NYCC '09: Dark Wolverine
Writers Daniel Way and Marjorie Liu cast a shadow over Wolverine’s world as Daken takes over in DARK WOLVERINE
Posted Feb 7, 2009 12:00 am
Updated Feb 11, 2009 11:30 am
By Jim Beard
As the Dark Reign continues to lord over the Marvel Universe, its shadowy dominance alters one title forever, as beginning this June with issue #75, WOLVERINE transforms into DARK WOVERINE.
Wolverine expert Daniel Way teams up with novelist Marjorie Liu of NYX fame to deliver the fan-favorite title into the hands of one of the most startling additions to Logan's cast ever: Daken. The son becomes the father—from a certain point of view.
"Think of the entirety of Dark Reign as a scam that Norman Osborn is pulling on the general public of the Marvel Universe—a deception," explains Way. "To the average citizen, the Wolverine in the Dark Avengers is the same as the Wolverine from the New Avengers. To them, he's just an 'Avenger'. Nothing has changed.
"The transition from WOLVERINE to DARK WOLVERINE is a reflection of that deception."
Since his debut in WOLVERINE: ORIGINS #10, Daken has represented a side of Wolverine that might have been, a darker extension of the scrappy Canadian mutant.
"Daken himself is fascinating; highly intelligent, very motivated [and] possessed of his own moral code, which isn't terribly moral by normal standards," Liu notes. "He's going to be so much trouble."
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DARK WOLVERINE promo art by Marko Djurdjevic |
Of course, Dark Reign impacts DARK WOLVERINE in a major way, both as a catalyst for change and by creating an edgier atmosphere in which the son of Logan will try to establish his new identity.
"It allows Daken to go out into the world and operate freely, albeit under the guise of being Wolverine and a hero," Way says of the Marvel Universe's new, darker status quo. "Readers, of course, know that he is neither, which is the cool part."
Odd as it may seem at first, the pairing of Way and Liu on the title suits each writer just fine, looking forward as they do to every facet of their collaboration.
"I specifically requested to work with Marjorie on the book because I felt that she, particularly, would 'get' the character," says Way. "And I was right. Marjorie understands that Daken isn't simply Wolverine Jr."
"I was very surprised, to be honest, and flattered," Liu says of the invitation. "Tremendously excited, too. Daken is a juicy character to write."
Readers of DARK WOLVERINE will be treated to Liu's rich experience as a novelist of fantasy and paranormal fiction, full of, as she says, "smart, violent, sexy people and monsters." Hearing of the two's mode of joint-writing whets the appetite for the shadowy adventures to come.
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DARK WOLVERINE promo art by Giuseppe Camuncoli |
"I do plot/outline, Marjorie does the scripting," Way details. "Dialogue is handled jointly. Collaboration has always been my favorite part of working in the comics medium so, if Marjorie comes in with a killer plot, I'll gladly switch seats."
"I would say that it's relaxed, high on communication, and very flexible," adds Liu of her working relationship with Way. "We play things by ear. We choose what works best for the book based on what works best. Simple as that."
"At the end of the day, our goal is to bring Daken into the Marvel Universe the right way," proclaims Way. "Our way."
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:d48c23c13b="nathanm"]This is comics people. Things change. You can't keep stuff the same. I think it is a cool idea. This won't hurt sales at all.[/quote:d48c23c13b]it will def hurt sales. I cancelled my pick up for wolverine because I am not about to spend money on a wolverine rip off dude with a mohawk and some tatoos. while he may be intruging to some I just don't care. In time daken will ...
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:d48c23c13b="nathanm"]This is comics people. Things change. You can't keep stuff the same. I think it is a cool idea. This won't hurt sales at all.[/quote:d48c23c13b]it will def hurt sales. I cancelled my pick up for wolverine because I am not about to spend money on a wolverine rip off dude with a mohawk and some tatoos. while he may be intruging to some I just don't care. In time daken will be forgotten about and the book will be back to wolverine and thats when I will pick it up again.
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:d297ca06f0="R Nitelight"]I love Marvel.And I always will.But it seems every creative decision they make these days makes me want to poke my eyes out with a stick.[/quote:d297ca06f0]Well said...in all honestly though, i subscribe to Wolverine, X-men, Uncanny, and Astonishing and one would think that a few of the major KEY events would take place within those pages. I have Zero clue where 90% ...
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:d297ca06f0="R Nitelight"]I love Marvel.And I always will.But it seems every creative decision they make these days makes me want to poke my eyes out with a stick.[/quote:d297ca06f0]Well said...in all honestly though, i subscribe to Wolverine, X-men, Uncanny, and Astonishing and one would think that a few of the major KEY events would take place within those pages. I have Zero clue where 90% of the BS in the past 10 years has been established or even why it was established for that matter. Wolverine has a son and a clone? psylocke has died and come back twice now, maybe 3 times, and yet a KEY event like these, seems like they should have happened in any one of the 4 of the major flag ship titles? maybe it's just me...and would it be too much to ask that perhaps the crappy, borderline worthless story arcs, perhaps, kinda fit together? this going from one stupid crazy moment to the next without rhyme or reason is getting really annoying. to go from story arc that is present time, then to the another where it's 50 years in the future, only to come back to one that is set in space with dancing midgets...huh? that is really hard to A) care about and B) follow.
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Wolverine is everywhere so this may be a nice change. How many freaking books is Wolves in right now?
if it's successful it will probably get a new numbering too. I like the idea of giving it the "Incredible Herc treatment". if it isn't successful it goes back to plain ol' regular Wolverine. If it is successful, they have options... Give him his own title separate and return it to Wolverine with the same numbering, or continue printing it as it's own title and giving it a new numbering... Or ...
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if it's successful it will probably get a new numbering too. I like the idea of giving it the "Incredible Herc treatment". if it isn't successful it goes back to plain ol' regular Wolverine. If it is successful, they have options... Give him his own title separate and return it to Wolverine with the same numbering, or continue printing it as it's own title and giving it a new numbering... Or keeping the current numbering. I love it.I got my fingers crossed! :D
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:f5b0461625="whos_the_champ"]That's definitely a possibility.. but really, I thought the same would be true for Incredible Herc' as well. lolRemember how THAT was received by the marvel fans here on this site also? lolI'm all for complaining 'bout something you dislike... but be rational and let it be printed first, lol.[/quote:f5b0461625]Hey, let's be clear, I have no problem with a Daken ...
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:f5b0461625="whos_the_champ"]That's definitely a possibility.. but really, I thought the same would be true for Incredible Herc' as well. lolRemember how THAT was received by the marvel fans here on this site also? lolI'm all for complaining 'bout something you dislike... but be rational and let it be printed first, lol.[/quote:f5b0461625]Hey, let's be clear, I have no problem with a Daken ongoing... I'll give it a go, but I'm really pissed off that it's not "Dark Wolverine #1". What's the point in starting a new Wolverine ongoing (Wolverine - Weapon X) and replacing the main Wolverine ongoing with a different character?We all know that eventually it'll go back to just being plain old "Wolverine" again.
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