With the young, iconic Wolverine back in the Marvel Universe it was only a matter of time before Old Man Logan had to either go back to his universe or be killed off. Which option Marvel is going with is still unknown. One thing we do know is that the Old Man Logan ongoing is officially ending with issue #50. Now that we are at that landmark issue Ed Brisson is going to end things with a clash between Old Man Logan and Maestro. Given how brutal their past fights have been it wouldn’t be too far to expect that this may very be the final fight for either Old Man Logan or Maestro. Who will come out alive in this final fight? Let’s find out with Old Man Logan #50.
Writer: Ed Brisson
Artist: Ibraim Roberson and Neil Edwards
Colorist: Carlos Lopez
Story Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: Crash landing on the ground Logan is greeted by Maestro, who mocks Logan for returning to the same result. Logan tries to buy himself time by bantering with Maestro in order to inject himself with Regenix. Maestro quickly catches on to Logan trying to buy time and knocks him across the street, in the process losing the Regenix in the crowd.
Inside a nearby building the men who shot Logan tell Joshua, who is bleeding out, that they warned him not to help an intruder. Joshua says that Logan is there to help them out of their situation. The men don’t believe Logan can help anyone and drag Joshua away to get medical attention.
Back in the middle of the streets a kid picks up the Regenix that Logan dropped. Logan notices this but is stomped on by Maestro before he can ask for it back. Maestro picks up Logan and says he is going make do something more creative to kill Logan since beating him to death isn’t enough.
At the medical bay the surgeon is unable to save Joshua, who dies due to the blood loss. A woman named Angela yells at Joshua’s killers for being cowards. Angela says she is done doing nothing and will do what she can to stop Maestro since they are going to be killed anyways.
At Maestro’s quarters Maestro tells the woman he just had sex with to leave his room. Looking out the window he notices Angela gathering some people. Joshua’s killers enter and tell Maestro about Angela gathering people to create a revolt against Maestro’s rule. They mention overhearing Logan tell Joshua that he is after a sci-fi-like machine Maestro has.
At the room Logan is being held captive Angela convinces the men guarding him that she wants a minute with Logan alone since he is responsible for her husband’s death. The men agree and leave Angela alone with Logan.
Now alone Angela asks Logan if he can really save them. Logan says he can try his best and requests Angela get the Regenix he dropped. Angela leaves as Maestro is about to enter the room.
A little later Angela finds her daughter and asks her if she has the Regenix that Logan dropped.
Back on the streets Maestro holds Logan up in chains. Maestro says he feels insulted that the people of the town don’t stand behind his rule.
In a nearby building Angela’s resistance gets hold of some guns. She leads everyone out the building to make their last stand against Maestro.
As Maestro continues to make his speech Angela’s resistance fires all their weapons at Maestro.
While Maestro is distracted Angela is able to reach Logan and inject him with the Regenix. This kickstarts Logan’s healing factor and he breaks free from his chains.
Logan and Maestro start fighting, with the former being able to injure the latter. Maestro decides to leave the area.
With Maestro gone Angela reclaims the town for the people, stating that they are done being victims and that Maestro’s followers can leave if they don’t agree.
Logan runs through the forest looking for Maestro. Logan starts to feel the effects of Regenix fading. Before the effects fade Logan is able to pick up Maestro’s scent inside a cave.
Once confronted Maestro offers Logan the opportunity to use his time and space machine to return to his universe. All Maestro wants is to be left in this universe without Logan’s interference. Logan gives a counter offer that involves both himself and Maestro returning back to their respective universes. Maestro declines the offer and destroys the time and space machine.
Logan and Maestro start fighting again. Logan feels the effects from the Regenix fading even more and Maestro starts to get the upperhand. Seeing that he needs to end things quickly Logan is able to create an opening for himself and cuts off Maestro’s head.
While Logan is determined to find a way home he ends up passing out as the effects of Regenix fade and his injuries start catching up to him. End of issue.
The Good: Though Old Man Logan #50 is the final issue of this ongoing series it does not provide any sort of closure. So for fans expecting Old Man Logan to return to his time period, die or something more epic to happen will be left disappointed. To Ed Brisson credit he does turn in a solid story that delivers on the violent action expected from a Wolverine comic. Along with some good character work Old Man Logan #50 does turn out to be an entertaining comic.
When it comes to a clash between Wolverine and Hulk a reader does not expect much in terms of character work. When these two fight, no matter the version, what is expected is a violent clash. That is something that Brisson does tap into throughout Old Man Logan #50. From how Maestro decides to torture and mock Old Man Logan to how Old Man Logan fights when at full strength it is all brutal.
To make the impact of how brutal the fight between Old Man Logan and Maestro turns out to be better was the actual character work Brisson gives both of them. Throughout Old Man Logan #50 Brisson gets across how Maestro is pure evil. There is nothing redeemable about this villain as he just wants to enjoy his best life at everyone else’s expense. Maestro is someone who mocks those weaker than him, is willing to kill townspeople and treats woman as pure sex objects. The entire presentation of Maestro is such that you build up a hatred for him as a villain.
Building Maestro as a pure villain created greater anticipation for when Old Man Logan finally defeats him. This anticipation complimented the fact that Old Man Logan’s healing factor was failing him. That led to Old Man Logan not being able to show the confidence we know him to normally have as Wolverine. This is something that is shown with how all he can do is promise to do his best to Angela. That simple promise was a good way to put the thought in the readers head that Old Man Logan may die, even if he defeats Maestro.
Bringing in the Regenix to the mix gave Brisson the opportunity to pay homage to the Logan movie. Seeing how the Regenix kicked started Old Man Logan’s healing factor and transformed him into his prime was reminiscent to the forest scene at the conclusion of Logan. It gave a good signal that Maestro was about to get his ass whooped if he didn’t escape.
At the same time, the Regenix added a greater sense of urgency since the effects wore off because Old Man Logan had to exert himself even more when searching for Maestro. That created greater interest in seeing how the final confrontation between Old Man Logan and Maestro would go. Because as the Regenix effects faded Old Man Logan lost a lot of precious fighting time while talking about the use of the time and space machine.
Speaking of which, the talk with Maestro was a good way to show that Old Man Logan was willing to give Maestro an out. This out spoke to how much of a hero Old Man Logan is. Because while he was desperate to get back to his universe he did not stop thinking about the while also still thinking 616-universe well being. Maestro turning down the offer further spoke to the big differences in both characters.
Maestro destroying the time and space machine was a good added motivation to see Old Man Logan burst out in one final berserker mode. The final fight was absolutely brutal and I loved that it ended with Old Man Logan killing Maestro. That was the only way things could end because leaving Maestro alive was not an option at this point.
Through everything that happened in Old Man Logan #50 there was a sense of relief that Maestro was killed as it freed the people of the town he enslaved. Focusing on developing Angela motivation was a good move by Brisson. This gave us a person that was a citizen of the town to root for, enhancing the joy that Old Man Logan defeated Maestro since it set the town’s people free.
Ibraim Roberson and Neil Edwards combined to deliver solid artwork throughout Old Man Logan #50. The artwork was consistent with Edwards and Roberson matching each others styles well. They especially got over how brutal of a fight between Old Man Logan and Maestro would be. The ending had the dramatic impact you expect from a visual perspective to give a proper conclusion to the fight.
The Bad: The one part of Old Man Logan #50 that kept it from being an excellent issue was the ending. Old Man Logan passing out at the very end had did not provide the impact it probably should have. For one, it was one of those obvious cliffhanger endings that requires us to suspend our disbelief that Old Man Logan is close to death. That does not work out well when the very next page is marketing a new mini-series titled Dead Man Logan.
On top of that Brisson does not make it clear that Old Man Logan is close to death since we know from previous issues that even with a slower healing factor he can still survive brutal beatings. That previously established continuity hurts how impactful seeing Old Man Logan passing out should have been. This is one of those times Brisson should have added some context clues that emphasized the negative effects of Regenix. Without displaying those negative effects it is tough not to believe Old Man Logan is close to dying alone in the snow.
Overall: Old Man Logan #50 was an effective ending to the war between Logan and Maestro. The final clash between the two lead to the brutal results one expects from a fight between Wolverine and Hulk. Ed Brisson did a good job layering the fight with some strong character work for both Old Man Logan and Maestro throughout this issue. It’s unfortunate that final page lacked the impact expected from the final scene of a long-running series. If the ending was better executed than Old Man Logan #50 would’ve been a much more satisfying conclusion to this series.