Wolverine: Origins Volume 4 - Our War TPB (Paperback)

by Daniel Way (Author), Steve Dillon (Author), Kaare Andrews (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Wolverine's history with Captain America revealed! In the early days of WWII, before America's "official" involvement in the war, Captain America, still wet behind the ears, embarked on a clandestine mission to the island nation of Madripoor. Guess who he met there? And guess what? It wasn't a coincidence. Collects Wolverine: Origins #16-20 and Annual #1.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Marvel Comics; Marvel Premiere Ed edition (June 25, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0785126147
• ISBN-13: 978-0785126140
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 6.6 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #394,196 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Captain America saves the day! (...and the story!), September 16, 2008

By	Chris (USA) - See all my reviews

Something I've never asked myself: Is Wolverine still a cool character without the claws? The new Wolverine Origins series attempts to answer this question. He has personality, that's for sure. But when you take away the animal-like claw warfare, the cool adamantium skeleton storylines, and some of the other attributes that we take for granted with one of the most popular mutants in existence -- Is Wolverine just a cliched beer-swigging rabble-rouser? After the first chapter collected in this TPB, my answer was yes. But then.... out of the blue... (cue Team America theme song) Captain America saved the day! Not just in the storyline, but yes, Captain America, along with his sidekick Bucky -- who sometimes feel too much like the Ambiguously Gay Duo -- saved this TPB.

The story begins with Wolverine - surprise, surprise - swigging beer at a memorial to Captain America. This conveniently begins his flashbacks to the times he served with ol' Cap. The first story involves Steve Rogers and Logan under cover trying to save Natalia Romanova, who would later be known as the Black Widow, from Elektra's infamous ninja group -- The Hand. It seems 1941 was a good year for any superhero or villain with a youth serum to meet. Not only does this TPB bring Logan face-to-face with Cap, Bucky and Black Widow, but he also meets Nick Fury, Baron Zemo, and even his classic rival, Sabretooth. The first story has a lot of action, but little substance. I was almost ready to call this book a dud after the first chapter, but it did start to pick up thanks to Cap and Bucky.

The later chapters involve Cap's first days as a soldier on the frontlines of WW2. Logan and Nick Fury meet up with the star-spangled duo and it's here that the book started to pull me in. Even though the book is called Wolverine Origins it might as well have been called Captain America Origins because it explores a lot of his early fights and even his doubts as to whether or not he's cut out to lead troops. Steve Rogers is suffering from an inferiority complex with the memories of his unfit-for-combat-scrawny-self still fresh in his memory. Logan actually starts to develop a deep sense of respect for Cap and his humble attitude, along with a sharp loathing for Bucky who might be the most fearsome ambiguously gay sidekick in WW2 history. Pulling from Brubaker's Captain America books, Bucky is revealed as the cold-hearted assassin of the patriotic duo, the guy who does the dirty work so that Captain America can shine.

The team of future superheroes all eventually meet in a headquarters that is the meeting point for the early days of H.Y.D.R.A. Unfortunately for Cap and Bucky, Wolverine still has mixed loyalties at this point and events don't turn out quite the way everyone wanted although it does reveal Logan's early conscience, something that Professor X and the X-Men will eventually bring out as he gets older. The last story in this TPB is from the Wolverine Origins Annual and explores the sexy enigma of Seraph, as well as the numerous conspiracy theories involving Wolverine's past and a mysterious figure named Romulus. It's enough to make Wolverine interesting and possibly persuade you to dig into Logan's early origins even more.

While the story had its up and downs, sad to say, the art by Steve Dillon (known for Preacher) was a distraction through much of this story. He draws regular characters just fine but it seems he has a problem getting down superhero types. In some ways, all his characters still had that bucktooth white trash look he became famous for in the Preacher series. This doesn't always mix well with icons such as Captain America and Wolverine. At some points, I wasn't sure I liked this book, but this TPB might be one of the better story arcs in the Wolverine Origins series. Definitely recommended for anyone who wants to further explore the early origins of some of Marvel's longest lasting characters.

4.0 out of 5 stars I'd give it a 3.5, if I could..., June 18, 2009

By	Joe Sixpack -- Slipcue.com (...in Middle America) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

"Wolverine: Origins Volume 4 - Our War"
(Marvel Comics, 2009)
By Daniel Way, Steve Dillon & Kaare Andrews
---------------------------------------------------
This was on okay collection, featuring a 4-issue WWII-era story arc in which Wolverine first meets and battles beside Captain America, on a secret, pre-Pearl Harbor mission in the Northern African desert. There are a lot of familiar notes in the script, mainly the pretentious aura of awe that surrounds both Cap and Wolvie these days. I wasn't wowed by the art, from the Vertigo-line's Steve Dillon -- his art's steadfast flatness lends itself well to irony-drenched titles such as "Hellblazer" and "Preacher"; on a more conventional action/superhero title, it leaves the reader cold and emotionally distanced from the characters... It was hard to care about what I read because it had little visceral emotion.

Anyway, this book was alright... The modern ret-con surrounding Cap's sidekick Bucky intensifies as we see how so early in the game Bucky was already a super-bad secret agent guy, basically Captain America's "handler," and privvy to mission details that were kept from Cap himself. Similarly, it was fun to see a young Nick Fury, in his pre-Howlin' Commando days... I wouldn't mind his past being plumbed further in a few more retcon adventures like this. (Joe Sixpack, ReadThatAgain book reviews)

4.0 out of 5 stars A better man than I..., July 26, 2008

By	Erica Tyler-haw - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I really enjoyed this collection. I am a long time wolverine fan so I admit i am a bit bias when it comes to my favorite Canadian. This story arc shows Wolverine at the Cap's memorial after his assasination and follows a flashback sequence of when Wolverine first met Captain America and Bucky. There is not much in the way of revelations, but it is a nice view into the familar: Wolverine is a killer, he is receiving orders from some shadowy figure off stage, and he ends up doing what he does best. It also shows the reader Captain America when he was just starting out. Captain America is shown as the gentleman and hero he would later be idolized as. The artwork is nice also. I would recommend borrowing this from your local library, but it you're a collector have at it.