Wolverine: Season One

I've been a big fan of Marvel's Season One books. They were too expensive for me to buy when they were new in 2012-13. But over the past couple of years affordable copies have come on the market at used book stores and Ollie's of all places. 

Logan/Wolverine's origin has been explored to an Nth degree. There's been Wolverine: Origin, his time as in the Weapon X project in Marvel Comics Presents, and numerous looks at the mutants first days with the X-Men. But finally do I learn of Wolverine's ties to Alpha Flight!

I remember an issue of The Marvel Saga briefly mentioned on Wolverine being a member of that Canadian superhero team. But nothing further was ever explored. So I always wondered about that. For the most part, writers Ben Blacker and Ben Acker (Thrilling Adventure Hour) do an exceptional job with that. 

Though one confusion remains. In both that issue of The Marvel Saga and other books, Wolverine is shown leading heroes such as the hairy but diminutive Puck and the hairy but quite large Sasquatch. But neither character is in this book and this book covers all of Wolverine's time with Alpha Flight. So, was there a retcon? Had to be. It's the only explanation.

Speaking of explanations, I loved the why behind Wolverine's costume change from his first appearance in Hulk 180-181 to what you see in Giant-Size X-Men #1. 

Plus, if you love Wolverine's first appearances with the Hulk, you are going to love this book.

Artist Salva Espin (Deadpool) adds a level of sensuality to this book. It appears that Logan finds himself in love triangles with stuffy team leaders and brainy babes with red hair quite often! Plus that painted cover totally rocks!

This origin story wasn't what I was expecting. However, I've got no complaints as this Season One explores areas of Wolverine's life that I had always pondered. There's still some anachronisms floating around. But a large chunk of my questions into Logan's time with Alpha Flight has been answered.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Avengers: Season One

The purpose behind Marvel’s Season One was to update the origins of many of the publisher’s most popular super heroes in order to A) help appeal to a newer audience and B) put the origins more in line with the various film properties of the Marvel Universe.

But with Avengers: Season One, you don’t get a reboot of their origin. What you do get is an awesome “lost tale” of the early days of Earth’s mightiest heroes. Angered by his exile at the hands of the Avengers, Loki works his magic pitting Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America in myriad of suspicious happenings while the trio hunts for the Hulk.

Peter David is such a brilliant writer and he works his magic with the awesome tale. There’s also a preview of Avengers Assemble. I loved what I read and hated that the preview ended as quick as it did.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Thor: Season One

Sometimes I get really lucky and I find a book that I've been wanting somewhere for a steep discount. That was the case here with Thor: Season One. My library had carried a couple of the books from this Marvel series that recounts the origins of some of it's most popular character's while giving them a modern twist and I enjoyed them.  Plus, I've really been getting into Thor a lot and he's grown into one of my favorite characters. So, to find this hardcover for less than $7- oh I had to jump on it!

   Here we learn what exactly got Thor in trouble with his father Odin, resulting in the Asgardian's exile to earth. We also see the early formations of the Warriors Three and experience Loki's discovery of his true heritage. But what really interested me in this story was the dynamic between Thor in his human persona of Dr. Donald Blake and his partner, Jane Foster.

   In this story, Jane is Don's equal. Both are doctors and together, they start a clinic right as Blake begins to uncover the truth of his past as Thor. Jane even knows Blake is Thor. Yet, every time Thor took over instead of Donald Blake, I kept hoping it would hurry up so we could get back to the good stuff. Yes, Donald Blake's ho-hum life as a crippled doctor was just that much more interesting to me and that my friends is a sign of great writing under the Marvel Comics banner.

   Matthew Sturges, whose work I've enjoyed in the pages of Vertigo's House of Mystery and Blue Beetle, is a master at back stories. He makes the person behind the capes and superpowers so engaging and so intriguing. That's exactly what Stan Lee did when he created the Marvel Universe over 50 years ago and I can tell from this book, that someone took notes and kept with the time-honored formula.

   The Season One books were all published in 2013. Now three years later and with Marvel's reboot of its entire universe for the first time ever, I doubt seriously that we'll ever see a Thor: Season Two. But this book was a masterpiece and is a classic that shouldn't be ignored. No matter how much you think you know the story of Thor, this book with art by Pepe Larraz (Star Wars: Kanan) will make the Norse gods new to you once again!

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Iron Man: Season One

WORTH CONSUMING!

With the success of its myriad of films, Marvel has decided to reboot the origins of many of it’s most important characters. With Iron Man 3 coming out recently, I decided to go with the origin of Tony Stark.

There’s a few changes, mostly having a former college bro turned Muslim extremist be the captor that results in Stark needing a metal chest plate to prevent his heart from being damaged by shrapnel. Oddly missing is Obadiah Stain. He figured so prominently in the first Iron Man film, yet he’s nowhere to be found trying to oust Stark from being the head of Stark Industries.

I liked the painted art-style and thought the story itself was very good. I understand why Marvel felt it needed to reboot its character's origins to reflect the films, but why omit key figures from these origins themselves. Doesn’t make sense.

Still, aside from that oversight, this book is Worth Consuming.

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars

- Spider-Man: Season One #1- FCBD 2012

This Free Comic Book Day offering from 2012 presents the first chapter of Spider-man: Season One. It’s essentially an origins tale with some retooling.

Why another reboot/ retelling of Spidey’s origin, you may ask? Well, with Marvel’s ‘Marvel Now’ reboot shifting the Marvel Universe into being more aligned with the films, it makes sense for the publisher to change things around.

This preview is just a sampler as Iron Man, Daredevil, The Fantastic Four, and others of Marvel’s best and brightest are part of the Season One line. With the changes I’ve seen in the reboot thus far, these books could be vital blueprints for navigating Marvel’s strange new world.

These books have an expensive cover price, so I’ll probably wait for them to go on sale or hit my local library.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.