Pathfinder: Wake the Dead #1

This was a bargain-bin purchase from Most Excellent Comics and Games in Enfield CT USA on Free Comic Book Day 2025.

Title: Pathfinder: Wake the Dead
Issue: 1 
Publisher: Dynamite
Date: 2023
Writer: Fred Van Lente
Artist: Eman Casallos
Colorist: Jorge Sutil
Letterer: Tom Napolitano
Editor: Joe Rybandt
Cover: Steve Ellis

This is an adaptation of the Pathfinder tabletop roleplaying system. The story here is essentially meant to assemble the team of heroes as a bunch of characters on converging missions meet in a horrific city district of living flesh known as the Awful. There's a lot of posturing the eventually becomes fighting, and everyone gets to show off their moveset before some badder enemies arrive and we go to cliffhanger.

This was fine, but it had a lot of characters involved and none of their powers or skills was anything we haven't seen before. After the comic action is finished, there's a section detailing the game stats of some of the spells, items, and characters in the book, including the most memorable thing in this issue: the tragic backstory of the champion character Seelah. That would make a good comic adaptation, and I think I would have preferred Seelah in a solo book, or at least to start with her and build the team a bit more slowly.

Rating: 4.5/10

Wolverine: Origin of an X-Man #1: Free Comic Book Day 2009

Back to the unread comics stack! This is from Free Comic Book Day 2009.

Title: Wolverine: Origin of an X-Man: Free Comic Book Day 2009
Issue: 1
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Date: May 2009
Writer: Fred Van Lente
Artist: Gurihiru
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
Editor: Nathan Cosby

This is an all-ages Wolverine book, featuring a story that is a direct prequel to Wolverine's first Marvel Comics appearance (in The Incredible Hulk #181-182).

The story has Logan on his first mission for the Canadian government, being dropped into a remote fishing village that has come under the sway of some powerful unknown entity. The situation is a complete mystery, and the military has lost contact with a commando team previously sent in to investigate.

The story does a nice job of slowly unraveling the mystery as Logan encounters an escalating series of threats in the village. The actual explanation turns out to be pretty clever, and writer Fred Van Lente does a nice job of crafting a good one-and-done story that wraps up its own loose ends in a satisfying way.

The character of Logan is definitely toned down for the all-ages audience, but Logan's snarky personality and his headstrong confidence are definitely on display.

This was a decent introduction to the character of Wolverine, and a good complete story for those already familiar with him.

Rating: 7.5/10