Thursday, February 10, 2011

Wolverine: Old Man Logan TPB


Mark Millar loves his spectacle, but he is good at it. This should have been a limited series instead of wrapped into the core Wolverine title. It is essentially an Elseworlds where the bad guys have won, reducing the Earth into a post-apocalyptic wasteland divied up by some of the biggest bad guys in the Marvel Universe.

I love the explanation for both Wolverine's pacifist streak and the fall of the X-Men. It's a great showcase for a villain switching off on who he's facing. Acts of Vengeance could have gone a lot rougher!

Hawkeye kicks the story off, it seems he and Wolvie are two of the last heroes left alive. It's great seeing the two tough guys ribbing each other while still functioning as a survivor's support group. I liked the opening chapters of the story more than the end. It's great seeing Hawkeye and Wolvie driving through Millar's nightmarish version of the Marvel U. His take on the moloids is brilliant; they are the Earth's defense system, and once the population reaches a certain level, they start sinking cities and eating people! I'd love to see someone pick that up in present continuity.

Millar is over-the-top, no doubt, but once again, he spins and entertaining tale. He makes the reader really wait for the first SNIKT, but the eventual payoff is worth it. Especially since Wolvie actually gives up being a pacifist, but still won't pop his claws when things go "sort of" bad, they have to get "really" bad for the claws to make their return.

Steve McNiven's art is brilliant. His Venom-Dinosaur was a highlight, and I loved his Emma Frost. I know costumes don't fit into a story like this, but I wouldn't have minded just a few more cameos from some super-folk. The flashbacks were so wonderful looking; I'd love to see McNiven draw more of the X-Men.

Good

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This was one of my favorite stories in recent memory. I don't really get why there seemed to be some bad feelings towards it. It was fun, respectful of MU history, beautiful art. And worth the wait, I couldn't wait for each issue to hit the racks. Way better than any alternate-future X-stories since the initial Days of future past stuff waaaay back when. Guess I'm out of touch with what is deemed "great" for modern comic books.

starfoxxx