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“Old Man Logan”

Remember that expression: “You can never have too much of a good thing”? And remember what a lie that phrase was? You probably discovered this as a child when you had an extra good Halloween candy haul and ate it until candy corn came out of your little nose. Well, the fact holds truer and truer as we grow up, discovering rules and patterns in the things we love: specifically nerd media. “But Matt…” (you say in a whiney dorky voice) “…that’s not true! We geeks LOVE to have constant appearances by our favorite characters and stories!” And I say to that “You’re wrong… and get that inhaler out of my face!” Case in point: The Borg. Remember how sweet the Borg was as they graced our TV screens? So mysterious and befuddling. And we were happy when they came back again…and again…and again…and again…

…and then we weren’t happy anymore. By the time Voyager came around, the Borg were old hat; tired and worn out. “But Matt…” (you respond in a nasally tone) “Why are you talking about Star Trek in a comic book article?” And to that I respond “Shut up and let me get to my point!” If there’s anything more unwelcome and boring in comics, it has to be Wolverine. Wolverine used to be cool when he was a stranger, shrouded in mystery. Then when Marvel discovered this fact, they popped him into every X and non-X book possible…and they’ve been milking that cow for over 25 years now. Wolverine and the Power Pack? Barf. And just when I thought I couldn’t stand Wolverine anymore, Marvel surprised me out of left field with their post-apocalyptic alternate-world mini-series: OLD MAN LOGAN (caps will be used for the title from here on out to convey my excitement for this book). As I said, this is a “What If’ tale of sorts, set in a future that will surely never happen. It’s gonna be hard to give you a review of the comic without giving away a few pieces of the story. So without further adieu…

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OLD MAN LOGAN tells the tale of a Marvel Universe in which the villains finally succeeded in defeating their most hated arch-enemies, save for a grumpy and emotionally defeated Wolverine, who has settled down into a normal life…until fate calls him back for another SNIKT! Assisted by a blind Hawkeye, Logan travels this new world, coming across symbiote dinosaurs, tribes of Ghost Rider bandits, and an inbred Hulk family. Besides new takes on old favorites, the book is also chock-full of Marvel references and in-jokes that are obscure enough to not take you out of the story. Although to be honest, an earthquake and a vice grip probably couldn’t pull you away from this book. Mark Millar does a ridiculously good job of setting up a war-torn Marvel universe and using two over-the-hill characters to guide us through it. As I got a few pages in, it felt like I was reading a comic version of Unforgiven, staring everyone’s favorite hairy mutant. And what would a great story be without great art to back it up? Steve McNiven takes on the pictures for this book and does an amazing job, detailing ragged clothes, tired faces, and dusty trails. McNiven’s great style is really put on display, as he draws everything under the sun- and interesting images as well (a lot better use of his talents than the talky and boring “Civil War” he worked on.)
OLD MAN LOGAN was just released as a premium hardcover, which means the pages are bigger and so is the price point. I’m so tired of Marvel releasing EVERYTHING as a hardcover (Deadpool… really?) and hocking up the price. But this book is worth every penny. It’ll be the only Marvel trade I buy all year but I’ll be reading it again and again and again.