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Mark Millar is currently tackling what should be another average Wolverine story arc. While it might have been noteworthy as a trade paperback collected down the road, the truth is that he has crafted a story that is amazingly fun to read, despite the fact that there’s very little new or original within it.
“Old Man Logan” part 2 continues Millar’s post-apocalyptic Wolverine story, which is so heavily lifted from the film “Unforgiven” that it could easily be seen as his take on that particular story. The originality of this story isn’t in dispute, Millar brings quite a bit to the table, but he obviously had that modern spaghetti western in his mind when he set out to pen this arc.
Continuing from last issue, Logan and the now blind Hawkeye are travelling cross country to deliver a “shipment” that Hawkeye refuses to identify. Despite Logan’s continued insistence that he won’t ever pop his claws again nor hurt another living being, Hawkeye claims that he can still smell the animal within Logan and continues to put them in situations that would seem to demand the return of Wolverine.
Being a flash forward to a time that will never exist in the proper Marvel Universe, Millar hints at the events in the past that caused the breakdown of society as we know of it, and very little seems to be of any comfort. Yet again, Millar makes it interesting by showing us that the roadside grave of the fallen heroes that should be a tourist attraction is really a place of worship for those who still hold out the hope that they will be visited by the mighty and colorful heroes once again. It’s a simple twist but another example of the small details Millar has put forward to make his story that much more interesting.
The characters of “Old Man Logan” expand in this issue as well. Besides the tantalizing details we get in regards to Logan’s and Hawkeye’s pasts, we also get to meet the Ghost Riders, who owe part of their style to The Punisher and Ultron 8, who seems more like the Rick Jones of the future Marvel Universe. Hawkeye’s family is rounded out some more and the cliffhanger ending involving his offspring may seem like an obvious set-up for the next big showdown, but I have faith in Millar’s ability to parse it out in the most appetizing way.
Despite the fact that Millar has given us this great story, you’d probably be eyeing this issue anyway because of the artwork from Steve McNiven and Dexter Vines. Since McNiven isn’t penciling the hottest cross-over title of the season, he’s allowed to tell a story without jamming a character into every inch of every panel. It’s nice to see that he has the ability to tell a story just as well as any cinematographer or photographer on the planet. You can feel the movement of characters in space as your eyes drift effortlessly from panel to panel. This is why he’s so highly regarded.
So again, in wrap-up, there’s not a lot to the basic story of “Old Man Logan” that hasn’t been seen before in modern comics. But this time around, Mark Millar has put enough polish and fun asides in it to make it a story that you really enjoy reading.