Old Man Logan #40 Review

Old Man Logan #40 Review

Old Man Logan #40 Review

Old Man Logan is in an odd spot right now within Marvel. With Hunt For Wolverine just starting it does raise the question as to what will happen to Old Man Logan when the younger, iconic Logan makes his full public return. Those questions are what Ed Brisson is seemingly playing with as we have learned that Old Man Logan’s healing factor is not working as it should right now. This development has made the action Old Man Logan has gotten involved in recently feel more dangerous, especially since his most recent fights have involved the Hand and Bullseye. That is not really taking it easy for someone whose age seems to be catching up with him. What exactly will happen next with the former Wolverine? Let’s find out with Old Man Logan #40.

Writer: Ed Brisson

Artist: Ibraim Roberson

Colorist: Carlos Lopez

Story Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10

Art Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10

Overall Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10

Synopsis: Logan shows up at the Xavier Institute to figure out what is going on with his healing factor. When he steps inside the mansion Logan is met by his students who are happy to see him back. During the catching up Logan learns that Glob has a date with a mutant named Sasha he met in the new online dating service for mutants.

Old Man Logan #40 Review
Click for full-page view

Logan then meets up with Dr. Reyes to go over how his healing factor is taking a lot longer to heal his injuries and his eye that was injured by Bullseye hasn’t healed yet. Dr. Reyes exams Logan and finds out that for some reason Logan’s healing factor is not recognizing his damaged eye as something to heal.

At his dorm Glob is talking to Sasha as they both are nervous about their first date. Shark-Girl comes into Glob’s room and tells him he does not need to wear a special jacket as he just needs to be himself.

Logan asks about where Kitty and Storm are. Dr. Reyes see through his BS, knowing that Logan visited her when he knew Kitty and Storm would be off on an X-Men mission. Dr. Reyes tells Logan that while he may like goodbyes Kitty and Storm deserve to get one for proper closure if something happens to Logan.

Logan changes subjects to his blood results. Dr. Reyes says that his reading are showing that the adamantium poisoning is twice its normal level and an unknown substance. Logan says it is Regenix. She then asks Logan what Regenix is.

At the Midtown Florists Glob picks up some flowers for his date.

Back at the X-Mansion infirmary Logan says that Regenix is a trial drug a friend (Mariko) used to save his life with the side effect being it eats at his organs in order for him to heal from his injuries previous injuries when facing the Hand.

Old Man Logan #40 Review
Click for full-page view

Dr. Reyes says she will work with Beast to run more tests to figure out what is going on with Logan’s healing factor but until then he needs to be aware that any future injuries may be life threatening.

Outside the X-Mansion Shark-Girl and the other students wonder how Glob’s date is going.

At Valley Stream in Long Island Glob knocks on Sasha’s house door. When the door opens he goes inside he finds the Purifiers are holding Sasha hostage.

Back at the X-Mansion Dr. Reyes tells Logan he may have to get used to the new limits of his healing factor as being the new normal for him. Logan says he will keep that in mind and starts walking out of the mansion.

Back in Long Island, Glob tells the Purifiers he will do anything they say as long as Sasha is safe.

Before Logan leaves the mansion Shark-Girl and the other students wonder if Logan is leaving for good. Logan says he probably is. Rockslide tells Logan he should at least stick around to find out how Glob’s date went.

Back in Long Island, Glob tries to calm Sasha doen. As he does that the Purifiers reveal that they plan on doing something that will make it so they are not laughing stocks anymore. The Purifiers leader grabs Glob and throws him in another room. The Purifiers then sit Glob down and begin strapping him with bombs all over his body. End of issue.

Old Man Logan #40 Review
Click for full-page view

The Good: Old Man Logan #40 isn’t a comic that will blow any reader out of the water. This is just a solid issue of Old Man Logan that continues to move the needle forward with Logan’s current problems in his healing factor. While the development is slower paced than what most readers would like it was balanced out by a fun return to the dynamic the character shared with the Xavier Institute students back in the Wolverine and the X-Men days.

With Old Man Logan #40 Ed Brisson leaned more into writing an X-Men story that happens to star Old Man Logan. That isn’t a bad tone to have since we have seen Old Man Logan a lot of stories that have taken him down a dark and violent path. To have a more classic X-Men adventure involving the character felt like a nice break to have for the character. And while the ending with the Purifiers hit on a darker tone this series is known for it was still within classic X-Men story route.

The opening with Old Man Logan meeting his old students was a good way of setting the tone for this story. Seeing Logan actually be something other than a hardass that doesn’t want to talk to anyone shows that he understands his role as someone the younger kids look up to. Even though he has done some horrible things over time Logan has developed enough credibility as an X-Men that he is considered a living legend to the younger generation. Understanding this, Brisson did a good job balancing how the X-Men kids look up to as a legend and father-figure.

Old Man Logan #40 Review
Click for full-page view

Placing the focus on Glob for this story was a good choice. As we saw in the Wolverine and the X-Men series we have seen how hard of a time Glob has had with his appearance. Giving the character a date was a good way of showing how Glob is trying hard to open up but is unable to because of his own insecurities. Seeing how Glob stressed over things what ended up happening to him make you feel even more for him as you want to see Glob catch a break.

Those same insecurities made Glob the perfect target for the Purifiers to instantly be seen as easily disposable villains. As the leader of the Purifiers mentioned, this is a group whose status has diminished to joke level. In recent years the Purifiers have been nothing more than a fill-in villain group when the X-Men are between bigger stories. Addressing that and using Glob the way they did makes the Purifiers a set of villains you want to see Logan cut up when he gets his hands on them.

Speaking of Logan, Brisson did a good job furthering the problems with the character’s healing factor and highlighting that the Regenix is to blame. This new normal, as Dr. Reyes put it, makes what the Purifiers are planning more dangerous since Logan will have to save the day smartly. Because as of now Old Man Logan can’t just take any damage and quickly keep fighting. That new limit makes Logan’s future fights much more interesting as Brisson explores what a more careful and thoughtful fighter Logan is.

Making this new normal for Logan even more interesting is seeing how Brisson once again brings up that Old Man Logan is on the edge of dying. We know that with the iconic Logan returning as Wolverine that something must be done with the Old Man version. Teasing Old Man Logan creates the question of if we are seeing the last days of the character.

Old Man Logan #40 Review
Click for full-page view

Adding more fuel to the fire by highlighting how hard it is for Old Man Logan to say goodbye to his closest friends, like Kitty and Storm. This made you feel how lonely he is right now as he further shuts himself off from the world around him. But it is something that is clearly not something that Logan wants to 100% do. It is just tough for Logan, who has been characterized as a loner, to just find the words and Brisson does a good job highlighting this.

Ibraim Roberson does a good job matching the tone of Brisson’s story that has more classic X-Men elements throughout Old Man Logan #40. The vibrance of Roberson’s artwork, thanks to Carlos Lopez coloring, set the issue apart from the darker stories we’ve seen from this series. And while this is a colorful issue Roberson does a good job capturing the inner turmoil that Logan and Glob are respectively going through. Roberson’s artwork for Glob in particular is strong as he makes you feel even more for the character because of how he is drawn.

The Bad: As I’ve mentioned a few times, Old Man Logan #40 is a more light hearted story than fans have come to expect from this series. The tone of the story, while interesting, does feel like a filler story until we get the next big development in Old Man Logan’s story. That is something that is not made better by the fact that Logan nor the reader learn anything new about the state of Logan’s current healing factor. We already knew that Logan was healing slower than normal, even for his old age, so what Dr. Reyes revealed wasn’t new information. If we are to see Logan’s visit with Dr. Reyes as more important than there needs to be more info that comes out of all the testing.

Old Man Logan #40 Review
Click for full-page view

Old Man Logan #40 also is missing on the action department. This series has been well known for the intense action sequences, especially as of late. Not getting any sort of action scenes will disappoint fans who are looking for more of that from this series.

Overall: Ed Brisson’s new story involving the Purifiers had more of classic X-Men story tone that just happens to star Old Man Logan. Brisson adds depth to the main story by giving some strong character moments for Old Man Logan and, X-Men-in-training, Glob. That paired with Ibraim Roberson vibrant artwork made Old Man Logan #40 a fun break from all the dark stories we have seen Logan be involved in during the course of this series.