Old Man Logan #19 Review

Old Man Logan has been quietly one of the best series that Marvel continues to put out. Jeff Lemire has done a stellar job integrating the Old Man Logan version of Wolverine into the regular Marvel Universe. It couldn’t have come at a better time as the Old Man Logan version of the character is at the height of his popularity following the massive success of the ‘Logan’ film. And after the last arc gave him visions of a possible haunting future for Danny Cage and Baby Hulk, who he left behind in the Wasteland, Logan is now looking to get back to his own timeline. Will Logan be successful in his quest? Or is he destined to be the only Logan around in the current Marvel Universe? Let’s find out with Old Man Logan #19

Writer: Jeff Lemire

Artist: Filipe Andrade

Colorist: Jordan Boyd

Story Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10

Art Rating: 5 Night Girls out of 10

Overall Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10

Synopsis: At The Cellar, a maximum-security super-prison, security guards hear their co-workers in the middle of a fight in another room so they get ready for whatever is coming. Logan suddenly slashes his way in to the hallway the two security guards are in.

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Logan grabs one of the security guards and demands access to the lower levels. More security guards and a mech enter the hallway and start firing at Logan to try and get him to back down. Logan does not take kindly to being ordered around and slashes the guard’s mech into pieces.

Logan threatens the guards for information on access to the lower levels. Scared after everything they saw Logan do one of the guards points Logan to the door leading to the lower level.

Nine days earlier Logan goes to Illyana to see if she can use her powers to get him back to his Wasteland future. Illyana does not understand why Logan would want to go back to a future where everyone he knows and loves is dead. Logan says that not everyone he knows is head, reminding Illyana of the promise he made to take care of Baby Banner but ended up leaving him in the Wasteland.

Logan then mentions the flashes of a potential future for the Wasteland that Jean Grey showed him made him realize that he needs to get back to that time period. Illyana thinks that it is an insane quest for Logan to go on. Logan admits that what Illyana is saying is correct. He then admits what has happened in the Wasteland future is over and if he goes back to the point in time he left he would not cause harm to the time stream while still saving Baby banner.

Illyana reveals that they’ll need some serious magic since they don’t know if Logan comes from their universe’s future or one from an alternate reality. Logan says that is why he came to Illyana first as he doesn’t plan to stay in his future. Illyana is flattered but says she won’t help Logan after her previous time travel experiences.

In the present Logan continues to make his way through all of The Cellar’s security guards. The last conscious security guard begs for his life. Spider-Man (Miles Morales) suddenly appears and stops Logan from doing anything else, making an old man joke in the process.

Logan tells Spider-Man to back off before he hurts him. Spider-Man and Logan begin to fight each other with Spder-Man questioning why Logan would be at The Cellar since it is clear he isn’t being mind-controlled.

Since Logan is staying quiet Spider-Man webs up Logan’s legs. Logan quickly breaks free and says he the guards he hurt are still alive. As they continue Spider-Man says he can help Logan with whatever he is after. Logan tells the young Spider-Man that there is no one left that can help him.

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Flashing back to the last few days Logan goes to Beast, Shaman, Cable, Wiccan, Dr. Doom, Scarlet Witch and Black Panther for help getting to his future. They all turn him down quickly.

Logan finally ends up at Doctor Strange’s place with Strange finding Logan’s proposal intriguing but still turns him down. Logan tries to explain his situation but Doctor Strange reveals that everyone Logan already went to informed him of Logan’s situation. Doctor Strange tells Logan to move on from what he is trying to do.

Doctor Strange then mentions that even if he wanted to help Logan he isn’t sure his magic could. Logan excuses himself but before he leaves asks Doctor Strange to use his bathroom.

Back in the present Logan slashes up chains that are used to lock up several cells and runs behind Spider-Man. Spider-Man turns around and sees several villains leaving their cells. Logan leaves Spider-Man to fight the villains while he continues his current mission.

Logan makes it to a special cell and slashes through it. The cell Logan slashed through holds Asmodeus, who goes over how his magic is so powerful that he has destroyed kingdoms and fought the Avengers. Logan says he knows who Asmodeus is and that Asmodeus will not be able to turn down his offer. End of issue.

The Good: After having some dark fun in space Old Man Logan finds himself back to a more grounded setting. But as has been the case with Jeff Lemire’s run on Old Man Logan, even a grounded story arc still has its own eccentric elements. That sense that even in a normal superhero story we are going somewhere that leaves you questioning where exactly Lemire is going is what makes Old Man Logan #19 a fun read.

Since this new arc is one that will be quick before starting the next big story it is easy to see it not have the same importance as others. What Lemire does best for this quick arc is he instantly adds importance to it by carrying over the visions of what Logan fears the Wasteland future became from the last arc. Making that vision the basis of this story allows Logan’s journey to feel more important than if it was just a random story involving Logan fighting villains in a prison.

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This also helps build on all the character work that Lemire has been doing with the Old Man Logan version of Wolverine up to this point. Before the previous arc Lemire showed us a Logan that was trying to make the best out of his current situation in the present Marvel Universe. Now after the vision that Jean showed him, Logan realized that the Wasteland future is not a place he can continue to forget about. That foundation made Logan’s interaction with Illyana in particular stand out more as it felt like a big payoff for where Lemire has been going with this series. His discussion with Illyana set the table for why other magic users would decline helping him.

With everyone turning Logan down it made the fact that he went for the least heroic route of breaking out a known villain like Asmodeus a much more powerful statement. That sense of desperation is something we don’t normally see from Logan, especially recently as he has gotten accustomed to his current status quo. With a character as powerful as Asmodeus there is many ways that Lemire can go now to turn Logan into a character we’ll wonder if we should behind.

Though there were other characters with deeper connections to Logan that could’ve been used it was enjoyable to see Miles Morales’ Spider-Man interacting with Old Man Logan. This is the first meeting between the two, with Miles never actually meeting the classic version of Wolverine. That fact made their first clash even more interesting because even though Logan was driven he was clearly holding back. The fact he was holding back made the fight entertaining as Miles was able to get a few good attacks on Logan. It also made Logan be creative with how he used the prison setting to distract Miles long enough so he could finish his mission to find Asmodeus.

Given the darker tone of Logan’s prison break Filipe Andrade artwork did not completely fit the tone of Lemire’s story. With that said, Andrade did a very good job creating an kinetic flow to all the action scenes as Logan plowed his way through The Cellar prison compound. The fight between Logan and Miles Morales’ Spider-Man in particular stands out as both characters were able to show off their own fighting styles.

The Bad: Though I did not mind Miles being the one to try to stop Logan it did not make a lot of sense that he would be the hero called upon to stop Logan. With the current status quo of the Marvel Universe there were plenty of heroes that Lemire could’ve used to try and stop Logan. And with Logan getting the information on Asmodeus location from Doctor Strange’s home it would’ve made more sense if a magic user tried to stop Logan. It would at least pay off more to how Logan went to so many different characters than having someone as random as Miles Morales’ Spider-Man show up out of nowhere.

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Andrade’s artwork would’ve also been stronger if a darker color palette was used. Given the nature of Logan’s prison break it would’ve fit the tone better as the brighter colors took away from how destructive Logan was being. It would’ve actually added a great sense of fear for all the security guards if a darker color palette was used since Logan was in his unstoppable Terminator mode in this issue.

Overall: Old Man Logan #19 does a great job building off the previous arc in order to motivate Logan to return to the Wasteland future. The guest appearances helped to drive home how desperate Logan is to get back to Baby Banner and Danny Cage. It all helped set the stage for the choice Jeff Lemire has Logan make at the end of this issue and questioning what it means for Logan’s standing with Marvel’s heroic community.