Some thoughts on SPN | Origins

[galathea]

So, I read the first edition of the Supernatural comic Origins, which explores the 22 years that passed between the Pilot and Mary's death. Since I guess the comics will be considered canon, I wrote down some of my first impressions.



First off, I am not a fan of comics in general, so I have no real comparison, but I am really not fond of the artwork of Origins. The faces are hard and edgy and don't bear any resemblance to the original actors of the characters. The drawings for baby!Sam in particular are simply appalling. Also, the colouring is odd, just doesn't match my tastes, especially in the first part of the issue. I actually like the second part of the comic that focuses on Sam and Dean a bit better, art-wise, but still, I wished they chose a different artist for this comic.

As for the content, I liked that the writers incorporated parts of the original Winchester Journals (from the official WB Supernatural site) at the beginning of the comic. John is lost without Mary and unable to deal with a crying Sam and a mute Dean. He drifts directionless until he meets Missouri, who confirms his suspicions that Mary’s death wasn’t just an accident. I am sad, however, that the comic didn't pick up John's description of Dean climbing into Sammy’s crib every night, sleeping wrapped around him, protecting his baby brother. The comic panel where John enters his sons' bedroom, would have been perfect for that scene. What can I say, I am sappy, the image always made me cry. *g* Anyway, the comic also shows some discrepancies to the journals, and I am not sure what we are supposed to take as canon now. In the journals John accidentally stumbles over Missouri, while he randomly seeks out psychics, there is no hint that he ever met her before. Also, according to the journals, John, Sam and Dean stayed with Mike and Kate Gunderson after the fire - John’s partner at the garage and his wife - and not with Julie, Mary’s best friend, like in Origins. I really wished the writers would have matched the journals and the comic better.

I think it's interesting that in the comic John’s motivation for becoming a hunter not only roots in Mary’s death, but also in his realisation that Sam and Dean are in danger from the demon as well and need his protection. John’s feeling of guilt over Julie’s death, and his realisation that he failed his sons when he withdrew from them in his grief, are good additional psychological factors for his obsession with the hunt. The most intriguing plot point though is the strange artefact the demon leaves behind after his attack on Sam and Dean. It seems as if he deliberately leaves John clues on how to track him down. That's interesting, because after their conversation in In My Time Of Dying, I speculated that John and the YED have some sort of history that we don't know of yet, so maybe that will be confirmed over the course of the comic. It has to be said, however, that I am not sure if all the plot points in the comic are canon conform, but I will reserve judgment on that until we know more.

I actually really liked the second part of the comic. John’s refusal to talk about Mary’s death with his sons in general, and Sam in particular, ties in well with the fact that Sam and Dean only know very few details about the night of the fire in Home. It’s also interesting that Dean and John lie to Sam about the real cause of Mary's death - claiming that she died in an accident - and generally keep him in the dark about what John does. So it's no surprise that even at age six Sam already feels left out and thinks that he can't do anything right in his father's eyes. I especially love that Dean comforts Sam and promises him to teach him how to swim. That’s such a fanon classic! ♥ On a more tragic note: While we already know that the boys grew up in dismal living conditions, I was still sad to see the details laid out here - the dingy motel, Sam and Dean's exposure to brutal violence at an age so young, Dean already able to drive a car, forced to hurry himself and his brother into safety. That's incredibly bleak.

Comments

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

Hmm. My reactions to the comic were pretty mixed, too. There are quite a few things that seem to contradict canon, or that don't jibe all that neatly. Especially Sam at 6 not knowing the truth - I really wasn't sure how to react to that. Because Sam was about 6, possibly 7, in the Something Wicked flashbacks, and with the way their lives clearly were by then, I find it hard to imagine him not knowing the truth about what's out there. But I dunno.

I'm also not sure what to think about John seeming to know so much so soon - season one indicated that he hadn't known anything about the YED until very late. But I suppose we can't know how much of that was his withholding information from his sons, rather than genuine ignorance.

So yeah - mixed opinions!

[galathea-snb.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the storyline with Sammy is difficult or at least the timeline is very narrow. We know that John gave him the .45 when he was afraid of the thing in his closet and Sam was 9 yrs old by then, so I can't really see him not knowing about the supernatural world at that age.

Yep, we were lead to believe that the YED practically was dormant during those 22 years, which is why John didn't pick up its trail, so either the 'artifact' is a red herring or John was lying. *shrugs*

Yeah, generally not all happy about the comic, but some nice Sam and Dean moments. :)

[galathea-snb.livejournal.com]

Oh I just realized that the fact that they didn't tell Sam that Mary was killed by a supernatural being doesn't necessarily mean that Sam didn't know what John was hunting. Could very well be that John just was closed off about that particular topic. :)

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

*muses* It's possible. I just can't see John letting the boys know about what's out there without also telling them why it's so important that they hunt it the way they do. The impression season one gives is that it was drummed into them from a very young age that Mary's death was the reason they do what they do, the reason for their crusade against evil, to prevent other people suffering the way they have. It seems to me that explaining the one to a young child would go hand-in-hand with the other. But who knows?

Anyway, the point still stands that the comic doesn't jibe all that neatly with the show itself. Already. Maybe there's a good reason I don't usually read comics...*G*

[galathea-snb.livejournal.com]

*g* yeah, as I said over at BW, John did tell them eventually as we know from 'Home', he just never spoke about his theories with them. So it's just a timeline matter and we have to see if the comic explains later on when and why John let his sons in on the little details he gave them.

But yeah, I agree. It's sad that there are already some frictions between canon and comic. Also funny thing is, that they say Nov, 2nd is Mary's birthday! Which kind of places WIaWSNB in November, but the timeline of the show is at least April/May by then. *confused*

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

Ah, I went into the dating of WIAWNSB in my recap - the episode itself gives Mary a birthday of December 5th, because it is the same day as the anniversary of the plane crash from Phantom Traveler, and Dean sees a newspaper report for the crash dated December 5th 2005. As we know in the show it is already spring 2007, his fantasy has to have taken him back in time (maybe forward, but I'm guessing back) to celebrate Mary's birthday.

And the comic dates for Mary don't tie in with any of that!

It's very disheartening that the show and comic are already not meshing their canon.

[cosmicbubble.livejournal.com]

i still haven't got my copy *sigh*

but it's somewhat disappointing if there are big discrepancies - the show is researched so well and everything ties in..it'd be a shame if this let it down...

oh well...only been one issue - let's see what they have in store :o)

[galathea-snb.livejournal.com]

Well, the discrepancies aren't huge but annoying enough to register. I really wished they put more care into keeping the SN verse consistent. It's not that the verse is so extensive already that it wouldn't be easy to get all facts straight at this point in the story.

[impalalove]

Haven't seen the comic book, but I've seen the first five pages online thanks to the CW, but you know, I can see some differences and how the faces do look a little hard-- maybe from experience?, then I realized they really don't know about hunting yet. I think the fandom will start referring to them as "comic canon" and the true canon. I dunno yet, but it would make sense.

♥

[galathea-snb.livejournal.com]

Well, I'll see how the next issues will work out, but for me the show is canon and I take everything else in regard only in relation to the show itself. The comic is supervised by on of the producers of SN so I think they want us to view it as offcial part of the SN verse, but they'll have to work hard on their fine details to make that happen. :) But you know, somtimes they don't even manage to make the timline or plot of one episode completely consistent *g* so why would we expect anything else here.