Kieron Gillen was the last person I thought would tackle a story like this, but now, after reading Origin II #1, its hard to image anyone else delivering this emotional, and effecting of a first issue. Gillen and Kubert take the expectations and preconceived notions that readers have regarding a story like this and deliver not only a pitch perfect Wolverine, but a master class in comic book storytelling. Though less sophisticated readers may cry foul that its not as violent as a "true" Wolverine story should be, they would be remiss skipping Origin II #1. Gillen isn't interesting in giving into what's easy when it comes to writing Wolverine, instead he throws himself into the story with aplomb, delivering a stellar first issue and what looks to be a worthy sequel. Read Full Review

While both series are well crafted, I'm still not convinced it's to the good of the character - but if you don't mind losing some of the mystery, and if the throwback "clear cover" doesn't put you off, then this is well worth buying. Read Full Review

For my money's worth, Origin II is a great start. Its not the best it could have been, and some things felt underdeveloped, such as the Lone Wolf, but overall, this was a solid read. Read Full Review

Origin II #1 isn't overly ambitious, choosing to slowly reacquaint readers with this younger Wolverine in one of the more quiet periods in his long life. But the quiet approach also yields some heartfelt emotion and drama. If Gillen can make us care this much about bears and wolves, what can he do with the story once Logan re-enters civilization? It's a promising start for this mini-series. Read Full Review

I went into the issue with not much as far as hopes and have come out of it intrigued as to what's to come. Hopefully what we'll see won't be wedged into “X” continuity and like this first issue a natural flow of events as if this was always Wolverine's known history, one we just weren't familiar with. Read Full Review

The opening issue of Origin II may not be quite as good as the opening of Origin, but it is still a terrific issue, and if Gillen and Kubert continue to produce this level of work they could easily surpass the quality of the first series. Read Full Review

This issue was more of a character study on Wolverine than an origin story than anything else. The art is amazing and carries most of the narration so visual readers will really enjoy this issue. The story is fairly simple but it shows who Wolverine really is in a very pure and concentrated way. The plot may have been a bit lacking for something that will be part of a larger arc, but this issue had enough character development to still make progress in the overall scheme of the arc. Read Full Review

My only problem with this book was the cover price, $4.99 is high for a book with 26 pages of story with 2 pages of extras. The extra cost seems to be for the fancy acetate cover, while it looks great its not worth the extra cost. If you can get the book at a reasonable price like in my LCS where they were doing it on offer for 1euro its worth picking up or else get it from Comixology. Read Full Review

Really the biggest problem with the book is the price tag. Yeah, this is “a big event” where Marvel could feel free to inflate the price, but what does that get us? There's one page of developmental work, with an excerpt from Gillen's script and Kubert's process, but that's only one page in a bonus section full of a cover gallery that I could look up online and an excerpt from “Origin” which I already read (and even if I didn't, wow thanks for spoiling me the first issue's big twist.) The story itself might be worth the price of this was from a future issue, but it feels a lot more like “Origin II: Prologue” than a chapter one. Again, there's nothing wrong with that, but it might relegate “Origin II” to being a better read as a trade than in floppies. Read Full Review

As far as the art goes, a different Kubert brother (Adam this time), is on the art chores and although the art is pretty, it lacked that painted feel that the first series brought. Previous colorist Richard Isanove gave that series what I felt was a distinct and mature look. Origin II's colorist Frank Martin does a great job, particularly towards the end of the issue, but to me it just didn't stand out as much. Only the acetate cover really stood out for me as making this more than just another Wolverine book. I'm on board for the remainder of this series as I have faith in this creative team. But, they only have four issues left to have this book be a worthy successor to the original Origin. Read Full Review

I'm still not sold that this was a needed entree into the mysterious history of Wolverine. That being said, it was a fun read and if the other four issues deliver on the promise of the first one, the series will probably be worth picking up. Read Full Review

"Origin II" #1 certainly has its high and low points, ultimately culminating in a nice, solid piece of work. However, it's easy for a reader to set the bar a little higher for a creative team as powerful and respected as Kieron Gillen and Adam Kubert. Although this issue is a little lackluster, the story has great potential, especially with the promise of Mr. Sinister and Sabretooth's future involvement. With these names attached to the project, I have a lot of faith the run will live up to its potential; I know I'll be sticking around. Read Full Review

Gillen tells a story here that is seriously decompressed, some clever narration helps string string things along, but the story is tripped down to it's barest essentials. Adam Kubert has some good art which is necessary, since he has to drive the story. Read Full Review

Origin II needed to capture fans right out of the gate. It has failed to do so. Read Full Review

This was a fine, solid issue, but a little too light on plot for what I expected. It's not often that Marvel gets to write about Wolverine's early years, when he was a teenager or a young man. But the reason is because he apparently spent a lot of those years living as a wild man in the woods. And as poetic and beautifully drawn as that can be, it doesn't make for much of a story Read Full Review

Brutal and beautifully drawn. A solid start.

Definitely not what I was expecting but in the end I enjoyed this issue. The art is 10/10 as Adam Kubert draws British Columbia perfectly

Cover - 7.5
Story - 7.0
Art - 8.0
Lettering - 8.0
Coloring - 7.0

I give it to Marvel for bringing something different and sad, but puts you in a place you may not be ready to go.