By Eric Drumm
For years, the mutant known as Wolverine had no recollection of his past. Now that he can remember every day of his life, it turns out his past ain't pretty.
In a flashback to Wolvie's World War II days, writer Daniel Way has brought the feral mutant face-to-flag with the recently deceased Star-Spangled Avenger himself, Captain America. "Our War," which concludes on December 19 in WOLVERINE: ORIGINS #20, has shown the contrast between the two warriors, with Cap doing his best to keep the peace while Logan does what he does best…which isn't very nice.
Wolverine and Captain America may not seem too similar on the surface. Cap embodies the best qualities of heroism while Wolvie has no qualms about calling himself a cold-blooded killer. One might think might conclude that Logan would think Steve Rogers a gutless wimp, but Way's story has shown otherwise.
"Logan, who has always stood alone, can't help but be fascinated by—and, ultimately, have a great admiration for—this guy that, like him, was born with absolutely no power but, unlike him, became something better," explains Way. "Logan became something worse. In many ways, Logan sees Cap as the man he should've become."
Captain America and Logan may have developed a mutual, if grudging, respect in the story, but Cap's young partner Bucky has been weary and suspicious of Wolverine since they met up. Bucky doesn't look at the world through the rose colored glasses that his mentor does—does he see Logan's true nature?
"I think that Bucky sees himself in Logan, which means that he absolutely cannot be trusted," says Way. "Logan and Cap are essentially two sides of the same coin; Logan and Bucky are the same coin, period."
A story as big as the Great War itself needs a superstar artist to bring it life and Steve Dillon brings his dark yet sharp style to the WWII battlefield, filling in Wolverine's sneer and Cap's majesty amidst the beautiful mayhem. For Way, he couldn't have asked for a better partner in presenting Wolverine's untold and blood soaked past.
"I've said it before, Steve Dillon is my favorite comic book artist," beams the writer. "The man is a legend in his own time and it is an honor to work with him.
I think that this arc, in particular, really plays to Steve's strengths because Steve is a huge WWII buff, so he gets to show off his knowledge of the period, often catching anachronisms that slip by everyone else."
As any Marvel fan knows, Wolverine eventually gets captured by Weapon X and Cap turns into an ice cube in the Atlantic (sorry, spoiler alert!), so clearly this partnership in Nazi dusting can't last forever, but how the arc ends remains a mystery. Wolverine has been ordered by his own superiors to take Cap and Bucky out—he
may not be a good man, but will Logan be good enough to do the right thing?
"At this point, fans of ORIGINS have come to expect crazy, last-second twists, and 'Our War' is no different," promises Way. "But this time around, we really go for it because the final twist involves a surprise move by a certain WWII-era Marvel villain—but not the one you're thinking of!"
War is hell, and for Wolverine and Captain America it could be something far worse than that. Sink your claws into WOLVERINE: ORIGINS #20 by Daniel Way and Steve Dillon on sale December 19.
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