Wolverine - Prodigal Son review

[Doc Beechler]

For some reason, I'm getting more and more into manga lately. Kenshin Rurouni, Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, Mail, 20th Century Boys...I'm finding the tricks and story techniques different from the big two and it's been a lot of fun.

Anyway, Antony Johnston (a British writer who has done work I've liked at Oni) and Filipino artist Wilson Tortosa are the team behind this new Wolverine series. You have to know absolutely nothing about the Logan of the mainstream Marvel universe or the film version to enjoy this book. In Prodigal Son, Logan is a 14 year old (by best guess) orphan who lives and trains in the Quiet Earth School for Young People "somewhere in Canada". It's a martial arts school run by Mr. Elliot, a kind-but-tough teacher. He found Logan as a toddler on his doorstep years before. Li'l Logan was actually being watched over by a real wolverine (Mowgli-style). Mr. Elliot has a daughter, Tamara, who not so secretly pines for Logan.
Logan has the same powers and the same hair...but there is no adamantium and the claws are the bone-type.

Logan wants to see the world outside of Quiet Earth and it's when he and Mr. Elliot take a trip to NYC that the story really starts moving. It seems a former student known to both has joined forces with a shady organization that knows all about Logan's origins...and they want him back. It's a great start to what, hopefully, will be a long series of books. I appreciate the fact that Logan is the only character from the X-universe in the book. There are no manga-versions of Xavier, Jean, Magneto, Creed, etc...at least there weren't in this volume. Del Rey and Marvel have another series coming soon which does feature more of the X-Men...so Kitty, Beast, and Nightcrawler fans, keep an eye out for those.

I give this four SNIKTS! out of five.