Comic Book Review: Wolverine #67

The Revolution completely enjoyed Millar’s first issue of the Old Man Logan story arc. I love this dystopian future that Millar has created. And watching a pacifist Wolverine take a beating and not fight back has been rather fascinating. There is little doubt in my mind that Millar will crank out another action packed and enjoyable read with Wolverine #67. Let’s go ahead and do this review.

Creative Team
Writer: Mark Millar
Pencils: Steve McNiven
Inks: Dexter Vines

Art Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10.
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10.
Overall Rating: 8.5 Night Girls out of 10.

Synopsis: We begin with Logan and Hawkeye zooming through North California in the Spider-Buggy. The area they are traveling through looks like a scene from a Mad Max movie. (Hey! I spy Herbie the Love Bug!)

Logan states that they are not keeping a very low profile by driving the Spider-Buggy. Hawkeye retorts that he has nothing to fear with the big bad Wolverine with him. Logan responds that he is no longer that man. Hawkeye quips that he does not think that Logan is as harmless as all those idiots think he is. Logan responds that Hawkeye is completely wrong. Hawkeye retorts that the animal is still inside of Logan. That Hawkeye can smell it. (Ewww. That is just unsavory.)

Hawkeye proceeds to drive like a total maniac and hot dogs it in the Spider-Buggy and shows off what this vehicle can do. Logan acts like a little old lady as he is totally about to pee his pants with how Hawkeye is driving the Spider-Buggy.

We see our heroes arriving at San Francisco at night time. Logan asks Hawkeye if their mysterious cargo is nothing but drugs. Hawkeye replies for Logan to not ask him that. Hawkeye says that he does not need to be reminded just how far he has fallen.

Our heroes notice that all the building have partially sunk into the ground. There are absolutely no people left in the city. They then spot a group of Mole Men near one of the buildings. Hawkeye comments that Mole Men are the Earth’s immunity system. That they were resting down inside the Earth for millions of years. However, once the Earth’s population hit eight billion people that the Earth released the Mole Men in order to thin out the Earth’s population.

Hawkeye says that the Mole Men have been feeding in Europe and Asia; however this is the first attack in America. Evidently, the Mole Men can sink an entire city from beneath the ground.

Logan and Hawkeye hop out of the Spider-Buggy and go investigating to see if there are any survivors. There are none. They are all dead. Hawkeye says that he isn’t worried since he has the big bad Wolverine with him. Logan reminds Hawkeye that his name is “Logan” and not “Wolverine.” Once again, Hawkeye rebuffs Logan and states that Logan’s wife and kids are back in Sacramento and that Logan does not need to pretend anymore.

Suddenly, our heroes are attacked by a bunch of bikers on motorcycles with flaming wheels. Hawkeye yells out that they are the Ghost Riders. Hawkeye yells for Logan to not let the Ghost Riders get their hands on the cargo.

The Ghost Riders quickly take out Hawkeye and then quickly move on to Logan. The Ghost Riders viciously beat Logan. Logan refuses to fight back. Logan spits that he refuses to hurt another living soul. Logan says that he will not strike back. The Ghost Riders continue to beat the snot out of Wolverine.

The Ghost Riders then turn their attention to the Spider-Buggy. One of the Ghost Riders states that Hawkeye is a courier and that Hawkeye has a shipment of drugs in the Spider-Buggy. Suddenly, we see an arrow split one of the Ghost Riders’ head open.

Hawkeye is back up and has his bow and arrows out. Hawkeye spits “That’s right, bitches. Just keep making noises.” We then see a shower of arrows descending on the Ghost Riders as Hawkeye kills all of them.

Logan looks horrified and stammers “Hawkeye? What have you done?” Hawkeye is pissed off at Logan for not fighting back. Hawkeye cannot believe that Logan truly is a pacifist. Logan responds that he has been trying to tell Hawkeye that he is a pacifist now. Logan says that he has not been lying about that. Hawkeye replies that he never believed Logan. Hawkeye asks “What the hell did they do to you, man?”

We flashback to a panel with Wolverine being beaten down by Mr. Sinister, Sabertooth and Omega Red. Logan replies “They broke me, Bub. Only reason I’m still alive.”

We cut to the next morning with our heroes arriving at Hammer Falls, Nevada. This place used to be Las Vegas. Hawkeye mentions how sometimes he feels insulted that the villains did not kill him. Like he was so insignificant that they didn’t need to worry about him. Evidently, Tony Stark, Captain America and Thor were all targeted and taken down inside the first few hours.

Hawkeye wonders if it was because he first started out as a villain or if they thought he was a joke. Hawkeye exclaims that even with glaucoma that he can still kick ass. Logan then asks Hawkeye where the huge crowds of people are coming from.

Hawkeye explains that Hammer Falls is where Absorbing Man and Magneto finished off their great white hope: Thor. That this is where the people come to pray for the super heroes to come back. Just like in the old days when super heroes used to rise from the dead with a cool new costume.

Hawkeye states that the Kingpin is the landlord of this area. Logan sees tons of kiosks selling super heroes memorabilia and merchandise. Logan comments that the President would not be pleased if he saw this going on. Hawkeye replies that the President turns a blind eye to this because there is money to be made. That Hammer Falls is the number one tourist attraction in Amerika. (Ah, so I guess what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas even in a dystopian future. I wonder if the Moonlite Bunny Ranch is still open for business.)

We see a huge crowd of people genuflecting and praying before Thor’s hammer that is lying on the ground.

Suddenly, Hawkeye is approached by Ultron Eight. Ultron says that it is great that Hawkeye is here and asks if Hawkeye got the message from Tonya. Hawkeye responds that he has no idea what Ultron Eight is talking about. Ultron Eight tells Hawkeye to come over to Tonya’s garage.

Logan asks who Tonya is. Hawkeye responds that Tonya is ex-wife number three. Evidently, Tonya is Peter Parker’s youngest daughter. We cut to Tonya’s garage where Tonya immediately snaps at Hawkeye that it finally happened after all these years of him filling their daughter’s head full of his nonsense. Tonya explains that their daughter, Ashley, and her friends formed a super team and went to take down the Kingpin.

We slide over to Ashley in a Spider-Man styled costume and sitting in one of Kingpin’s jail cells. End of issue.

Comments
The Good: Wolverine #67 was another entertaining read. Millar delivers a well paced story as he continues to move this story along at a steady and controlled manner. I appreciate that Millar is taking his time and letting the reader savor the richness of this apocalyptic setting of this story arc. I would much rather a writer take his time rather than rush through a story at a fast speed and not give the proper treatment to flesh out the setting and back-story.

Wolverine #67 is a properly plotted issue as Millar builds nicely off of the last issue. All of the plotlines are moving in a logical and orderly fashion. Millar is able to simultaneously and seamlessly weave multiple intriguing plotlines. It is clear that this story arc was well planned and thought out as Millar has a clear purpose and direction in mind. And I am enjoying how Millar continually unleashed various unexpected twists and turns on the reader.

I love this nightmarish version of Amerika. Millar has created such a deep and wonderfully textured setting. This is a pretty creative and bizarre world that immediately interests the reader and makes the reader eager to learn more about this world with each issue. I dig all the details that Millar is putting into this setting whether it is the Mole Men being the Earth’s immunity system and attacking various cities or the hero worshipping of Thor’s hammer that is taking place in Hammer Falls.

Millar crafts some quality dialogue in this issue. Millar gives Hawkeye and Logan excellent external voices. Millar performs some wonderful character work on both of these characters. Both Hawkeye and Logan are enjoyably fleshed out and three dimensional. And Millar is able to whip up some incredible chemistry between these two heroes.

I am absolutely digging Logan’s true and sincere commitment to pacifism. This is such a strange and fascinating take on one of Marvel’s most notoriously violent characters. The flashback panel and the scene with the Ghost Riders makes it crystal clear to the reader that Logan has not been lying to everyone about his refusal to engage in violence. Millar emphasizes that the villains completely broke Logan. That Logan’s fighting spirit has been shattered and his will has been reduced to nothing.

And what is particularly enjoyable is that Millar does not just tell the reader that Wolverine is a pacifist and has had his fighting spirit broken. Millar shows it to us. It is the little things like how Logan is upset that Hawkeye is having him help him transport drugs. How Hawkeye’s insane driving scares Logan. How Logan is completely horrified by the violent and bloody way that Hawkeye dispatches of the Ghost Riders.

Our present day Wolverine would certainly never act in this fashion. These little touches have a nice impact on getting the reader to realize and accept this radically different version of Logan.

I love how Millar is handling Hawkeye in this story. And I had absolute faith in Millar to do Hawkeye justice. After all, over on the Ultimates, Millar made Hawkeye quite possibly one of the biggest bad-asses in comics. Hey, we may get stuck with Bendis either killing off Clint on the New Avengers and then bringing him back and doing absolutely nothing with his character. But, at least we get to enjoy Millar’s Hawkeye on this story. It is great to see a writer who genuinely likes Hawkeye’s character getting a crack at writing Clint.

I dig seeing just how far Hawkeye has fallen. I find Hawkeye to be an even more tragic character than Logan. Clint has often battled the perception of being a slightly irrelevant hero. Certainly, Clint has spent most of his career as a B-list hero.

Millar picks up on that theme and runs with it by having the villains seemingly ignore Clint during their massive attack on all the super heroes. Clint’s feelings of inadequacies as a hero when the attack occurred are palpable. It makes sense that a character as prideful as Clint would have a problem with not getting what he considers his proper respect.

Millar does a good job contrasting Hawkeye as a young man who was a prideful super hero who took being an Avenger so seriously and the old blind man that Clint is now who has sunk so low as to become a drug dealer. Hawkeye realizes how far he has fallen and is clearly ashamed over his present state of being. Clint is dealing with his shame mostly by ignoring it or rationalizing it with the belief that in this world he has to do whatever he has to in order to get by.

Millar does not give the reader that much action in this issue, but what we do get is sweet! I loved seeing Hawkeye kicking some ass in a brutal and vicious manner. Millar simply knows how to write a bad-assed Hawkeye.

Millar ends Wolverine #67 with a fantastic hook ending. The Ultron Eight was a neat touch. It is odd to see anything name Ultron that is not trying to kill Avengers. The appearance of Spider-Man’s youngest daughter who is also Clint’s third ex-wife was a good twist.

And then Millar drops the big bomb on the reader that Tony and Clint’s daughter gathered together a group of “super-heroes” to go and take out the Kingpin and evidently lost that battle and is now being held captive. That is how you end an issue in dramatic fashion and immediately hook the reader into coming back for more.

I cannot wait to see where Millar goes with this new plotline. Clearly Hawkeye will want to save his daughter. And I am sure that Clint will try and drag Logan with him. The question remains if Logan will finally pop his claws in the next issue or not.

McNiven and Vines supply plenty of fantastic artwork for Wolverine #67. McNiven and Vines are doing a phenomenal job bringing Millar’s story to life. McNiven gives this setting for this story an appropriate sense of age and weariness. McNiven’s Logan continues to be fantastic. This is exactly how an old and weathered Logan should look. McNiven’s Hawkeye is well done.

The Bad: I have no complaints with this issue.

Overall: Wolverine #67 was another entertaining read. Millar continues to impress me with his work on this “Old Man Logan” story arc. I think that this issue will have plenty of mass appeal. Wolverine #67 has enough nasty action for action fans and a story with enough substance to satisfy readers who like interesting plotlines and neat character work.