Unlike “Enemy of the State” which was little more than a murderous free-for-all, Millar’s first issue of “Old Man Logan” shows a nice amount of depth to Wolverine. He’s become a pacifist following some horrifying event in the past where most of the heroes died, and as a result he’s settled down and become a family man, running a farm. He’s still struggling with his inner-rage, but it’s pretty much under control. Of everything in the book, Wolverine is the best character, and it actually feels a lot more like Wolverine: The End than Paul Jenkins’ dubious effort a few years ago.

However, the problem with “Old Man Logan” is that it’s set in a future that’s been gratuitously constructed out of Marvel continuity, rather than any specific logic. The Hulk’s grandchildren ride around in the Fantasticar, beating rent out of farmers. Hawkeye turns up in…the Spider-Mobile? Wolverine has named his son after Cyclops, for some reason that will either be very symbolic or… not. It’s yet another mix & match Marvel Future, and god knows we’ve got plenty of those as it is. The unique selling point of this one? It’s a little Mad Max-meets 1930s US-depression inspired. Yay.

There are some really cringeworthy elements in the book, including the big double-page reveal of a map filled with the kind of nonsense a 4 year old would write if he was asked to imagine a Marvel future. Electroville, the Mutant Forbidden Quarter, Paste Pot Creek… seriously? Unlike Kick-Ass and 1985, Old Man Logan returns to the Millar of Civil War, who has a lot of ideas but struggles to find a clear narrative to wrap them around.

At least, on the other hand, McNiven’s art is fantastic. It’s not really clear why Wolverine suddenly looks the same age range as Hawkeye when everyone knows Wolverine barely ages, but we can let that slide simpley because McNiven’s version is so damn accurate. Even without the classic hairstyle, it’s immediately recognisable. The art has as much characterisation as Millar’s dialogue.

It’s not a hideous comic - certainly, no worse than the rest of Wolverine’s solo series has been for a while, but coming from Millar and McNiven, we’re trained to expect better than this days of future past/age of apocalypse type alternate future riff. Apparently it’s going to tie into Millar’s Fantastic Four run, which is currently setting the low end of the top 30 alight, and that in itself feels a bit strange - Wolverine is actually outselling F4, shouldn’t the tie-in be the other way around? If you’re reading F4, I’d certainly recommend picking this up, but let’s be honest - this run is going to have to pull something seriously entertaining out of the next issue or two if it wants to be held up alongside Millar’s work in title’s like Ultimates, and it’s beginning to look like he might never get that good again.

Oh good! Another Wolverine project. Just what everyone wants, apparently. Except it’s written by Brian K. “Buffy, Lost, Y: the Last Man, Ex Machina, Runaways, Ultimate X-Men, Pride of Baghdad” Vaughan. That has to be worth a look.

When there’s a movie approaching, Marvel’s practise has been to throw a massive number of tie-ins featuring the characters at the wall and hope they sell in the bookstore market. Of course, even without a movie, Marvel’s practise has been to put Wolverine in about every book they can squeeze his unbreakable Adamantium bollocks into. That Shamrock proposal isn’t going anywhere but the bin, but if you could somehow make it into a Shamrock and Wolverine proposal, you might well be onto something. With a Wolverine movie approaching, there’s plenty to suggest 2008-2009 are going to be even more full of Wolverine than we previously thought. After all, everyone knows that Wolverine is a completely awesome character.

Or, well, is he? Despite appearances, it’s very difficult to write a decent Wolverine story. His popularity means that he frequently ends up shoved in a generic tough-guy role, satisfying the basic need to have a heroic protagonist for villains to fight. It’s actually increasingly difficult to find a Wolverine story where you couldn’t easily replace him as the lead.

Vaughan’s Logan, however, looks like it’s going to be a properWolverine story. Awaking in a Japanee POW camp at the tail end of World War 2, Logan and an American soldier fight their way out. When they escape, they encounter a Japanese woman. The crazed American soldier wants to kill her, but Logan, ever the honourable fighter, prevents him. To thank him, she invites him into her home (while the American looks on suspiciously) and then they get horizontal, because Wolverine is one of the few Marvel characters allowed to have sex, especially in Marvel Knights imprint books.

Risso’s artwork has some idiosyncratic tendencies towards slightly over-represented character acting which makes some, especially the American soldier, look a tad cartoonish at times - his current style isn’t a million miles away from Kyle Hotz or John McCrea. There is fantastic use of stark shadows (particularly obvious in the B&W version) though, and Risso draws some incredibly peaceful looking Japanese countryside (although credit sure goes to Dean White’s colouring for that - aforementioned B&W version should is for Sin City fetishists only). To Vaughan’s credit, he’s found a story that fits Wolverine perfectly - one suspects this would’ve made a great issue of Wolverine: Origins.

While, minus the scenes from the present, this would’ve worked as a nice standalone issue, there’s clearly more going on. The appearance of a flaming skeleton in the opening scene and the suggestion that they’re currently in Hiroshima makes me fairly certain I can see where this is going, but nonetheless, it seems worth finding out, especially if you’re after a Wolverine story that doesn’t depend on superheroics.

Whew. Lots of traffic and positive response to that Ultimates v3 “review” we posted earlier this week - hope some of you are choosing to stick around! Just in case, I thought I’d give a brief overview of the site’s raison d’etre for anyone new: The goal is to have one comic reviewed every weekday for either discussion or perusal. On Wednesdays, we review a back-issue in a feature we call “Dusting Off.” On Thursdays, we review the first of the current week’s new comics, and on Saturday we rest. On Sunday, we post this column. We call it “The Sunday Pages”, and the idea is we use it to talk about the industry news and rumours which have shown up over the previous week.

This week, we’re thinking about JMS canning his exclusive deal with Marvel and what he might do at DC, the new Secret Invasion teaser images, the Foo Fighters’ fight with Marvel and the news released regarding a few of the various comics movies. Enjoy! Continue reading »