Wolverine #66 (Marvel – Marvel Millar / McNiven / Vines / Hollowell)
“OLD MAN LOGAN” Part 1 (of 8) MARK MILLAR and STEVE MCNIVEN—who last teamed for the monumental CIVIL WAR—bring us the most important WOLVERINE story of the 21st Century. Nobody knows what happened on the night the heroes fell. All we know is that they disappeared and evil triumphed and the bad guys have been calling the shots ever since. What happened to Wolverine is the biggest mystery of all. For 50 years, no one has heard hide nor hair from him…and in his place stands an old man called Logan. A man concerned only about his family. A man pushed to the brink by the HULK GANG. A man forced to help an old friend—the blind archer, HAWKEYE—to drive three thousand miles to secure his family’s safety. Get ready for the ride of your life, Logan.
I might get lynched for this, but I have never been a fan of the Wolverine solo book, not because of the incredible creators that have been attached to the different volumes of Logan books over the years, but simply because I think the character only goes so far and can only carry a book so far by himself. The scarred expert killer who is wise beyond his years, can take out anyone. doesn’t care about the “rules” but has a heart of gold… yes it works as the occasional mini-series, yes it definitely works in group dynamics (X-books almost single-handedly owe their success to Wolvie)… just not as the solo character in an on-going series. Almost all of the successful and “classic” Wolverine stories either deal with unraveling his past (fanboy bait) or it’s Logan interacting with some other character that doesn’t quite mesh with him. So, long story short… I just have never really picked up a Wolverine book on any sort of regular basis…. until now.
Mark Millar presents in this eight issue run, what I believe to be the next standard for “The Classic Marvel Universe” story that people will continue to talk about and refer to for decades (not unlike the classic Days of Future Past). Mark drops the reader in this on-the-edge-of-complete-darkness future timeline where the villains have won and Wolverine has been shut down and is living a life that seems to be a “Mad Max meets Little House on the Prairie” existence. Logan is trying to live a simple life, and both his past and present circumstance seem to conspiring against it. The end of the issue sees the beginning of a a natural “buddy” story as Logan and Hawkeye start on a cross-country money run. Technically, this still fits my description of classic Wolveine story from above, but it doesn’t matter… because it’s gold!
Mark Millar has outdone himself here, and Old Man Logan will be in the top 5 of his “career list”. And We all know Steve McNiven’s art has been rocking since his MK:4 book.
Issue Grade: A+
