Comics: Wolverine: Origin

Story

Wolverine’s tale is finally told – whether you wanted it or not!

So: James Howlett was the sickly son of plantation owners in 19th century Canada. He’s friends with Rose, a red-headed orphan girl, and Dog Logan, son of the groundskeeper. Tensions over James’ mother rise between the groundskeeper, Thomas, and James’s father, John Jr., until one night Thomas kills John with a shotgun. The shock of seeing his body causes James’s claws to burst free from his hands for the first time, and he kills Thomas (who may or may not be his real dad) and then flees with Rose. James’ mom kills herself moments later in front of Dog.

Anyone who’s seen the X-men Origins: Wolverine film will recognize some of this, as they used a modified version there. Apparently Paul Jenkins didn’t specify whether or not Dog was going to be Sabretooth or not, but that’s what they went with in the film.

Rose is accused of the killings by Dog, so she and James split for British Columbia, where James is given work in a quarry by the foreman, Smitty. James toughens up into something closer to the Wolverine we know, and starts hunting with wolf packs.

There’s some tension between James and Smitty over Rose (similar to the tension between Thomas Logan and John Howlett earlier in the story). Dog shows up at the end looking for James on behalf of his grandfather, and James accidentally kills Rose while fighting Dog. James loses it over this and goes feral, which is essentially where the story ends.