| 08.04.2012 – Wolverine is an iconic character who first appeared in the Giant X-Men #1 comic book along with new members of the mutants. He’s Canadian only known for the name Logan and practically everyone has known already his real name James Howlett revealed in the Origin graphic novel written by Bill Jemas, Joe Quesada, and Paul Jenkins.
The art was illustrated by Andy Kubert with colors by Richard Isanove which was released originally as a mini-series from 2001-2002. |
We discover about Wolverine more in the Marvel Universe but what if they re-invented the character in a different light?
Sometimes the idea works and there are times it never gets sold thus we talk about Wolverine: Prodigal Son #1 written by Antony Johnston and illustrated by “Battle of the Planets” artist Wilson Tortosa. The book was published under Del Rey in Manga book format released sometime in 2009.
Johnston re-tells Wolverine’s origin like any anime induced character who grew up as a teenage rebel who was raised at the Quiet Earth School for younger people. It’s a dojo owned by Mr. Elliot who adopted him when he was left at the door as a young boy. Much like any origin premise Logan has no idea of his past or his origins. Surrounded by a new cast of characters that are straight from a Japanese anime series that you won’t recognize save that it’s a Wolverine manga.
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Wilson Tortosa’s artwork is what sells this book but it will depend now if it caters to the fans of mass medium that has popularly adored the character. Wolverine now has spun into a popular icon since its first appearance in 1975 and at the same month this was released X-Men Origins: Wolverine was hitting the big screen.
Story wise we will never know what happened since the second book wasn’t release due to poor sales. You put Wolverine in a different setting it’s a hit or miss.
The art work done by Wilson Tortosa was beautifully done and there’s no question why the “Battle of the Planets” revival was a phenomenal hit with long-time fans that followed the original Japanese anime series. Rarely would you see Wilson do western related work since his art style is more Japanese influence hence his popularity grew when he did Battle of the Planets.
Overall Prodigal Son is a hit and misses which basically did not click with long-time fans that followed the character since its inception to the X-Men roster.
Probably in another time and place experimenting with a popular character re-told in a different setting of origin needs to be thoroughly researched. It was a great concept with regards to the story but it fell through the cracks.
The consolation is the illustrations are superbly done and Wilson Tortosa delivered the goods hoping we see more of his work once again we’ll find out soon enough.
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