enough to avoid using hard dates to avoid exactly these problems. And the primary reason I bring it up is that I have a sneaking suspicion that Daniel Way may have inadvertently mixed up WWI and WWII in his original timeline. Why do I think that? Well, because he originally had Winter Soldier at Jasmine Falls BEFORE World War II. So I wonder if his timeline is all… Read more »

Ace
15 years ago

It’s very possible that Daniel Way mixed up the continuity, very possible indeed. I do think there’s a bit of give and take in all of this, however. We know that Wolverine’s memories were more than a bit jumbled before he regained them, and I believe afterwords as well. I believe regaining his true memories didn’t eliminate the false ones, hence the need to go on his various journeys in Origins to confirm what’s true and what’s false. (One example of this would be how he has two sets of memories about his time in the tank at Weapon X.… Read more »

CenJermConi
14 years ago

I’m the only one in this world. Can please someone join me in this life? Or maybe death…

Jude
15 years ago

Could Victor Hudson be the blind torturer we saw whipping Daken in Wolverine: Origins #15, and later reffered to as “Victor” by Daken in Wolverine: Origins #32?

Ace
15 years ago

I have a few theories of my own in regards to Wolverine: Origins #33. I’ll go over them matching them point by point to the original post: 1) There’s a lot of give and take in regards to Wolvie’s past with Team X and Weapon X. Namely that the sliding time scale may or may not be in play. Some would say Wolverine’s time at Weapon X happened at a set time period, regardless of the time scale. For the purposes of the example, lets say the 70s. Whereas I personally believe that his time at the Weapon X project… Read more »

DiG
15 years ago

Interesting concepts as it pertains to Wolverine’s memories, but I do think the intent of ‘House of M’ was to give Wolverine his full memories back, and to eliminate all of those memory implants/false memories that had plagued the character.

Which is why the Jeph Loeb Romulus flashbacks are so irksome. They contradict known chronology without adding anything.

But what I was specifically referring to were the dates captioned in the comics (such as 1946 and 1959), which are seemingly presented as “The Truth”.

Cat
15 years ago

Especially as they are now more than ever on opposite sides.
It’s nice to know that Way isn’t bias, he’ll disregard his own chronology as much as anyone elses. Especially as he very clearly showed Wolverine with bone claws before his last Team X Mission. Going to stop now before I get my throat jumped down by the Wolverine Origin’s fans

DiG
15 years ago

Wild Child?

Well, that would work quite well except for Jeph Loeb putting him in a World War II sequence.

Ace
15 years ago

That may have been the intention, but I don’t think that’s the reality. If you read Wolverine: Origins (as well as Origins & Endings) as a whole, especially the early parts, it’s all about Logan revisiting locations from his past to try and connect the dots. Why would he need to do that if he knew the absolute truth about his past? Then factor in Loeb’s memory additions and it becomes even more apparent. That says to me that he’s looking for clarity, to distinguish between the false and the real. The very fact that he needs to confirm details… Read more »

DiG
14 years ago

His birth name is James Howlett.

Currently and much like Sting or Bono, he goes by Logan.

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