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Review: Giant Size Wolverine: Old Man Logan by Mark Millar, Steve McNiven, Dexter Vines and Mark Morales

Published Thu, 24 Sep 2009 07:25:34 -0500

I do like it when comics do the kind of things that only comics can do. The time aspect of Manhattan in Watchmen was far more powerful in the comic when you could click back and forth, emulating his own power. Something I wholeheartedly repurposed for my recent Doctor Who comic for IDW. And Mark Millar and Steve McNiven's double page splash of just the Wolverine claw sound effect from the preceding issue of Wolverine: Old Man Logan was an example of doing just that. Using the form in an unemulatable way.

This comic, hell this issue in particular, tells its story through a series of static images. Yes, yes, I know that's comics, but a lot of the language of motion has been taken away here. The closest I can compare this to in other media are the strobe/shutter effects of recent blockbuster movies to intensify and ground action scenes, but this is far beyond that. Old Man Logan gets its effect with it's bold, unblurred, intensely detailed, frozen, perfectly choreographed fight scenes. The viewer is encouraged to pause as they see each image, to take in in the detail and move forward if they wish. However the images feel more organic in their horror, more aware of weight and purpose than, say, Juan Joe Ryp's similar work for No Hero, and the moments are stretched out more, giving the reader a real experience of controlling the action as they read.

Bodies, stretched by motion freeze as blood hangs in the air – especially now a certain aged warrior has unsheathed its claws and it's the final act of the Western, the revenge movie, the money shot composed of redness than sickly white spurts, and McNiven makes the most of it.

Millar does have a wonderful knack for creating twisted versions of classic characters, finding that aspect which just hasn't been done properly yet and then going balls to the wall with it as if he's losing his virginity for the first time. And his portrayal of Bruce Banner and The Hulk gives you that in spades, it's been worth the trip across the country for their first appearance, and the first blow landed.