#sometimes**

i will say i enjoy the theme of pain and guilt bc i think those are crucial parts to logans characterization no matter the version or era!! he’s constantly in pain, physical and mental, as a result of his past, his actions, actions he was forced to commit, and actions of others. he’s done shitty things— bad things, and he’s a grumpy asshole, and he feels guilty over it. big part of his character.

however. however. i dont like the implication this comic has that this makes him a bad person. that is pushes the, as mystique called it, “ethics are tissue paper” or whatever. logan is a hypocrite, yes, but i urge you to find a single comic character (or any media character. or real life person.) who isnt a massive hypocrite. hes done terrible things but i think this argument about how shitty and fake he is being pushed by his primary villains (who are CONSISTENTLY known to be liars and manipulators especially towards logan) is a good point of “yeah, to some degree this is true, but they’re exaggerating to hurt him.” obviously.

anyway i really do have some mixed feelings. theres a lot of good points about his pain and hypocrisy and assholery— how he drags people into his shit despite trying not to. but i think its unreasonable, as the reader, to not take in the nuance of that argument, especially within the context of the marvel universe.

there’s a big point in this comic about “x-men/avengers don’t kill” and how logan in particular goes against that. like, yes he does. but i don’t think that assessment is fair without the consideration of that fact that nearly every other x-man and avenger has done the same thing. of course, in reality, “well they all do!!” isnt a fair argument, esp about killing— but this is a comic book. it is a consistent trait of logans that he is willing to kill in most circumstances, yes, but…. while i wouldnt endorse that behavior in real life, it makes sense within the context of his character and universe, and i don’t think it’s a fair jump into calling him a bad person for it— esp not with the decades and thousands of comics that prove his reasoning for killing, his primary victims, and his consistent effort to help when he can and not harm innocents. of course people get in the crossfire, but in a world of mutants and magic and this degree of sci-fi— in a world of superheroes and mind control viruses— the narrative does not always have room for things to be solved in a peaceful manner. obviously, in real life, i think of this sort of thing a bit differently— but there is even an argument to be made about drastic actions needing to take place sometimes to try to cut down on systemic oppression and issues,,,,, and logan is a NOTABLE character with anti oppression values.

which brings me to my next point.

this pissed me the fuck off. (i cut the image off on accident— he finishes that sentence as “everyday guy.”) the argument that logan is a parody or fake because he was born to the upper class is a crazy take, imho. fucking insane, actually. i’m only gonna speak in pure canon rn, no mention of what i think is coded into his character or headcanon. but logan, yes, was born to an upper class family in canada. who promptly died during his childhood, which was also a childhood that is noted to have him be very sick during. i think it’s some bullshit to imply that because the first. up to 12 at the most. years of his life were under the care of (implied to be neglectful and possibly abusive but regardless) upper class folk that makes him a fake for seeming like an “everyday guy.” holy SHIT does that piss me off. again, fully basing this off canon, but logan was born in the 1880s. that means that even before 1900 he was already forced into childhood homelessness and was working in coal mines and was on the street. some bullshit to imply that a man who’s spent over a hundred years being “one of the people” doesn’t deserve to be looked at as anythinf but a privileged rich boy because…. he’s a prickly asshole who makes mistakes and was born to rich parents.

idk i just think its kind of stupid as fuck to lean into these implications of “this makes him a bad person” or to fall for what his villains are saying— at least fully. of course logan is an asshole who has done bad things!! ofc!! he has so much guilt and the narrarive throughout his comics continuously pulls up that he fucks up all the time!!! the point of his character is that despite the pain and grief and the ease of falling into pattern (which, ofc he still does sometimes) he actively TRIES to be better and shit. he is stuck in a cycle of abuse (mostly to himself) but the fact that his character is about getting back up again and going harder and stronger and being better over and over and over— never getting to rest— just i think proves a point that he’s still actively trying. despite everything.

my words probablt dont make much sense here but thats bc im annoyed and also bc its 7 am and i havent slept yet. idk.

tldr? i think wolverine (2013) has a lot of interesting ideas, good potential, good characterzation (but bad voice) and good thought pieces. but i think the implicartions also miss a key part of the fact that logan is neither a Good Person nor a Bad Person— at least completely or consistently. i think it misses a lot of nuance and coding in his character and stories, and i think it somehow touches on his ptsd really well and also terribly. and i also think the host story nano microrganism shit is confusing and kind of dumb and the plot moves in a weird way and the cadence of the whole book is off. and i think logan isn’t a bad person and i’m tired of acting like he is, esp on the context of actions that were done to him or forced his hand. i think. he is a fuck up who keeps fucking up but also keeps making strides to change the lives around him for the better. and i think wolverine (2013) was…. idk. something. it was fine. good and bad. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯