For thirty-six issues of Wolverine Origins, Daniel Way managed to make Dakken one of the most boring characters in Marvel comics.  Yet another whiney, knock-off Wolverine who was somehow related to Logan.  This time, his son.  Was he good?  Was he bad?  Who cares? 

I didn’t.  Not until Way switched on to the main Wolverine title, threw Logan out of his own book and gave Dakken a swagger that few C-level characters achieve.  Gone was the brooding son of Logan trying to figure out what sside of the fight to be on.  This Dakken knows exactly which side.  His side.  Which is, ok, a comic/action movie trope, but man, does it work here.  I don’t even know if Way knows what side Dakken is on.  He’s spent the last few issues inappropriately hitting on his Dark Avenger teammates, fighting with Bullseye/Hawkeye, and playing nice with The Fantastic Four.  But is his ultimate goal to help Osborn or to expose him?  The answer is, once again, who cares?

But this is not a who cares, this is boring sentiment, this is a who cares where this story lands, I’m totally loving the ride feeling.  Way gives Dakken a charming eyebrown raise and a shrug whenever he’s questioned.  The story so engages me that I almost didn’t notice the god-awful coloring of Marte Gracia digitally smeared over some artwork that may or may not be any good.

This story is a seventies mock-espionage flick with solid writing by someone who appears to be discovering his main character right along with us.  And I can’t wait to watch it unravel.