Wolverine: Old Man Logan

Writer: Mark Millar

Penciler: Steve McNiven

Inker: Dexter Vines

Colourist: Morry Hollowell

Fifty years ago, Wolverine died.

This series rocked imaginations when it came out and it pushed Wolverine as a character and the world he inhabits in a very new and interesting direction. It also inspired the film Logan, and it’s easy to see why.

I’m not going to dive into spoilers, because even though it’s been out for a few years now, I still think anyone who has any interest in reading this series absolutely should.

This story is set in a world (America, at least. We don’t get much indication of how the rest of the world is holding up, but we can assume it’s not much better) where the supervillains have won and carved it up for themselves. Almost all the superheroes are dead and we really get to see how far the country has gone to into Hell.

Wolverine lives on a humble farm with his wife and two kids. This Wolverine, as the title suggests, has aged significantly compared to what we’re used to. He’s still, however, visibly very strong and capable.

The story opens with the Hulk Gang, descendants of Bruce Banner, brutalizing Logan because his family is late on the rent. They demand double next month or they’ll kill everyone. While his wounds heal (much slower than we’re used to) Hawkeye pays a visit and offers Logan a job. He needs a navigator to go with him on a cross-country road trip delivery job, and Logan accepts.

What follows is some heavy stuff. We see the final, unglamorous resting places of more than one hero, and we see that in the hero’s absence, lots of new unforeseen threats have arrived.

The art is fantastic all the way through. The action sequences are high intensity and carry a great sense of motion, and when the story slows down to breathe, it’s wonderfully expressive.

Something I appreciate about Old Man Logan is the trust it has for the audience. It doesn’t need to overly explain everything about the state of the world. Any exposition comes in the form of natural sounding dialogue and it’s honestly refreshing to read. We never find out all the specifics of the The Day The Heroes Fell, and the story is better for it.

There’s so much about these comics that I love.

I love that The President of the United States is left secret until the end, but once you know, you start seeing all the clues that have been there the whole time.

I really love how much these comics are interconnected. The world feels like a real place and this world and story makes so much sense. It’s so well planned out.

I love that this story is so dark and the circumstances of this world are so heartbreaking, but extreme circumstances breed extreme heroism.

I love that the rough heroism and overall tone of the story reminds of Clint Eastwood’s Dollar Trilogy.

When I opened this book, I was a little apprehensive, but I found I enjoyed these comics much more than I had expected to. If you’re a fan of Wolverine in any capacity, I can’t recommend it strongly enough.