Creative Team
Writer: Mark Millar
Artist: Steve McNiven
Inker: Dexter Vines
Colorist: Morry Hollowell
Issue Rating
Story: 9/10
Art: 9.5/10
Overall: 9.25/10
Issue Summary
After some convincing Logan agrees to help Hawkeye save his daughter, but Logan says he will only read the map and not fight. While Logan and Hawkeye drive through Utah the new Kingpin, who killed Magneto and took his territory, executes Daredevil and Punishers grow-up kids in front of a packed Rice-Ecceles Stadium in Salt Lake City.
As Logan and Hawkeye arrive in to Salt Lake City the Kingpin’s men are preparing to execute Ashley, aka Spider-Girl aka Hawkeye’s daughter. But before they execute her Hawkeye drives the Spider-Mobile through the building and proceeds to kill Kingpin’s men and free’s his daughter from her cell. The Kingpin then bust in wanting to know what the hell is going on to get his head knocked of by Ashley using a gun as a bat.
Right as Hawkeye is about to hug his daughter Ashley clocks him in the head with the crowbar and proclaiming herself the new Kingpin. Ashley decideds that her first act as Kingpin will be to kill her father in front of her new followers. As Ashley prepares to kill her father Logan is behind the wheel of the Spider-Mobile cursing Hawkeye for making him do something he does not want to do. End of issue.
“Hawkeye has never kicked more ass”
“There is no messing with this Spider-Girl”Review
Wolverine #68 was another kick ass issue by Millar and McNiven. For any that is upset over the shallow and simple blockbuster feel from Secret Invasion or the heavy in continuity and is not new reader friendly Final Crisis than “Old Man Logan” is definetly the story you should be reading. It could be said that like what Geoff Johns did in “Sinestro Corp Wars” Millar is not only able to make “Old Man Logan” a new reader friendly and has enough intricate plotline that keeps the reader interested in the whole story. While it would be an overstament to say this story is as big and universe changing as “Sinestro Corp Wars,” which was a huge monster hit with both DC and Marvel fans and suprised DC big the story got, Millar’s “Old Man Logan” may actually be sleeper pick for being the best story of the year.
One of the biggest complaints against Wolverine is that ever since Marvel decided to shove the character down our throats by placing him on two or more of the X-Men team books at the same time, New Avengers, two Wolverine titles, and various mini-series as well as getting his memory back that the character has lost that edge that made Wolverine such a popular character. Also I don’t know if I am the only one but I have gotten tired of hearing the same “I’m the best at what I do” line that writters love to make Wolverine say all the time he appears in a comic now. I much rather see the badass Wolverine that doesn’t give a crap that read as kid with the back in the first series of this comic that I was able to get in back issues.
With this story it feels like that edge that Wolverine lost Millar has returned it to the character. No the Wolverine, or Logan as he wants to be called, in this story is not the kick ass, ask question second type character people like but more of the wandering samuri that has not raised his sword for a long time. I am greatly enjoying Millar’s take on an old and batered Wolverine that has no intetions of poping his claws or even making a fist for any reason. And in this post-apocalytic setting it only seems fitting that Logan would adopt that attitude after seeing all his friends and teamates and himself being beaten.
I like that in Wolverine #68 Millar gives a suitle and not so suitle hints to what might be the return of Wolverine. From when HERBIE gives Logan The X-Men key chain for luck to the final page with Logan behind the wheel of the Spider-Mobile preparing to save Hawkeye’s life it seems that next issue will finally see Logan become Wolverine again. Even though that looks to be the case I wouldn’t be suprised if all Logan does is get Hawkeye back into the Spider-Mobile and drives off leading to a chase scene involving them and Ashley the self proclaimed new, new Kingpin and her men.
I continue to love this old man Hawkeye. I have never really been to interested in the character in the first place but Millar has totally made me become a fan of the character. I love how Hawkeye contrast the pacifist Logan with all the kick ass fighting he does even though he is blind. Hopefully Bendis and other writers take a couple of Millar’s ideas in how they should write Hawkeye from this story. I just really hope Millar doesn’t go and kill Hawkeye in the next issue by his daughter’s hands.
And speaking of the new Kingpin I actually like the new Kingpin, at least for the short time he was alive, and how he came to power from being a nothing street thug to ending up killing Magneto and taking his territory. I like this new Kingpin’s style and how he killed both Daredevil and Punisher’s kids in front of a packed area with some dinosaurs like what use to bee done in the old Romen Colosseum to the gladiators. The only thing against this story is that if your a person that does not like seeing so much bloodshed than this isn’t a story you should be reading since there is a lot of it splashed around the whole issue
Also I love it seemed Millar was about to give Hawkeye a nice family reunion with his daughter after she killed the Kingpin, to only have her become the new Kingpin and about to kill Hawkeye. That is exactly how to throw a curveball in a story to the reader and even though this story has its predictability to it, like any other story, it is these kind of things that get me excited to read what is going to happen next.
The one thing hope to see or read in the next issue is to find out about what exatly happend 50 years ago to cause the villains to beat and kill the heroes. In this issue we find out that it was Magneto, Doctor Doom, and the president who gathered the villains together and were the leaders of the war. And hopefully we start to get some clues of who it is that is the president of this new world.
McNiven and Vines art work on this story definetly is bringing Millar’s story to life. McNiven continues to show me why he is one of my favorite artist in the business and no one does the close up shot of characters facial expressions better than McNiven.
So for anyone that has stopped reading Wolverine for some reason I urge you to give Millar and McNiven “Old Man Logan” story a try even if your like me and dropping this title after this story ends and Millar is off the title.