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

Fantastic Four: Master of Doom TPB

Mark Millar usually brings a certain level of insanity to his projects. There are high ideas that you can see motivate him, ideas that are so crazy that I can imagine him giggling as he writes about Wolverine fighting the whole Marvel Universe or what if Batman was a bad guy. I don't think he was ever that inspired in this Fantastic Four run.

It isn't bad. In fact, I enjoyed the story of the dark god of the small Scottish town quite a bit. Sure, it stinks that Reed Richards can't really trust anyone at this point, but it is an original idea that shined a nice spotlight on the Richards kids. The story also let Millar show a caring, familial side to the Human Torch that really makes sense. I also dug Ben Grimm's most recent bout with heartbreak. The guy can't win, but having him lose because of Spidey, DD, and the gang was a new twist.

I'm less enthused about the Master of Doom portions of this collection, I just never bought him as a worse villain than doom. Killing alternate universes is kind of old hat at this point, isn't it? By the time the team had powered up to take him on, I was ready for Doom to come back.

Bryan Hitch draws most of the issues, but he seems to drift away by the end too. I think this was just a project that never inspired the blockbuster team like some of their other runs. The megalodons that eat Doom looked awesome, as did the elder God. I was grossed out by the dead Watcher too. I have to say I never loved the designs on the actual FF. Hitch's work is typically awesome, and this was merely decent.

Fair

Fantastic Four: World's Greatest TPB

I know a lot of people have a problem with Mark Millar's style, but I've always liked his work. His stories are full of pop-culturey references and everyone is too cool for school, but I'm ok with it. Especially when that cool attitude actually works and updates a super-hero institution like the Fantastic Four. Millar is pulling out big ideas here, like Invisible Woman's idea of a super-charity, which makes sense for the character plus lets cool super-celebs like She-Hulk and Wasp hang around the Baxter Building. I also loved how Millar made Mr. Fantastic the focus of the trade. Reed is the least cool member of the team, so seeing him do cool super-heroics and be a huge pimp in his personal life was quite neat. Who else can take his wife on a date in time so that they can witness their first meeting 13 years before? That's a tremendous idea.

The main plot involves the world's elite setting up an artificial Earth now that the original is damaged beyond repairs. This lets Millar bring in Alyssa Moy "Mrs. Fantastic" another neat character that really sings when Millar writes her dialogue. She's over-confident and grating, but only when played against nice-gal Sue. Human Torch gets some nice development when he starts sleeping with a super-villain instead of arresting her, and things go downhill for him from there. The story involves lots of time travel and pseudo-science, big ideas and crazy resolutions. So exactly the type of thing I want from my Fantastic Four comics.

Bryan Hitch is a great artist, but he's also lucky that he works with writers who give him the chance to show what he can do. There are a few panels in here that really knock your socks off (like the reveal of the power source for the Defenders) but he also does a great job on the minor scenes. His design for CAP is neat enough, and I did like how Sue, She-Hulk, and Wasp had different builds.

Excellent

Kick-Ass #6

LOL. Oh Mark Millar and your morals. I knew the Crimson Mist was shady, I just didn't realize how bad he was. He smokes pot though, so I should have known! The forward-looking part of the plot is pretty thin in this issue, as Kick-Ass is kind of getting into a status-quo as a "hero." Sure he gets upset enough to shout at his crush's window, but for the most part he and his buddy the Mist have things under control. Their biggest worry is if they form a team with Big Daddy and Hit-Girl, who will be their Wolverine? The meat of the issue is the wonderful origin of Big Daddy and Hit-Girl. It turns out he was a cop whose wife was killed by the mob, so he's trained his daughter to assist him with a lifetime of vengeance. I love the tragic nature of their relationship. Hit-Girl believes that once their revenge is complete, they may go off and have a normal life, but it is clear to the reader that this is not the case. Big Daddy won't ever be a normal guy again. The warped way he is raising his daughter is amusing and tragic. He is brainwashing and training her into being a killing machine, but at the same time he does love her and wants her to be happy. He only took on a code-name and costume to make her happy, but there will be no stopping for him. The book ends on a great cliff-hanger, because there is no way Kick-Ass can save the day now that he needs to. He's a poser and a doofus and it is probably going to cost a bunch of his "team" their lives.

John Romita Jr. does a great job on the flashbacks. His panels of Big Daddy tell the story clearly with no dialogue, cluing the reader in on what Hit-Girl can't see. Well done.

Good