After the flawed Brian Michael Bendis-penned Secret Wars tie-in in order to place the former Wolverine into the main Marvel continuity that is Earth-616, Jeff Lemire begins his run on the ongoing Old Man Logan series.
Following the literally world-bending cataclysm that was Marvel’s 2015 big event miniseries Secret Wars, Old Man Logan suddenly wakes up in a world that has not yet become the Wasteland. Believing he has time-travelled to his past (because that’s what the X-Men usually do), Logan makes a kill-list of people in order to save the future from the supervillains that will rule his world.
One could perceive this as a time-travelling twist to the classic Death Wish revenge story, Lemire continues this central theme going back to the original miniseries by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven, which is Logan being a man out of his comfort zone. Along with our anti-hero trying to adjust to his new surroundings, the book does flashbacks to his time in the Wasteland, a post-apocalyptic America where he could’ve embraced his violent animalistic side, but instead to choose a life of family and pacifism.
As always with this incarnation of Wolverine, it is dark given his backstory and yet there are pieces of humour sprinkled throughout this volume, which is largely his interaction with superheroes who differ from what he remembered during the Wasteland, from Amadeus Cho’s Hulk to Kate Bishop’s Hawkeye. Kate Bishop, in particular was a real treat as not only do we get a cameo from Pizza Dog (for those who have read Matt Fraction and David Aja’s Hawkeye run), the banter between Logan and Kate evokes the many witty partnerships Wolverine has had towards young female characters i.e. Jubilee.
Once again, Andrea Sorrentino’s art is a real highlight as he provides a unique presentation to both Earth-616 and the Wasteland, collaborating with colourist Marcelo Maiolo who uses bright colours to punctuate a moment. Known for his unconventional panel layouts, Sorrentino’s action sequences are bloody spectacular with Logan as always slashing his way through various adversaries and be warned, things go gory, not least an explosive mistreatment to a cow.
If there is any criticism, is not so much the story itself, although it is only four issues long, the packaging of this book is the issue. Concluding this volume is the inclusion of Old Man Logan Giant-Size #1, the climax of Millar and McNiven’s comic. This is just out of place, to only put this at the end of the book, but you should’ve read the entirety of that miniseries prior to reading Lemire’s run.
Although this is not as good as the original Old Man Logan comic from 2008, Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino craft a solidly fun first volume, which makes me excited about the continuation of this Wolverine’s violent adventure.