Wolverine: Origins

I read Wolverine Origins: Born in Blood by Daniel Way and Steve Dillon.

The art put me off - lots of fighting, all very static, and most of the characters seemed to have the same face.

That being said, the story was rather interesting - with the flaw that nothing gets resolved, except that Wolverine gets even more angry and depressed. But at least now I know the origins of his son, and it's nice to know it's Silver Fox's kid. I liked the inclusion of Dum Dum Dugan (an old favourite from Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos days), and the secret voice on the phone directing the President, and the inclusion of Captain America - I liked the way Wolverine couldn't just cut him down, and Cap proves he can fight the toughest there is. I liked it that Cap calls Wolvie "punk", shades of Clint Eastwood, though I thought: "Shouldn't that be 'runt'?"

And I particularly liked the use of Emma Frost, prying (with a reasonable lack of success) into Wolverine's subconscious. Wolvie gives Scott Summers the only weapon that can kill him, with instructions to use it as necessary - cool. Very cool.

The story had too much violence for my tastes, but still had lots of interesting psychological material that further deepens Logan's tragic story.

Wolverine: Evolution

I read Wolverine: Evolution, Black and White Edition by Jeph Loebs and Simone Bianchi. Good art; interesting layouts.

I really like Jeph Loebs style with dialogue, though I was somewhat less impressed with story structure and plot. Basically, here, Wolverine fights Sabretooth, while fighting a parallel battle in his own mind regarding mysterious dreams or memories of wolf-men called The Lupine. And the fight takes him to Wakanda, where Storm is Queen.

Now, I like Storm. Her story is all over the place; I like her as a pairing with Wolverine (or Gambit, or Forge), but not so much with T'Challa, so I've been avoiding everything that has anything to do with her Wakandan marriage. This is the first glimpse I've had of it. T'Challa was as boring as always, but there was some nice African design on the panels he appeared in.

As with many graphic novels in the ongoing narrative of Marvel, nothing much gets resolved, and more questions are raised than answers.

Quote of the book: Captain America turns up. (In Africa? Well, why not?) Wolverine narrates:

Yeah, I know, you never expected him. Me either, if that matters.... But that's him, alright. The sentinel of liberty. Let freedom ring, flag boy.

Intimate dinners...

My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four. Unless there are three other people. - Orson Welles

Change...

Writer's Block for today: If you could change one major thing about your life, whether a relationship, your job, your living situation, your school, etc., what would it be? Are you currently working toward a serious life transition?

I'd like to have a paying job. I'd like to have money coming in.

And yes, I'm doing things to rectify the situation. Part-time, free-lance, applying for full-time jobs, planning to take a course, all of that.

Wish me luck.