X-Men: Original Sin

X-Men Legacy (2008) (Collected Editions)

by Mike Carey, Daniel Way, Scot Eaton (Illustrator)

After his bruising encounter with Cyclops and Emma Frost, Professor X is forced to revisit the biggest challenge and the biggest failure of his career: Logan. But the layers of lies hide one last, deadly secret which goes back to the days of the X-Men's founding - and the Professor's timing couldn't possibly be worse! Collects X-Men: Legacy #217-218, Wolverine: Origins #28-30, and X-Men Original Sin One-Shot.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, X Men, Comic Book, Superheroes, Fiction

144 pages, Paperback

First published February 11, 2009

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Mike Carey was born in Liverpool in 1959. He worked as a teacher for fifteen years, before starting to write comics. When he started to receive regular commissions from DC Comics, he gave up the day job.

Since then, he has worked for both DC and Marvel Comics, writing storylines for some of the world's most iconic characters, including X-MEN, FANTASTIC FOUR, LUCIFER and HELLBLAZER. His original screenplay FROST FLOWERS is currently being filmed. Mike has also adapted Neil Gaiman's acclaimed NEVERWHERE into comics.

Somehow, Mike finds time amongst all of this to live with his wife and children in North London. You can read his blog at www.mikecarey.net.

Reviews

[Sam Quixote · Rating 2 out of 5]

To no-one’s surprise but his own (and only then for contrived dramatic purposes), Daken discovers that he’s Wolverine’s son. Apparently the bone claws and healing factor weren’t big enough clues! Some baddies kidnap Daken so Logan and Xavier set out to rescue him.

X-Men: Original Sin is a messy and pointless crossover arbitrarily forced into Daniel Way’s Wolverine Origins series. The storytelling is awkward at best. Xavier’s apparently back from the dead and walking around on his miraculously uncrippled legs without any explanation nor is it clear how and why Wolverine and Daken got separated after the opening scene. One minute they’re hijacking a pickup truck in the country, the next they’re in the city and Daken’s been kidnapped! Such is the jumbled nature of crossovers.

Also for no reason Mister Sinister is a woman who’s psychically trying to mind-control Daken into being the muscle for Sebastian Shaw’s takeover of The Hellfire Club. Except Shaw’s strong enough to bend adamantium so that whole subplot doesn’t make any sense! And the “original sin” of the title refers to when Xavier used Logan’s conditioning as a weapon when they first met, or something - it’s a tenuous connection at best to what’s going on with Daken and only further highlights the unnecessary nature of this book.

I really liked Mike Deodato’s cool artwork, particularly that flashback scene to Wolverine’s first Marvel appearance as a Hulk villain. The Daniel Way issues are readable too. Mostly though, X-Men: Original Sin is an unmemorable and poorly conceived spinoff that nobody, even those reading Way’s Wolverine Origins series, need bother with.

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Its a fun volume and has Logan save his son Daken after he is taken by Shaw. He finds Professor X and we learn of the first time he met him and then the brainwash and all and further dark secrets between them. In the present he wants him to come with him to rescue his son. First they go after Hellfire club, the new one and take them out and then learn about Shaw and the new Ms Sinister ad how they are involved and then the battle happens and secrets are revealed whose behind it all. They have their mission now: Take out Romulus! This was an okayish volume and had some weird moments but then again gives great moment of introspection between Wolverine and Professor X! The art was great, dark and broody and the action scenes mind blowing!

[Sud666 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Original Sin collects:
X-Men: Original Sin One-Shot
X-Men Legacy #217-218
Wolverine: Origins #28-30

I had read this collection before in the Collection of Way's run. But it is still a nice re-read of this series. This is the story of how Professor X and Logan teamed up to try to help Daken, Logan's son, survive the clutches of the Hellfire Club and to deal with Daken's hatred of Logan, since he blames his father for killing his mother.
The story is good, and so is the art. If you've not read the entire Way run then this volume will whet your appetite for the entire series.

[Gavin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the fleshed out version of a storyline that's been building in the Wolverine:Origins books, and this is a very good version of that story. It rests fully on the mutual history shared by Charles Xavier and Wolverine. Both have done many things they're not proud of, but Wolverine needs X to help him save Daken, and he won't take no for an answer.
Luckily this book doesn't totally take Daken and tame him either, which would be a shame.
The art is solid, Wolverine's dimensions expand even further, and there's a step forward in his character. Prof. X also grows somewhat, and is far more interesting here than in his wheelchair bound know-it-all we usually have seen in years gone by.

For me it was very good, but I've got the context of the Wolverine Origins books; however, those aren't necessary to read and enjoy most of this.

The cover is ridiculous; there's maybe 2 pages that feature those X-Men on the cover in the story and they are just part of a flashback. This is all Logan, X, Daken and a few others.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting. I've come into this by way of the preceding X-men comics, without benefit of the preceding Wolverine: Origins comics. As a continuation of the X-men story it's solid - perhaps better because of the "Wolverine always makes things cooler" effect. As crossovers go, the story was well-coordinated - which is rare. But in terms of how much it made me want to keep reading the Origins? Not sure.

Quality of the writing was pretty good - except for the schizo personality that "developed" for Miss Sinister?!? Who? What? Dunno, but I won't miss her when she's inevitably removed from the narrative.

Art? Deodato wins, hands down. Compared to his rich shadows and depth, the other guy looks just flat and boring. Good, but flat.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Original Sin, Professor X's memory quest in X-Men Legacy unexpectedly crosses over with Wolverine's lost-child quest in Wolverine Origins. I'm glad I grabbed this miniseries because it's a fun read that looks great, but it's totally inconsequential to the ongoing X-Men Legacy plot. (Less so Origins, I'm guessing, since a lot happens with Daken.)

The plot is pretty tough to recap because it moves at lightning speed in unexpected directions. This is mostly enjoyable if you don't think too hard. Sebastian Shaw's big moves in the Hellfire Club come to the foreground here as he draws Professor X and Wolverine into a trap (kinda?). There's also a sexy female Sinister clone who flirts aggressively with Daken - a real reminder of the 2009 publication date.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

I really liked this volume, probably better than any of the other Wolverine Origins volumes. Wolverine involves Professor X in order to undo the mental tampering Romulus has done to Daken. Unfortunately the Hellfire Club, specifically Sebastian Shaw and Miss Sinister, get to Daken first and attempt to twist him to their own ends. And that doesn't sit well with Wolverine.

One thing I didn't care for was the idea that Wolverine was sent to join the X-Men just to kill Xavier, a plot by Romulus. I just think it's a little annoying that every major moment in Wolverine's life was orchestrated by Romulus, but I guess that's the direction Marvel wanted to take the story.

Overall a strong volume with good art.

[Arturo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wolverine wants to help his son, Deken, because his memories are all messed up not to mention all the programming he's gone thru. And wolverine would know something about that. But some villains get here hands on Deken and feed him lies. (Sounds like the tv show Angel). So to me it sounds like the same old story to me.
On the other hand, the mixing of Wolverine and Prof X first encounter, what led to it and afterward. Was handled well.
Throwing in Sabastian Shaw and Ms. Sinister was ok.
The art was great, Deadato's rendition of the first Hulk vs Wolverine (and Wendigo) fight looked amazing.

[Derek · Rating 3 out of 5]

This path Charles Xavier has taken, all this remorse and contrition and pathos and mending broken past, is going to be the death of him. He's a much more well-rounded character, more complex, so he's fun to read, but damn, does it get a little despairing and futile at times. But such striving is what makes good comics good, so not complaining. Just wondering where it will all lead to.
This was a cool collection, rather short though.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely enjoyable. I'm just bummed there wasn't more rogue. We keep getting teased with her and I want more. She's one of my favorite mutants

[David Edmonds · Rating 2 out of 5]

Could there be anything more tiresome than yet another revision to Wolverine's history? Yes, there can be. Yet another Wolverine ripoff character. There have been many attempts at writing/rewriting his history and several attempts at creating characters that can be used to make more Wolverine-ish stories (X-23!), so now Wolverine apparently has a son with the seemingly same powers and seemingly same memory problems and seemingly same berserker rage - but wait! There's a difference! Now, he's a bad guy! to me, this is just a little lazy. It's basically Wolverine all over again. In fact, Wolverine goes to Professor X to try to do the same brainwashing on Daken that Professor X did on Wolverine back in the day, in yet another revision to his past.

The only reason I'm giving this lazy story anything more than 1 star is because the parts around the story are well written and the ending actually didn't go where I thought it was going to go, even though it still ended up paralleling Wolverine's own story a little bit too much.

[Jeff Lanter · Rating 2 out of 5]

I only read the X-Men Legacy issues of this event because I had already read a fair amount of Wolverine Origins before giving up on it. Unfortunately, one of the characters I like least in Marvel comics, Daken, is in this story. The good news is that he is mostly incapacitated and has lost his memory so he is less annoying than normal. Even with him out of the picture, I didn't think this was all that great of a crossover and it seemed a bit forced. Sebastian Shaw worked alright as a villain even if it seems a little too soon for him to be back, but Miss Sinister did not. She lacked any real backstory and her dialogue seemed inconsistent from panel to panel. I did love the art in the first couple issues, but other than that, I thought this was mostly forgettable and unnecessary. I'm going to stop reading X-Men Legacy because it just hasn't grabbed me and I think it is time to move on and try to read something else.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hate crossovers. They're a callow ploy to boost sales, and usually the art is different enough from issue to issue to be really distracting. But as far as crossovers go, this one was pretty good. I love the character of Daken (Wolverine's son). His moral compass is truly ambiguous, which is rare in comic book characters.

"Original Sin" tells the story of the Hellfire Club's attempts to recruit Daken and twist him to their own purposes. It's an unremarkable story, but the pacing and action were both very well done, and the art in X-Men Legacy and Wolverine: Origins was similar enough not to be annoying.

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here's the story in a nutshell: Wolverine has a son we didn't know about and he's trying to help him get his memories back because his son Daken was brainwashed like he was in the Weapon X program.

I thought it was a very good story. Considering that it's a collection of issues in an ongoing series, the story is going to have an open ending without full resolution. That was ok in this case, the story arc by itself was enjoyable and the artwork was magnificent. One reason I like Wolverine comics is because there isn't a lot of extra dialog, but plenty of action. This didn't disappoint. Shout out to the Wake County library system, their collection of graphic novels is top notch.

[Adam Stone · Rating 2 out of 5]

The combination of Carey's lifeless, uninspired trek through Professor X's past and Daniel Way's lifeless, uninspired trek through Wolverine's past unsurprisingly gives us a lifeless, uninspired story about when their histories first overlapped.

I love Carey's work on his Vertigo titles but I can't wait to be done with his run on X-Men. It's, by far, his most disappointing work in comics.

[One Flew · Rating 2 out of 5]

The problem with long running series like the x-men is that if you don't have a creative, innovative writer at the helm then it quickly devolves into a soap opera with grown men wearing tights. This volume was convoluted, boring and meaningless series of events that don't change anything.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Origin for Daken
... Well somewhat
.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

X-Men: Original Sin. Not to be confused with the Marvel story by Jason Aaron called Original Sin. They are 3 completely separate things, this is not a tie in to that event. What it is though is a continuation of the Wolverine: Origins storyline (and reread of said story). Effectively this is volume 5.5 of that series, set after volume 5: Deadpool, but before volume 6: Dark Reign.

Now, it may have X-Men as the title, and a bunch of X-Men on the cover, but this is very much Wolverine’s show. The rest of the X-Men don’t really make an appearance. We do however get Professor Charles Xavier as a main character here, as well as Logan’s son Daken.

Now I haven’t read any of the X-Men volumes that lead up to this, but you would probably be lost and confused if you have not read the Wolverine: Origins story up to this point.

Like previous volumes in the Wolverine: Origins series, we get to see Logan’s history with a character and how that links to the present. It’s about time that we would get Professor X. We get to see how the characters first met, including a great reimagining of the classic Wolverine vs Hulk fight!

The reason for Logan going to Professor X for help? He is hoping he can help his son Daken get past the programming and mind control. Like he did for Logan back in the day.

We do get some odd side plots, that I will assume are linked more to the X-Men side of things. Including the Hellfire club, and a different take on Mr Sinister? This is where my lack of knowledge of this X-Men series lets me down.

That aside, it’s a good continuation of the overall story. We certainly get developments and revelations for Daken’s character. There is still a lot of mystery about the big bad behind the scenes pulling the strings: Romulus. Plus it made sense that Professor X would be part of Logan’s journey down memory lane at some point.

The artwork is good, taking on a very different style to the previous volumes. Gone is the colourful, more pop art approach. Instead we get more detailed, dark and realistic artwork. It certainly fits the darker turn the overall story is taking.

[Tomás Sendarrubias García · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aprovechando que en el mercado existía una colección en la que se daba salida a los orígenes de Lobezno (y con el original nombre de Lobezno: Origen), y en Legado se repasaban los orígenes de Xavier, ¿qué mejor que cruzar ambos orígenes? Así surgió Pecado Original, un cruce entre las dos colecciones en la que Mike Carey y Scott Eaton se unen a Daniel Way y Mike Deodato para contar una historia en dos tiempos, muy centrada sobre todo en la parte Lobezno de la ecuación.

Daniel Way en Lobezno estaba desarrollando una nueva trama sobre el pasado de Logan, en el que había hecho su aparición un nuevo/viejo enemigo, Rómulo, que al parecer anda detrás de todos estos mutantes bestiales tipo Lobezno o Dientes de Sable, y que en especial estaba influenciando a Daken, el hijo de Lobezno de reciente aparición en la colección. Daken estaba siendo manipulado con Rómulo, que le había borrado los recuerdos, y para liberarle de su condicionamiento, Lobezno decide acudir al mejor telépata del mundo... claro, a Charles Xavier. Así que por un lado, tenemos la historia actual, en la que Lobezno y Xavier tratan de ayudar a Daken, que ha sido atraído por Sebastian Shaw y Miss Siniestra; mientras que por otro lado, conocemos un viejo secreto de Lobezno y del Profesor cuando ambos se conocieron, ya que al parecer cuando Lobezno se unió a la Patrulla, lo hizo condicionado por Rómulo para matar a Xavier...

En fin, Pecado Original fue un arco muy entretenido, Carey, Way y Eaton son autores como poco competentes cada uno en su área, y el trabajo de Deodato (esa forma de utilizar la oscuridad...), es simplemente espectacular.

...

[Mr. Stick · Rating 4 out of 5]

"THERE AIN'T MANY AROUND WHO CAN DESCRIBE WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO GET HIT BY THE HULK... SIMPLE FACT BEIN' THERE AIN'T MANY AROUND WHO CAN SURVIVE TO TELL THE TALE. THERE AIN'T NO PAIN AT FIRST. IT'S LIKE HE HITS YA SO DAMN HARD YA ACTUALLY LEAVE YER OWN BODY. ITS WHEN YA COME BACK TO IT THAT YA FEEL THE PAIN. AN' YA REALIZE YER GOIN' TOE-TO-TOE WITH A WALKIN' EARTHQUAKE."
-Wolverine.

A lot of bouncing back-and-forth between flashbacks and the present story. If you don't know much about Wolverine or the X-men, this may leave you utterly confused. However, I was obsessed with the X-men in middle school, and I've recently become acquainted with Wolverine's backstory, so I didn't get too turned around. But the pacing, while a bit fast, is consistent and digestible.
When, and how, did Wolverine conceive a son?
Who wiped Daken's memory?
At what point did Mr. Sinister become an attractive young woman?
These questions are mostly answered toward the last issues.
Obviously, I've missed some backstory. But not enough to prevent me from enjoying this story and all of Wolverine's grouchy yet sincere inner-monologue.
Not the kind of X-men story I anticipated, I'm pleased to say. I tore through this one in a day. An average reader, without distractions, could probably do thin an hour or two.
I enjoyed it, brief as it was. Four stars.

[Max Ostrovsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why, oh why, is this an X-Men book? Really, it's just Wolverine and Xavier and the other books have had plenty of guests from other series.
I like the story that Carey is telling, but not the villain. Romulus? Really? Where did he come from? I know I'm behind a decade, but all of the sudden, some shadowy figure that comes from nowhere has been pulling all the strings. Of just about everyone.
There already was a character like that. Mr. Sinister. What ever happened to him? In this book, there's someone who claims that she's him AND his daughter.
WTF?
Now Sinister was a shadowy character who manipulated everyone and everything for generations. The Marvel universe has spent years developing this character and now, he's become a physically weak and sexually manipulative member of Shaw's faction of the Hellfire club.
Mr. Sinister, a follower? What?
So why is there a Romulus?
But, like I said. It's a good story. My issue is just with made up villain.
And the art has drastically improved over Dillon's.

[Judah Radd · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable story about Wolverine and Daken, with a little Xavier action along for the ride.

The art is good. It had all of the dark shadows and spurts of blood, punctuated by clenched scowls of rage, that make a Wolverine story what it is. Also, Ms Sinister is fucking hot!

The wider narrative continues the Legacy title, but on a micro level, we get some needed closure in regards to Logan and the Professor. An added treat are some well drawn flashbacks to the classic Hulk/Wendigo fight that first introduced our favorite adamantium Canadian.

I really enjoyed this. Is Ms Sinister a low carb version of Selene? Maybe. Is Sebastian Shaw getting a bit repetitive? Definitely. Are we sick of Wolverine struggling with his memories and past? A little, I guess.

But none of that matters. Sometimes, you just have to forget that shit and appreciate what’s in front of you... and this is a tight, action packed, exciting and well drawn Wolverine snikt fest that any fan of the character will enjoy.

[C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Continuing the great x-read of 2017/18...

You know, going into this one, I wasn't expecting much. I didn't have a lot of interest in Daken's storyline up to this point and just felt like the whole thing felt like it was already being drawn out too far.

But as this story went on, it got better and better. Really, I love this recent take on Xavier trying to piece together his memories and realizing there are a lot of &*^% things that he has done in his life. He's a differently broken sort of Charles and he is written quite well. He and Wolverine working together was handled really well.

In the end, I still felt like the Daken half of the story was a bit boring but the Chuck/Logan dynamic made up for it in my opinion.

[Kris Shaw · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh my. This is quite a train wreck in terms of continuity, at least if this is supposed to be the main Marvel Universe. Writers Daniel Way and Mike Carey, along with artists Mike Deodato and Scot Eaton, all turn in solid writing and solid art. The problem is in the abundant ret-cons. Why are they trying to turn Professor X into such an asshole? I liked it better when he was uber-noble. They've taken a few questionable things that he did in the past, inserted tons of things that never (until now) happened, and voila...instant bastard! Why can't they leave this stuff to the Ultimate line or a What If...? story? These guys are all talented and could deliver great stuff if they weren't so intent on destroying the X-Men, and that is the biggest sin of all.

[Rob Marney · Rating 3 out of 5]

X-Men gets off lightly from the Original Sin event, with yet another "Xavier mind-wiped someone offscreen and feels guilty about it for one arc" story. This time it's a crossover with Wolverine Origins, which means Daken and Wolverine and some fallout from Messiah Complex. These two overexposed characters don't really say anything new until the last five pages, but I do like seeing Sebastian Shaw as a competent villain with a reasonable plan. The art is totally fine, except for an uncomfortable male gaze.

[Silas · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting extension of a Wolverine: Origins story about Daken, which only slightly crosses over with the rest of the X-Men, though it does feature Professor Xavier extensively. The art is not particularly good, but the story is reasonably well done, and has more interesting twists and turns than you might expect.

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like Professor X action hero. I like this Wolverine.

I'm intrigued by all this "Professor X was a jerk to everyone between the panels." I don't like it because I like Professor X. But I'm impressed by how it all works.

But Daken is kind of a drag here. And the deus ex felt really, really implausible. I also never really understand Sebastian Shaw. How does he get beaten all the time?

[Vicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story follows moreso Daken's origins than the other tie ins. I understand that Daken's history is meant to mirror Wolverine's backstory with the whole thing being to spite Wolverine but it felt too on the nose for me.

Overall an okay story with small interesting moments between Professor X and Wolverine with a decent art style that reflects the theme quite well.

[Connor · Rating 2 out of 5]

Still not sure how this related to Original Sin. This was more of a Wolverine book than an X-Men book. Not a particularly interesting story, either. I guess I was missing a lot of context on this book.

[Terry Murphy · Rating 2 out of 5]

A completely serviceable arc, that serves its purpose dutifully. Somewhat dull at times, and reveals far less about Xavier & Logan's relationship than it believes it has. One sparkling moment in the second issue of the series saves it from being utterly forgettable.