Comic Book Review: Wolverine: Old Man Logan - Marvel Comics

"Old Man Logan"
Written by Mark Millar
Pencils by Steve McNiven
Inks by Dexter Vines, Mark Morales and Jay Leister
Colors by Morry Hollowell, Christina Strain, Justin Ponsor, Jason Keith, Nathan Fairbairn and Paul Mounts

This will not be an individual comic book review as I am reviewing the "Wolverine: Old Man Logan" trade paperback that I received in the Comic Bento subscription box.  The book collects Wolverine #66-72 and Wolverine: Old Man Logan Giant-Size.

The premise is that this tale takes place in a future where all of the villains got together and beat all the heroes and divided the United States between each other.  Not many heroes remain.  Logan hasn't unsheathed his claws in over fifty years as he raises his family on a farm near Sacramento, CA.  Times are tough and Logan is struggling to pay rent to the hillbilly Banner family.  Hawkeye comes to Logan with a proposition to make some fast money during a road trip.

For those that read Millar's "Wanted" comic book series, yes, this is the same premise.  Somehow all of these egotistical villains decided to get together to destroy the heroes and found a way to divide everything up between each other.  I know they are make believe characters in a make believe world, but why would Doctor Doom agree to ruling the Midwest and let Red Skull control the East Coast and Washington D.C. in particular?  And then there's Magneto.  Why would he only want Las Vegas?  Also, why would he agree to the slaughter of mutants?  Paste Pot Pete ended up with Paste Pot Creek so that part makes sense.

Millar keeps his Hulks in the same form as they were in "The Ultimates" comic book series.  They eat people.  Apparently Bruce Banner had a whole lot of repressed feelings in that genius mind of his.  He ends up mating with his cousin, She-Hulk, and creating a "special" Hulk family.

Hawkeye has become a drug-running Daredevil.  He has glaucoma and needs Logan to read the map.  Hawkeye is still driving the Spider-Buggy but at least Logan can tell him where to turn and such.

The overall story was pretty entertaining and it was fun to see where some of the heroes were taken out.  Finding out how Wolverine had been beaten and broken was a sad sight.  I'm sure you can guess that Logan can't keep the claws hidden for too long and Wolverine does end up going on a rampage.

The artwork in "Old Man Logan" is stellar.  Steve McNiven was an amazing choice to bring out the visuals for this series.  There is just enough detail to be jaw dropping but not distracting.  Logan and many of the characters are much older now and the wrinkles in the forehead and the way the people stood made you realize they've gotten older but you still wouldn't want to mess with them.  The backgrounds looked incredible as well.  Did I mention that the Venom Symbiote finds a Tyrannosaurus Rex host?

Overall the story is worth reading.  It reads pretty quickly as Millar is the type that really just writes dialogue and the artist is responsible for telling the story around the dialogue.  Luckily Steve McNiven is the artist so you get good dialogue with remarkable artwork.

What are your thoughts on "Wolverine: Old Man Logan?"  What other comic book series would you like us to review?  Find us on social media and let us know.

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Comic Book Review: Civil War II #1 - Marvel Comics

Every summer the big two comic book companies put on some sort of comic book "event."  Marvel's entry into this foray is Civil War II and I'll admit, I was a bit hesitant on jumping on board.  I actually had issues waiting for me in my pull box at my local comic book shop but I decided to not partake after issue #0.  It wasn't because of the story being bad, it's more because Marvel charges more for comic books than other comic book companies.  I received issue #1 in my Marvel Collector's Corps subscription box and figured I should probably give it a read.

This book delivered.  It's thicker than most comic books so the $5.99 cover price, while steep, is a bit more understandable.  I'm sure this book would have been even better if I had been following the Marvel comics that coincide with it, but you get the idea pretty quick about what's going on.

Ulysses is a character that can see into the future and some feel that's a good thing while others find him dangerous.  Nobody knows him and nobody can get into his head.  Ulysses sees something coming and it turns this whole story on its head.  Lives are lost and the battle lines are about to be drawn.

The art in this book is top notch.  There is so much to enjoy whether it's the action or the expressions on heroes' faces.  This is a well crafted book.  Check out the fun cover I got with it as well(pictured).

The dialogue is good.  The younger heroes are kind of annoying but once you get Tony Stark and Carol Danvers talking, things get much better.  Lots of things are going on and it's a lot of fun.

Should you buy it?  If you like Marvel, maybe.  If you hate buying $6 comics and feel the only way to combat such atrocities is to not buy it, I say stay away.  Wait six months and read it on the Marvel Unlimited app.

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Comic Book Review: A-Force Assemble #1 - Marvel Comics (2016)

This is the first comic book series that I've ever picked up without knowing about the characters from TV or movies. Let me be honest, this is the first comic book I've ever bought myself with the intention of reading it. I bought Mighty Mouse years ago but I've never read it and only bought it because I felt I needed something for the trouble of going to the store with my husband. 

Apparently reading the Battleworld books would have helped to make this #1 make sense but since I didn't do that I did some quick research online and found out what happened. 

Singularity has come to earth and brought the enemy Antimatter with her. She remembers Captain Marvel, She-Hulk and Medusa but they don't remember her...

As a new reader I thought the first book in a series would be a great starting place but this was not the case, it left me with more questions than answers. I was really looking forward to learning about these strong women characters but now I'm hoping the next books will enlighten me. 

I'm not an artist so I can't say if the art was out of this world, I can say that I did like the art and thought the colors were bold and vibrant. I will also say that the art helped bring the book to life and I think that's what comic books are supposed to be, larger than my imagination. Like I said previously the story left me with more questions than answers but I did like that it was easy to follow and flowed very well. I loved that it's storytelling in the simplest form. Unlike a novel where the words have to paint pictures and tell a story the words here are to tell you what's going on in the pictures. 

I look forward to seeing what the next books in this series have to offer as I'm still trying to find my way in the comic book world and refuse to take too much help from family or friends.

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