From Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino comes the new ongoing Marvel series Old Man Logan, which focuses on an elder Wolverine trying to prevent the seemingly inevitable post-apocalytpic future he was sent from that was ruled by supervillains. Check out my review of issue 2!
Fifty years from now, Logan — the man who no longer calls himself Wolverine — will have endured many atrocities: The Marvel Universe’s villains will have banded together and rid the world of its heroes. Logan’s closest friend, Hawkeye, will have been murdered in cold blood right before his eyes. And driven mad by the same radiation that gave him his superhuman strength, Bruce Banner will have fathered a family of hillbilly Hulks…that eventually went on to slaughter Logan’s wife and two children. But now, in the present, Old Man Logan wakes up to discover himself in a world before these atrocities, before the Wasteland. And he’s going to seize this opportunity and change history to ensure that his future never comes to pass…
I have not been shy about how let down I was by the initial run of Old Man Logan issues that Brian Michael Bendis wrote during the secret wars crossover series. I love this incarnation of Wolverine to pieces and the initial story told by Mark Millar is my absolute favorite run of this superhero ever. I felt that his first comeback was bogged down by too many situations of him being thrust into various stages and locations that just… belonged in other books. Now that the secret wars are out of the way – Jeff Lemire is on board to bring us another award worthy tale of Old Man Logan.
Issue one was so damn good. Lemire has set up this series for success because he’s wound up making the best out of a bad situation, being that Logan has been sent back from his fascinating post-apocalyptic setting into the current Marvel landscape. Lemire thankfully does flash back to that era and I love those moments so much. In Logan’s current frame of mind he sees this time jump into the past as a chance to pre-emptively strike against all those who wound up making his life a hell in the not-so-distant but awful future he’s from.
In issue #2 that target is none other than — Bruce Banner aka The Hulk. In Old Man Logan’s world, the big green monster is a psychopathic beast who winds up helping the world’s supervillains take over and slaughter all of the heroes to become a slumlord who inbreeds and does all kinds of nasty things. Being the second on Logan’s list (that crazy Logan…. bold move there), we get right into it here with a balls to the wall slugfest that looks absolutely gorgeous thanks to some of the best art to ever spring from Andrea Sorrentino. I’ve never seen such a violent and thrilling comic book fight look so stylistic – this is going to be in the running for battle of 2016.
Lemire is one of my favorite writers right now, with his work on Bloodshot Reborn and now Old Man Logan, he’s doing some of the best work that I’ve seen from him and he’s doing it with hero books. I’m not usually too fond with hero titles and in fact – Lemire is actively writing the only two that are on my pull list. That’s not a coincidence. Old Man Logan’s mission to prevent the horrifying future that he once endured is such a smart and exciting storyline to take readers on and I can’t wait to see what happens next.
Rating: [star rating=”4″]