Wolverine 1: Prodigal Son

by Antony Johnston, Wilson Tortosa (Illustrator)

The gripping, all-new adventure of the x-men's greatest icon, comletely reimagined in the Manga style

This is not the Wolverine you know.

Logan is a teenage rebel with a real good reason for having a real bad attitude. Ever since being left in a nearby forest–with no memory of who he was or how he got there–Logan (or Wolverine, as his classmates sometimes call him) has been stuck in a martial arts school in the icy wilds of Canada. No wonder he’s bored, restless, yearning. There’s a whole world out there, and Logan can almost taste it. But he’s chained to a past he can’t remember and can’t escape. Now it just may destroy his future.

Genres: Manga, Comics, Graphic Novels, Young Adult, Adventure, Superheroes, X Men

185 pages, Paperback

First published April 7, 2009

About the author

** Sign up for Antony's newsletter at http://ajwriter.substack.com **

Antony Johnston is one of the most versatile writers of the modern era.

The Charlize Theron movie Atomic Blonde was based on his graphic novel. His murder mystery series The Dog Sitter Detective won the Barker Book Award. His crime puzzle novel Can You Solve the Murder? reinvented choose-your-own-story books for a mainstream audience and was a Waterstones Paperback of the Year. The Brigitte Sharp spy thrillers are in development for TV. And his productivity guide The Organised Writer has helped authors all over the world take control of their workload.

Antony is a celebrated videogames writer, with genre-defining titles including Dead Space, Shadow of Mordor, and Resident Evil Village to his credit. His work on Silent Hill Ascension made him the only writer in the world to have contributed to all of gaming’s ‘big three’ horror franchises.

His immense body of work also includes Marvel superheroes such as Daredevil and Shang-Chi, the award-winning Alex Rider graphic novels, the post-apocalypse epic Wasteland, and more. He wrote and directed the film Crossover Point, made entirely in quarantine during the coronavirus pandemic.

An experienced podcaster and public speaker, he also frequently writes articles on the life of an author, and is a prolific musician.

Antony is a former vice chair of the Crime Writers’ Association, a member of International Thriller Writers and the Society of Authors, a Shore Scripts screenwriting judge, and sits on the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain’s videogames committee. He lives and works in England.

Reviews

[Nathan Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty Good Book

[Greta is Erikasbuddy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Awww!!!

This book is about lil Wolvie and a martial arts school.

Seriously, as I read this I kept thinking of the "Muppet Babies" the whole time. I know... totally off the wall, but that's what I was thinking of.

While this isn't a bad comic, it's not really what I thought it would be.

The dialogue was a bit weak but I think it would be perfecto for an eleven year old. There's a tad bit of cussing but it's pretty tame. H-E-Double Hockey Sticks gets said a time or two, as does Beavis and Butt-Head's favorite name for each other.

See.. pretty tame.

What I didn't really dig about this comic was how my little Wolvie acted. Sure, he's the loaner misunderstood amnesiac dude but ummm... he sure did complain a lot. But, I guess 14 year old boys do complain a lot, I just didn't think my Wolvie should. Cuz he's my Wolvie.

I thought it was super cute how baby Gambit was there. He was adorable lolz!! Shh... I thought it was cute.

While this book isn't the bestest of the best... the drawings are very nice and I must commend the author and illustrator for putting forth the effort of adding to the fandom. That is most awesome!

Definitely, let your tween give it a whirl. I betcha they'll understand it way more than me :)

[Jostalady · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is Wolverine for tweens. He is in a sort of high school, near graduation. There is a Vincent character that is unclear if it is actually Sabertooth, as he is presumed dead.

The thing that bothered me about the way this fits into my current grasp of Wolverine's life. This says he was left on the porch of the school as an pre-teen by a Wolverine and he had no memory...!? So if Vincent is his half brother, he should have recognized him at least, eh? But it was easy to move past that and assume I just don't know enough of the story to nit pick.

[Tripmastermonkey · Rating 2 out of 5]

i don't get this whole "we made a new story about a character with no relation to the whole other body of work about this character" thing. i mean, you get to write more books. and i've never understood violent actions sequences in manga. with all those lines, am i really supposed to understand wtf is going on? we'll see if the kids at my library read it =)

[Faye Fite · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun read, some interesting characters, good art. Nothing super special, though.

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

Teenage Logan is a rebel at a martial arts school in Canada. He goes to New York with his sensei, is attacked by villains (who capture the sensei), escapes, finds his schoolmates slaughtered (except the cute girl, obviously), and it's all somehow connected to his mysterious past. It all seems so utterly obvious, and Tortosa's art is difficult to follow. It was really a chore for me to read.

[Ljfarve · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great Manga about one of my favorite characters in comics it is so good I would love to see a movie adapt this story in the mcu but I don't think they will because it is so different from Logans original style story that fans of the x men without reading this book would hate it but the story is great

[JJ Broenner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the most interesting Wolverine story I have read. A little more teenage world and constant fighting. Seemed more modern in parts but mostly because Logan is younger and things like the internet existed.

[Nick Horneij · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up when it first came out in a small book in a small town. I enjoyed the take on this manga-style wolverine as a teen and the direction it was going. It's a nice prologue to what I thought would be a cool series. Unfortunately the series was never picked up and we were left with just this one and done book, which is a shame. That's really the only reason it gets a 3 and not a 4 is due to it being unfinished.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Johnston tackles Wolverine by re-imagining the character and placing him inside a Shonen Manga-style storyline. A young Logan appears one day on the doorsteps of the Quiet Earth School, a martial arts academy hidden in the wilds of Canada. Beaten, starved and his memory totally gone, Logan quickly proves a fierce, if undisciplined, fighter just beginning to learn the full extent of his mutant powers. After two years Elliott, his sensei, realizes Logan needs greater challenges and tasks him with a difficult test with the promise that Elliott will take Logan to New York City should he succeed. Needless to say, Logan passes with flying colors. What starts as a pleasure trip to the big city quickly turns to danger; Elliott is kidnapped by a legion of ninjas who seem to know a great deal about Logan’s past. Logan sets out on a quest to both save his mentor and reclaim his own history. The Manga-inspired artwork supplied by Tortosa works well with Johnston’s story; the fast-paced action panels fill the pages with violence, but Tortosa manages to convey the excitement without too much blood and gore. The contemporary setting, along with some other details, will likely irk X-Men purists obsessed with continuity. But that’s not the point of this book. Bringing Wolverine into a new world separate from the sprawling histories of the Marvel Universe not only makes Wolverine more accessible to new readers but also offers greater potential for fresh stories. An exciting start to a new series, only time will tell if Johnston and Tortosa can carry this through.

[Daan · Rating 3 out of 5]

De Wolverine van de X-Men films, wie kent hem niet? Nou, ik.
Hoe dan ook, dit was mijn eerste manga/graphic novel die ik las en ik moet zeggen dat het erg wennen was en lastig om erin te komen. En toen ik eenmaal in het boek zat, was het uit. Zo dun is het.
Ook komen er veel vechtscenes in voor, en ik vond heel veel scènes heel onduidelijk. Ik kon nou niet echt uitmaken wat er gebeurde.
Desondanks heb ik wel erh genoten van dit dunne boekje, en is het artwork heel erg mooi. Ook is de verhaallijn leuk en spannend, maar ook iets te kort naar mijn idee.
Nu maar hopen dat ik Volume 2 ook op het Boekenfestijn kan scoren!

[Karla · Rating 3 out of 5]

This alternate storyline for Wolverine is done in the style of Japanese manga. While the art does convey the action/motion of traditional manga, real manga lovers may be disappointed that aside from the style of the art, the book is formatted like an American comic--front to back and right to left.

That being said, the storyline, in which Wolverine is a young student, raised by the master of the "Quiet Earth" dojo, is interesting and left me wanting more. The last page assured me that I could have just that, in Wolverine: Prodigal Son, Volume 2.

[Saniya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wolverine was kinda nice. I really don't know what I was expecting from this book but as far as I can sum up, I liked it.
The story was interesting, though not everything was explained clearly but this book can be read as a time pass because its good (the art or drawings, are nice too) and I didn't see any volume 2 cover or any reviews till now.
Just borrow it from your library or friends, or if you are really interested in buying this book then you can because its really not that bad. Rated, 3.5/5 stars :)

[Phobean · Rating 2 out of 5]

Marvel is always REMAKING ITSELF! WOW!, which makes me roll my eyes. That said, the illustrations are compelling in this manga style graphic novel following a very moody, not-that-self-aware Wolvie as a teenager. Art & script are fine, if a mite lack-luster due to dragging that old storyline along (despite the claims, of course.) Pacing was predictable: figure out what's going on, emotional explosion, fight, *repeat! Still, I'm game. I'll read more Wolvie teen just to see how he turns out (or when he disappears to become Weapon X, or whatever.)

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is only the second manga-style book I've read, so I'm still getting accustomed to some of the graphic conventions. I liked a lot of the art in this; the characters had a nice look to them, and the males weren't too terribly effeminate. Logan/Wolverine was more like a junior version of the movie character than many of the too-grizzled comic book versions I've seen; he's cute. Nice little story, a fairly-typical coming-of-age plot, but rather well-done.

[Roy Hudson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had previously read a manga about Batman, and I found this Wolverine manga at a flea market for 50 cents Sunday. I bought it and read it in one sitting. It was good, but unlike the Batman manga, it was not self-contained. I don't know that I'd actively seek out the sequel for a conclusion to the story, as it was not great, and as such, I don't feel comfortable giving it anything above 3 stars. Worth a read, but only if you're willing to see a new and different take on the character's origins.

[Krystl Louwagie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wolverine was funny and drawn well, but most of the others seemed pretty flat, personality, story-wise, and character drawing concept. Also, this is probably just personal preference, but I hate it when anime/manga females has big lips. It looks weird. Speaking of women, the mean interest in this one is absolutely horrible, overreacting-wise especially-I know that's typical of this genre, but that isn't a part I like about it.

[Candice M (tinylibrarian) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Refreshing look at Wolverine. This is an alternate, manga version of Wolverine as a teen but with some recognizable elements (like he still calls people "bub," heh). Great art, dialogue and plot. Is a nice crossover item for those who like Marvel comics but haven't explored the world of manga, and vice versa.

[Elaina · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of my review books for my job in a junior high library.

An exciting and refreshing start to a new series, this manga version of Wolverine as a teen still has some familiar elements. A decent narrative, combining typical coming-of-age material with action, works to a satisfactory effect. However, it is the dynamic illustrations that really makes the book excel.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I suppose this story wasn't awful. The worst thing I can say about it is that it was boring. A paint by numbers action movie with a protagonist who barely resembled Marvel's Wolverine at all and a two-dimensional original supporting cast. There's nothing here for a Marvel fan to get excited about, and it just doesn't stand up well enough as an independent story to be worth it for non-fans.

[Sara I · Rating 3 out of 5]

Certainly a different view of the Wolverine story, I liked it thought. It was exciting and interesting. There is mystery going on *winks* And although it isn't really manga (it reads regular) I still thought it was okay and it didn't bug me that much. And there was a slight bit of language and some violence.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really different look at the origins of Wolverine. The artist's representation of the character I feel goes a long way in enabling the reader to separate this work from some of the more familiar story lines.

[Tyson · Rating 4 out of 5]

My review here.

[Robert Mclean · Rating 3 out of 5]

i would read part two IF IT EXISTED.
also average.

[Yuiko · Rating 4 out of 5]

So much action from page one woooh!! I pretty much liked it alot!! Im so giving this book to a friend!

[Nessa [October Tune] · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual rating: 3,5

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

so far it reminds me of Cirque du freak
but more like the later books.
Right now I guess Wolverine has to save this guy and maybe get the dudes daughter!!

[~Cyanide Latte~ · Rating 3 out of 5]

[REVIEW TO COME LATER UPON RE-READ.]

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the best retelling of the Wolverine story but the artwork was well done.