7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An above average Logan mini-series., November 8, 2008
This review is from: Wolverine: Logan (Hardcover)
No, it's not mind-blowing. Yes, pretty much every possible angle has been done on "untold" Logan tales from the past. Yes, this falls into that category.
Is it bad? One star bad? Absolutely not. BKV does his own take on the "untold" Logan story, and it's quite good. It's definitely an above average three issue story with Vaughan's fingerprints all over it. BKV's angle is different than any other writer's take on the young Logan story, and I for one found it to be very good. Not great, not bad, very good.
As for the art, again, I personally enjoyed it. Risso's style works very well with BKV's story. Some may not like the art because it's a bit... wild, untamed, even muted and subdued at times. To me, however, that fit well with the atmosphere of the writing, the character of Logan, and the environment and characters in the story. But, to each her own.
Everyone is entitled to her own opinion. However, I do feel like I have to rebut the other reviewer here for undue and unduly harsh criticism in regards to two things. One, this story is not bland or forgettable. On the contrary, bland is the last thing I would call it. (Also, there is use of tension, emotion and psychology at work in the writing here as well.) Instead, the word to be used is "subdued." The topic of the book is depressing, the colors often muted, and the whole story line is very low key and thoughtful. Those elements do not make this story "bland," they make it subdued, and it's obvious that the creators went to a great deal of effort to do so.
Second, calling the rest of the book "useless filler" is another undue criticism. Most people are interested in reading the original script pages and seeing the original preliminary art work. It adds to the layers of depth and understanding that went into the work. These extras show the pre-production process that occurs between the writer and artist, and they help to show aspiring or current artists and writers in the field how the process works. So calling this "useless filler" is way too harsh.
In sum, this book may not be for everyone. The $13.59 price tag is a bit high for three issues; it would probably be worth waiting for the trade paperback (
Wolverine: Logan TPB (Wolverine)) to be released. It's not BKV's best work, but it's very good. It's not the seminal Wolverine back story because all of those were written a long time ago. Instead it's another above average "untold" Logan story that begins from before his time as Wolverine, but one written by BKV. For a BKV or Logan completionist, this may not be at the top of your list, but it deserves to be somewhere on it.
This story does not deserve the harsh criticism that some people give it. "Muted," "understated," and "subdued" is the style of this story. Some people do not get that subtlety or dislike it and simply think it's bland. Some people don't like getting extra script pages and character design extra features and think that kind of stuff is a waste. If you are one of these people, this might not be for you. Personally, I pensively enjoyed this little tome.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Bomb Ain't My Mother, She's Just the Girl Who Made Me A Man, November 14, 2008
This review is from: Wolverine: Logan (Hardcover)
This is an ambitious little book -- an attempt by Brian K. Vaughan to add something new to the story of Logan. In a nutshell, during WWII Logan was taken as a Japanese POW, escaped with an American soldier, and fell in love with a Japanese woman in a little known place named Hiroshima. Then there's the parallel story, which takes place in present-day Hiroshima where Wolverine faces down an old foe, what appears to be a burning shadow that's risen from the stained ground.
It's actually a little heartbreaking, and Vaughan gives us a tender, vulnerable side of Logan I honestly can't remember seeing before. My one complaint is that I wish it were longer, that it had a chance to experiement a little more and dive deeper into it all.
There's probably not too many "new" directions Wolverine can be taken, but it's nice to see someone like Vaughan trying. This is a pretty gutsy attempt at showing us a different side of Logan than we're used to, and for the most part works.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Wolverine becomes a Man, December 12, 2011
This review is from: Wolverine: Logan (Hardcover)
Collecting: Logan 1-3 (miniseries)
Bonus Material: Scripts & sketch gallery
Synopsis:
Wolverine and an American with similar healing powers are POWs in World War II Japan. They escape and run into a beautiful Japanese girl. The American wants to kill her, but Wolverine stops him and so begins a grudge that the GI would hold against Wolverine for the next 60 years. Their feud might have ended in 1945, except it was interrupted by the atomic blast at Hiroshima which happens to fall practically on top of the fighting mutants. The graphic novel sets up the double entendre that Wolverine becomes a man both through the passionate night with Atsuko and through the nuclear flames of war.
Pros & Cons:
The dichotomy drawn between Wolverine and the truly feral US GI works well because in this contrast we are shown the merciful and rational side of wolverine (who is famous for his rage). Moreover we are given an original Wolverine story with a powerful choice to be made at the end. Vaughn and Risso also leave Wolverine's decision about whether to keep the memory and the pain or to forget artfully ambiguous.
For a book with such a nuanced Wolverine, I was a bit disappointed by the "bad guy." The nemesis is a totally warped, racist, gung ho American GI (who also has a healing factor). While I get it that the Japanese tortured and experimented on him and thus makes him crazy, the GI character never gets beyond a two dimensional comic book villain. I can't say exactly how the villain could have been done better, but against a wonderfully complex Wolverine it seems as though the story would have worked just as well if not better without the enemy GI.
Summary:
I believe this is one of the better Wolverine history episodes ever written. There are plenty of pre-x-men wolverine tales, but few of them render a whole person. Even a reader new to Wolverine mythology will find much to enjoy.
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