From Brian Michael Bendis and Andrea Sorrentino comes the new ongoing Marvel series Old Man Logan, which focuses on an elder Wolverine trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic wasteland dominated primarily by villains. Check out my review of issue 3!
He may be an Old Man, but never before has the world needed Logan as much as it does now. The people he loved have become mere memories. The world that he loved has decayed, becoming a festering Wasteland. But in a world devoid of heroes, even someone who is the best there is at what he does may find themselves overmatched by evil.
I’ve been very bitter with the second Old Man Logan series thus far because it hasn’t been a true sequel to the original mini-series which I adore and consider amongst the best of anything Marvel has ever done. There have been two issues in a row now that have completely disregarded anything that may or may not have been considered set-up in the first issue and instead Bendis has taken Logan on a romp through the different worlds.
After Wolverine finds himself in the Age of Apocalypse and has a brief but entertaining battle with a female Thor, he yet again jumps to a different world seemingly led by Tony Stark – called…. Get this…. TECHNOPOLIS! Stark tries to come across as the wise-ass we all love but in a series where I’m just as puzzled as Logan, everything – every single line comes off as annoying rather than entertaining. I just want it all to make sense and I really didn’t want to be forced into the Secret Wars crossover event which has engulfed the Marvel universe before it re-invents itself this Fall and kicks off over 45 new number one titles.
The art is once again the highlight of the run but as a reader who hasn’t even touched a single other Marvel book in years, the plot and story is confusing to me. Even after hearing what other fans have been telling me about what is going on – I still find myself annoyed. There could have been a way that we got a true sequel to the original run and still tied in the Secret Wars, but instead that theme has completely hijacked Old Man Logan and made him a secondary character in his own book. What happened to the tease of a rogue group of Punishers going from town to town and wreaking havoc? I wasn’t thrilled by that premise but I would kill for that plot to come back any time now so we can try and get back to where Old Man Logan shines – which is in his own universe and away from the goofy ass universe-leaper he’s wound up becoming.
I get it now – this Old Man Logan run is the transitional series before he fires up yet another new, but ongoing run led by writer Jeff Lemire. I’m actually looking forward to that in spite of being annoyed so far by three lackluster issues. I loved Lemire’s Animal Man when he made the reboot over at DC a few years ago so I know he’ll do justice with Old Man Logan in October. I’m just pissed off that I had to have the Secret Wars shoved down my throat when I’ve been trying to avoid the entire situation.
Rating: [star rating=”2″]