What Ever Happened To That Old Man Logan?

Remember when you picked up Wolverine #66 and Logan was this sad farmer who didn't fight anymore and it was great? It seems so long ago that "Old Man Logan" was a slow-paced buddy-road comic. With the latest issue, the story has morphed into something closer to a movie blockbuster than a comic book. A quick summary proves this point. This issue contains: Black Bolt stopping a Venom T-Rex, Emma Frost, Pym Falls, Dr. Doom, and the contents of Hawkeye's secret box.

The series has become more about plot twists and throwaway fan-boy moments than character development. When we get to the double page spread of Pym Falls it's cool and all but that’s about it. There’s no substance to it and it doesn’t really mean anything to the characters when they pass by. It’s just a landmark like passing the world’s largest ball of string.

The first issues in the series were exciting because the events of this villain run future were going on in the background of strong characterization of Logan and his supporting cast. The Hulk Gang was a cool idea but also functioned as part of Wolverine's character. He refuses to fight them and is subservient to them as landlords. The world surrounding Logan has become bland because the world is getting all the attention while Logan and Hawkeye remain in the background. Initially it was Old Man Logan featuring an insane apocalyptic future world but now it’s the complete reverse.

When Emma mentions Logan’s family life, Logan barely reacts. She validates through her mental powers that, yes, Logan is happy but he hasn’t shown it in any way. Millar has been so busy throwing events atop Logan, so he'll have his eventual claw-popping freak-out, that he’s forgotten what made the series so exciting in the first place: Logan's interiority, not the exterior Marvel Universe.

The inventive panel layouts of the first three parts have become stale. One of the best panels from an earlier issue was in #68 when the Spider-Buggy drives through a wall and inside a building. That same layout is reused in issue #71 for a less dynamic effect as the Spider-Buggy's chased by the Venom T-Rex. This sums up what has happened to the series. Its lost its momentum and seems to be just treading the same thematic waters. Logan doesn’t take time to stare at an X-Men button and remember his past. The issues have become too packed with plot and action to be able pause and examine the character closely.

The series took a probably permanent wrong turn last issue when Wolverine’s motivations were revealed. There’s really no reason why we needed to know what specifically broke his spirit. It doesn’t add anything to the story and feels like a cheap revelation.

With any previous knowledge of Wolverine, our mind instantly thinks of some of the most disturbing scenarios possible that led to his not using the claws. Millar certainly picked a really messed-up reason for him but the impact of it is completely taken away by its place in the story. This is something we should find out in last issue, if at all. Imagine Wolverine pops his claws for the first time in years and simultaneously remembers killing the X-Men. I know it’s stupid to play the ‘What If’ game but this series has so much wasted potential you can't help but rewrite it in your head.

Going back and re-reading the first issue it’s crafted really well. This is something that happens in a lot of series. They start to lose their main thesis and momentum. Whether it is the deadlines of producing issue after issue, meddling editors, or just a problem with the creators, it’s kind of something that needs to be figured out in comics...too many series' just fall apart.

Mini Marvels: Rock, Paper, Scissor By Chris Giarruso

For a few years now in the back of Marvel comics we've been getting short, one-page cartoon strips called "Mini Marvels" that parallel what's going on in the Marvel universe, or just have these shrunken Marvel heroes going on silly little adventures. The digest trade of Rock, Paper, Scissor is getting a second printing available this Wednesday, and for ten bucks it's worth getting.


Even the cover of the first printing has a few gags, like Daredevil running backwards (cause he's blind, duh) and don't even get me started on the fact that each hero's hand is in a rock, paper, or scissor shape. I've gone CRAZY trying to figure out if it's just for fun or if it's implying who could beat who.


Some of the stories are completely brand new and others are continuity based. Unlike Tiny Titans it's less obvious what age the Mini Marvels are because they don't do child like things, but are simply immature people. The comic feels really pure to me in a way that something like Peanuts does, where the humor doesn't rely on fart jokes (not that fart jokes aren't hilarious) but gags and pranks, silly jokes for nerds like me who have been reading Marvel comics since they were five. It's also printed in "digest" format, which really means "manga size" so more kids will buy it, but I think it's awesome that way because kids like little shit for some reason. Like, you give them a toy car that's WAY smaller than a hot wheels and they are all over it.


Chris Giarruso's website gives you the sense that he really cares about these characters (especially Hawkeye, for some reason) and his site has a lot more on it than Marvel heroes and villains. The sketchbook area has a ton of crayon drawings of DC, Image, and Dark Horse characters. It also has a lot of characters he's created in comics you can purchase on the site. Giarruso does a really good job of giving you the characters you know, in his own way, without taking away from the personalities that we are familiar with. He also randomly throws in real moments, but not the sad kind, just the real kind.