Review: OLD MAN LOGAN #1

Writer:  Brian Michael Bendis
Artist:  Andrea Sorrentino
Colorist:  Marcelo Maiolo
Letterer:  VC’s Cory Petit
Publisher:  Marvel Comics

 

One of the more recent seminal Wolverine stories was Wolverine: Old Man Logan from Mark Millar and Steve McNiven.  It showed an older, grizzled version of Wolverine dealing with actions from the past.  With Secret Wars giving the opportunity to revisit some of Marvel’s previous stories, it makes sense to include Old Man Logan in it.  The only question is how will it tie into the greater Secret Wars hierarchy.

Old Man Logan #1 interior art

What I Liked

The art team of Andrea Sorrentino, Marcelo Maiolo, and Cory Petit unleash a visually stunning comic.  You can’t mention pencils without also praising the color work, along with the lettering incorporated throughout.  They use the panel structure to lead the reader’s eye exactly where they want it to go.  Usually to put focus on an object, or a violent action about to be taken.  Petit layers panels with sound effects, which are as much a part of the art as the heavy coloring from Maiolo.

Logan is portrayed by Brian Michael Bendis as straight-to-the-point, all about that action boss.  He’s a veteran of battles and has lost many a comrade.  Logan’s story from Wolverine: Old Man Logan continues here, as he travels The Wastelands dishing out justice.

Things don’t really get interesting until an object literally falls into Logan’s lap.  This sends him off on his journey to learn the origins of it.

Logan shares tender moments with Danielle (daughter of Luke Cage and Jessica Jones) and a former X-Men teammate, which help to remind the reader how he can go from warrior, to mentor, to friend.  The scenes with Danielle are the largest callbacks to the original miniseries, while scenes with the former X-Man have the patent Bendis exposition.

What I Didn’t Like

As enjoyable as the opening fight scene is, I felt that the reader is dropped into the story without much setup or explanation.  Looking at this as a Secret Wars tie-in, I was looking for plotlines to link it to the main series.  This happened midway through, but by that point readers unfamiliar with the miniseries could be lost.

Old Man Logan #1 cover

This review is written in partnership with Pop Culture Network.  They can be found at their website http://www.popculturenetwork.com/  

#ComicBookChronicles @CBChron founder. Editor-in-Chief of @thekliqnation. Comic book reviewer, podcaster #RABBLERABBLE