Old Man Logan

[NickRocks]

I could've sworn there was a thread for this already. maybe a mod can merge if they can find it. anyways...

When it comes to comic books I find that i dislike reverence, appeasement, entitlement and pandering. I find that the writers and works I enjoy the most are those who either actively go against the norms and/or just have fun. I love Frank Miller and Loeb. I don't necessarily like Grant Morrison's Batman, but I can respect him for trying to take him in a new direction. Another writer I like alot is Mark Millar.

Millar is a writer who (and keep in mind, this is all the impressions i get from reading his work, I've never met him in real life or read much interviews with him in it or personal blogs, SO i don't really know whats in his head /breath) seems like he doesn't hold the superheroes to much reverential status, which makes his work immensely fun to read. It's almost like he knows he's the equivalent of a Dan Brown-trashy fun beach/toilet reading and slightly tongue in cheek. Millar's last turn with Wolverine was a fun romp through the marvel U. So it was with a lot of anticipation that i read Old Man Logan.

The story is your standard badass gunslinger hangs up his guns to be a family man, but something happens that makes the gunslinger pick it up again (like say, THE DEATH OF HIS FAMILY). We've all seen this before and the shock twist at the end is neither shocking nor twisting. However, the whole thing feels like a dystopian superhero western, which is awesome. I am not a fan of McNiven normally, but his stuff was pleasant to look at here. Maybe he just needs a more dynamic inker, the whole thick outlines/detailed inlines thing is not my cup of tea. Get some janson on this man STAT.

Like i said, despite this being a cliche story, what Millar shines at in this tale is something that I honestly didn't see in other stories by him-REAL EMOTION. McNiven's faces here tug at your heartstrings. Seeing Captain America crying and praying as the Red Skull taunts him before he kills him ****ed me up. Also Hawkeye was very sympathetic, although he felt ripped from DK2's Green Arrow.

On the con side of the book, some stuff is added that really was unecessary. Hawkeye's daughter's subplot was ultimately pointless, and of all the lames in the world MYSTERIO being the one to break Logan's resolve was kinda lame (but also kinda awesome at the same time). I enjoyed it thoroughly.

8/10

[scmarooney]

I agree with your review for the most part, Nick. I generally enjoy Millar's work, whether is is the Ultimates or stuff like Superman: Red Son. He has a knack for deconstructing what makes a superhero popular, turning it on its head, and giving it a fresh spin. In Old Man Logan he takes a broken Wolverine who refuses to use his claws, sends him on one last mission and turns it into something enjoyable, yet also a bit predictable.

We all kind of know he's going to use those adamantium claws at some point and while the post-apocalyptic vision of the Marvel Universe is highly amusing (Red Skull as president, Hillbilly Hulk Family as low-rent gangsters...), you can kind of see where it is all going before you get there. The ending is pretty over-the-top with the whole Hulk versus Wolverine thing, it was almost like he thought he had to one-up the Ultimate Hulk vs. Ultimate Wolverine thing from a few years earlier. I did enjoy the Red Skull's trophy room and Niven's art sure was nice to look at.

I'd give it 7 out of 10, but haven't read it in trade paperback and am only going on memories of reading the individual issues.

[basil81]

Parts of it I didn't care for much, but overall I enjoyed it a great deal. The art is quite amazing, and it's unmistakably a Millar written piece. I wouldn't mind seeing the rest of the story unfold further...I like it when this sort of thing is done with established characters.

[contramundi]

agree with the mysterio part...the rest is pure gold