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Old Man Logan
Artwork for the variant cover of
Old Man Logan vol. 2, #50 (October 2018)
Art by Mike Deodato Jr.
Publication information
Publisher Marvel Comics
First appearance Fantastic Four #558 (August 2008)
Created by
In-story information
Alter egoJames "Logan" Howlett
Place of originEarth-807128
Team affiliations
Abilities
  • Superhuman senses, strength, speed, durability, reflexes, stamina
  • Regeneration and slowed aging
  • Adamantium-laced skeleton
  • Retractable bone-claws
  • Skilled martial artist and master hand-to-hand combatant
Old Man Logan
Publication information
Schedulevol. 1–3: Monthly
Format Ongoing series
Main character(s) Wolverine
Creative team
Written by(vol. 1)
Mark Millar
(vol. 2)
Brian Michael Bendis
(vol. 3-5)
Jeff Lemire
(vol. 6-12)
Ed Brisson
Penciller(s)(vol. 1)
Steve McNiven
(vol. 2)
Andrea Sorrentino
(vol. 3)
Andrea Sorrentino
Collected editions
Wolverine: Old Man Logan ISBN  0-7851-3159-0

Old Man Logan is an alternative version of the fictional character Wolverine appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. This character is an aged version of Wolverine set in an alternate future universe designated Earth-807128, where the supervillains overthrew the superheroes. Introduced as a self-contained story arc within the Wolverine ongoing series by writer Mark Millar and artist Steve McNiven, the character became popular with fans. After the death of Wolverine, Laura Kinney took the Wolverine mantle but an Old Man Logan from the similar Earth-21923 was brought in to serve as an X-Man and featured in his own ongoing series. [1]

Old Man Logan was a principal inspiration for the 2017 film Logan, starring Hugh Jackman as the title character.

Publication history

Old Man Logan debuted as a character in Mark Millar's run on Fantastic Four, which featured characters who are heavily implied to be the aged Wolverine and Bruce Banner Jr. as an adult. Wolverine: Old Man Logan started as an eight-issue storyline from the third volume of Wolverine ongoing series by writer Mark Millar and artist Steve McNiven, published by Marvel Comics in June 2008. The series ran through Wolverine (volume 3) #66–72 (June 2008 – June 2009) and ended in Wolverine Giant-Size Old Man Logan #1 on September 9, 2009.

Old Man Logan debuted in his solo series during the 2015 Secret Wars storyline, [2] written by Brian Michael Bendis with art by Andrea Sorrentino. This story is continued in an ongoing series with the same name beginning in January 2016, [3] written by Jeff Lemire with Sorrentino returning as artist.

Fictional character biography

Original story

The United States and the world of Earth-807128 has been conquered and divided among supervillains, with territories belonging to the Abomination (later conquered by the Hulk), Magneto (later conquered by a new Kingpin), Doctor Doom, and the Red Skull, who has named himself president of the United States. Superheroes have been wiped out of existence, with the few survivors in hiding. Logan lives with his wife Maureen and young children Scotty and Jade on a barren plot of land in Sacramento, California, now part of the territory known as Hulkland. Needing money to pay rent to his landlords the Hulk Gang (the incestuous hillbilly grandchildren of the Hulk and his first cousin She-Hulk), Logan accepts a job from a blind Clint Barton to help him travel east to the capital of New Babylon and deliver a secret package (which Logan assumes to be drugs). [4]

Logan and Barton encounter several diversions on their journey. They rescue Barton's estranged daughter Ashley (who seems to be an aspiring Spider-Girl) from the clutches of the new Kingpin. However, she then murders Kingpin and reveals her intention to seize his territory of Hammer Falls (formerly Las Vegas) herself as the new Kingpin and "Spider-Bitch" before attempting to kill her father. Logan rescues him and the pair escape, as Spider-Bitch sends her forces after them. [5]

They escape a cluster of Moloids who are destroying cities by sinking them from beneath the surface. They then get chased by a Venom symbiote-infused Tyrannosaurus (imported from the Savage Land), but they are rescued and teleported by the White Queen and Black Bolt. [6]

Throughout the story it is reiterated that the "Wolverine" persona died the day the villains attacked and that since then, Logan has refused to use his claws. Flashbacks reveal that on the night the attack happened, a group of 40 supervillains attacked the X-Mansion. Unable to locate his teammates, Logan slaughtered the attackers to ensure the safety of the mutant children. As the last "attacker" Bullseye was killed, Logan realized that the entire assault was an illusion created by Mysterio and his perceived enemies were actually his fellow X-Men. This destroyed Wolverine emotionally and mentally and he fled the mansion and wandered away to a train track in shock and shame. Though he made a subsequent suicide attempt by allowing a freight train to run him over, Logan could not actually kill himself, but had effectively killed "Wolverine". [7]

When they arrive at the capital, Hawkeye delivers his package to an underground resistance group hoping to begin a new team like the Avengers. The package contains super-soldier serum, enough to form an army, but Barton's clients expose themselves as undercover S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. They shoot and kill Logan and Barton. [6] Logan's body heals and he awakens in Red Skull's trophy room amongst the armaments and costumes of fallen superheroes. Without using his claws, he kills Red Skull's men and engages Red Skull himself, eventually decapitating him with Captain America's shield. He grabs a briefcase of money (their intended reward for the delivery) and uses pieces of Iron Man's armor to fly back home. Upon arriving, Logan discovers that the Hulk Gang murdered his family and left the bodies unburied in his absence. His neighbor Abraham Donovan states that Logan's family was killed when the Hulk Gang got tired of waiting for their payment. This results in Logan finally unleashing his claws. [8]

Logan seeks out and slaughters the Hulk's grandchildren Beau, Bobbie-Jo, Charlie, Elrod, Eustace, Luke, Otis, Rufus, and Woody before encountering Old Man Banner himself who displays monstrous strength, even in his human form. It is implied that the gamma poisoning in his body had begun to deteriorate his sanity in his old age. Banner reveals that while the murder of Logan's family was intended as a message to others, he really just wanted to get Logan angry enough to fight him because he had gotten bored with being a "super-villain landlord" like the others. In his Hulk form, Banner easily defeats Logan and then consumes him. Logan recuperates within Banner's stomach and bursts out, killing the Hulk. Afterward, he discovers a baby Hulk named Bruce Banner, Jr. A month later, Logan and his neighbors hold a small memorial for Logan's family. With nothing left of his old home, Logan then says he plans to defeat all the new world villains and bring peace to the land—with himself and Bruce Banner, Jr. being the first members of a new group of superheroes—before riding off into the sunset. [9]

After a fight with the Ghost Riders, Old Man Logan finds that Pappy Banner's head was placed on a gamma-powered robot made from adamantium by Tinkerer. He uses it in his revenge on Old Man Logan. Before Old Man Logan can be finished off by Pappy Banner, he is suddenly attacked by Bruce Banner Jr. who separates Pappy Banner's head from the adamantium armor. Rather than kill the head, Old Man Logan buries it and plants a tree over it so that its roots can slowly dig into his skull. [10]

Fantastic Four

Some time later, Old Man Logan and the now adult Bruce Banner Jr. are featured during a scene when the new Defenders, led by an older Susan Storm, travel back in time to use cosmic energy to restore their dying Earth. Now calling himself the Hooded Man, Old Man Logan accompanies Gaia back to his original timeline in order to repopulate the now desolate Earth and keep her from going insane from the lack of inhabitants. He is later seen gardening with Gaia who is now pregnant with his child. [11]

Earth-21923 version

The history of this Old Man Logan is the same as the one on Earth-807128. When the multiverse was destroyed and Battleworld was created, a different version from an altered universe version of "Old Man Logan" called Earth-21923 [a] is reborn on the Battleworld domain called the Wastelands, a recreation of his native reality with his memories still intact, although he does not know how he arrived in Battleworld. After having declared the intention to set his world right, Logan disrupts a poker game between the Gladiator and his Flying Devils, and he ends their human trafficking ring by killing them, freeing those imprisoned. While on the way back to meet with Danielle Cage, Logan witnesses the head of an Ultron Sentinel fall from above. Wishing to investigate further, he brings it along with him back home, where Bruce Jr. and Danielle also reside. After explaining this new development, he investigates the head's origins. He visits Hammer Falls and meets with the dying Emma Frost, and he learns that the head is from beyond the Wastelands, so he begins traveling beyond his domain. [12]

When Logan trespasses upon its borders, he is approached by an unidentified Thor of the Thor Corps. She attacks Logan with a lightning bolt for breaking Doctor Doom's laws, falling into the Domain of Apocalypse in the process. Already healed from the burns caused by the Thor's attack, Logan is attacked by Victor Creed (who is one of the Horsemen of Apocalypse) and his soldiers, but Logan is rescued by the X-Men and taken to their hideout, where they are attacked by Apocalypse and his other Horsemen. [13]

The battle that ensues is intervened by the Thor who attacked Logan earlier and as she argues with Apocalypse, Logan flees and hides. The Thor then demands to know to where he had run, but no one answers. Angry, she attacks both the X-Men and the Horsemen with a lightning bolt and then looks for Logan through the domain. When she is near the domain's walls, Logan climbs it and attacks her from behind. Enraged, the Thor attacks him with another lightning bolt and lets him fall into the neighboring domain of Technopolis as she is attacked by Apocalypse's Infinite Soldiers. Logan is taken to Stark Tower by Baron Stark and Grand Marshal Rhodes, the Thor of that domain. After healing from his injuries, Logan awakens only to find himself in a totally different domain from the one where he was. He ends up fighting Rhodes, but is defeated and sent to the Deadlands as punishment for breaking Doom's laws. [14]

Due to his healing factor, Logan succeeds in fighting through hordes of zombies in the Deadlands. He takes shelter inside a cave where he finds an uninfected She-Hulk who has been there for a long time. He tries to convince her to throw him out of the Deadlands when the zombies find them. In a desperate attempt to save Logan's life, She-Hulk grabs him and jumps as high as she can to throw him out of the Deadlands as he had suggested, ultimately sacrificing her own life to do so. Afterwards, Logan finds himself in the Battleworld domain called the Kingdom of Manhattan. [15]

While wandering the city he has not seen in years, Logan meets this domain's Jean Grey and Emma Frost. They take him to meet the rest of the X-Men, as well as "his" son Jimmy Hudson. Logan later leads the superhero population of the Kingdom of Manhattan in a rebellion against God Emperor Doom. Subsequently, Logan finds himself in a new world. [16]

All-New All-Different Marvel

Logan wakes up in the past on Earth-616 and decides to prevent his apocalyptic future. He targets the minor villain Black Butcher and easily kills him. [17] He seeks Mysterio's location and is joined by Kate Bishop. [18] Logan meets Commander Steve Rogers, who shows him his adamantium-coated corpse from the future. [19] [20] Logan appears in Extraordinary X-Men but declines to rejoin the team. [21] [22] He decides to protect Maureen from the Reavers but gets wounded. [23] Later, he decides to hunt down Lady Deathstrike. [24]

Logan experiences nightmares about a villain uprising, and Jean Grey convinces him to change his mind. He seeks help from experts to rescue Bruce Banner Jr. from the Wastelands. In the current time, he defeats the Hulk Gang with help from Hawkeye. [25] He is also involved in the " Civil War II" and " Inhumans vs. X-Men" storylines. Logan becomes part of Kitty Pryde's Gold Team of X-Men and confronts the Weapon X organization. [26]

Logan tracks down the Regenix drug and confronts the Crazy Thunder Gang. [27] He helps Silver Samurai rescue Mariko Yashida from the Hand's control. Later, Logan, Lady Deathstrike, and Sabretooth are captured by the Orphans Of X but eventually rescued and revived. [28]

Dead Man Logan

After defeating an alternate version of the Maestro, Logan recognized that he was dying of old age, now relying on regenix to supplement his failing healing factor. He decided to set out to return to his original timeline after sorting out a few loose ends in this one, which included eliminating Mysterio so that the villain could never attempt the same feat he accomplished in Logan's past. Mysterio was recruited by Neo-HYDRA and Miss Sinister when they learned about Logan's history, but Mysterio eventually turned against Neo-HYDRA to aid the Avengers when he learned that Neo-HYDRA intended to kill him once they had won. Mysterio subsequently faked his death after Logan and the Avengers defeated Neo-HYDRA. [29]

After a meeting with his resurrected counterpart, Logan asked Mariko to keep an eye on the version of his future wife in this timeline before he returned to the Wasteland via a time portal created by Forge. [30] Returning to the Wastelands, Logan engaged Joseph Manfredi and his henchmen who are allied with Lizard in Florida, the Creel Gang in Georgia, and the Phantom Riders in Nashville, Tennessee. When Logan was captured by cannibals operating in the Ozarks, he is saved by Danielle Cage and Bruce Banner Jr. who inform him that a lot of villains like the Punisher Gang are looking for him after what he did to Red Skull and Hulk. What happened to Red Skull and the Hulk Gang caused a power vacuum in the Wastelands. After a fight with the Tranquility Temple that tried to kill him and Bruce Banner Jr., Logan drove his group to the Badlands where they met with Forge and Dwight Barrett. Forge's lair was attacked by Sabretooth and his clones. Forge unleashed an unstable Speedball from him container who destroyed the Sabretooth clones as Sabretooth made off with Bruce Jr. [31] Tracking Sabretooth to a Weapon X facility, Logan and Danielle discovered that the head of the Weapon X facility is Mister Sinister who created the Sabretooth clones and claimed that he orchestrated the villains' rise to power which Red Skull took the credit for. After Logan and Danielle Cage rescued Bruce Banner Jr., they got chased by the Sabretooth clones until Danielle picked up Mjolnir and became the new Thor. [32] Logan would eventually meet his end after killing Sabretooth and Mister Sinister, weakly affirming that his healing factor has finally worn out and he just exhausted his final vial of Regenix. Dani and Bruce take him back to the graves of his deceased family and he dies looking up into the sun. After burying Logan with his family, Danielle Cage, now acting as the new Thor, Bruce Banner Jr. as the new Hulk, and Dwight Barrett as the new Ant-Man, formed a new incarnation of the Avengers and vow to keep fighting the opposition until they can find a place they can call home. [33]

Other versions

Venomverse

In the Venomverse crossover, the Earth-21923 version of Old Man Logan raises Bruce Jr. for fifteen years before telling him of his true parentage. Bruce Jr. leaves his adoptive father in anger as Logan is eventually found by Archangel, who evaded being killed by the villains. Archangel (seeking revenge for the massacre of the X-Men) is then revealed to be working with Bruce Jr. and Spider-Bitch, who viewing Logan's escape with her father fifteen years earlier as the only blemish on her career as Kingpin of the Wastelands, restrains him with web-shooters she had gotten from her grandfather Peter Parker's corpse and attempts to feed him to her captured Venom symbiote-infused T-rex; due to Ashley not inheriting a spider-sense, Logan pulls on the webs to feed her to the T-rex instead, only to be successfully fed to the T-rex himself by Archangel and Bruce Jr.. Emerging from the T-rex (killing it) with the symbiote bonded to himself as the Old Man Venom, Logan kills Archangel before berating Bruce Jr. for his actions. After considering killing him, Logan tells him that he cannot because he loves him, only to be transported to another reality before he can finish his sentence, where a Venomized Captain America tells him to prepare for war with the Poisons. [34] Logan then spends much of the war fighting alongside a Venomized Laura Kinney, before he is apparently killed when the Venoms destroy the Poisons' ship. [35]

In other media

Film

  • Elements of Old Man Logan were incorporated into the 2013 film The Wolverine. Much like the aftermath of Logan killing the X-Men in the original comic story, in the film Logan is consumed with guilt and depression following the death of Jean Grey - and has apparently refrained from unsheathing his claws for several years at the start of the film. Additionally, the character’s finds his healing factor failing him - though it is due to a weaponized parasite implanted by Viper rather than naturally degrading as in the comics and stand-alone sequel film.
  • Old Man Logan was an inspiration for the 2017 film Logan. [36] While featuring an original premise and being set in an alternate timeline to the comic, the film likewise features an aging Logan suffering from a degrading healing factor while going on a journey across the country with an old friend in a bleak future after the deaths of his fellow X-Men (implied to be due to Professor X suffering a psychic seizure due to old age).

Novels

In November 2021, author Eoin Colfer expressed interest in writing a future " superviolent" sequel to his Artemis Fowl series inspired by Old Man Logan. [37] [38] Colfer has written the novel Iron Man: The Gauntlet, adapted from the Iron Man comics.

Podcast

In 2021, Marvel New Media and Sirius XM announced Marvel's Wastelanders, a series of podcasts set in a version of the Old Man Logan/Wastelands universe, with Robert Patrick voicing Wolverine. [39] [40] The 10-episode Marvel's Wastelanders: Wolverine story arc began in June 2022 and featured a guilt-ridden Wolverine working to help a young mutant reach safety as the President Red Skull tries to hunt him down. [41]

Video games

Collected editions

# Title Material collected Publication date ISBN
Wolverine: Old Man Logan Wolverine vol. 3 #66–72, Giant-Size Wolverine Old Man Logan #1 September 22, 2010 978-0785131724
0 Warzones Old Man Logan vol. 1 #1–5 December 8, 2015 978-0785198932
1 Berzerker Old Man Logan vol. 2 #1–4, Giant-Size Wolverine Old Man Logan #1 July 26, 2016 978-0785196204
2 Bordertown Old Man Logan vol. 2 #5–8, Uncanny X-Men #205 October 25, 2016 978-0785196211
3 The Last Ronin Old Man Logan vol. 2 #9–13 December 27, 2016 978-1302903145
4 Old Monsters Old Man Logan vol. 2 #14–18 June 13, 2017 978-1302905736
5 Past Lives Old Man Logan vol. 2 #19–24 October 3, 2017 978-1302905743
6 Days of Anger Old Man Logan vol. 2 #25–30 February 6, 2018 978-1302905750
7 Scarlet Samurai Old Man Logan vol. 2 #31–35 July 24, 2018 978-1302910945
8 To Kill For Old Man Logan vol. 2 #36–40 September 18, 2018 978-1302910952
9 The Hunter and the Hunted Old Man Logan vol. 2 #41–45 December 18, 2018 978-1302910969
10 End of the World Old Man Logan vol. 2 #46–50, Old Man Logan Annual January 22, 2019 978-1302913427
1 Sins Of The Father Dead Man Logan #1–6 June 19, 2019 978-1302914653
2 Welcome Back, Logan Dead Man Logan #7–12 December 18, 2019 978-1302914660

Notes

  1. ^ Earth-21923 was designated in X of Swords Handbook #1.

References

  1. ^ jmyers3 (December 10, 2016). "Old Man Logan and the Revival of Wolverine". Comics Studies At the University of Mary Washington; MaryWashiComics.com. Archived from the original on March 7, 2017. Retrieved March 20, 2017.{{ cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list ( link)
  2. ^ "Exclusive: Wolverine Joins Marvel's 'Secret Wars' With 'Old Man Logan'". MTV.com. February 13, 2015. Retrieved November 28, 2015.
  3. ^ "Axel-In-Charge: The Question of a Bisexual 'Hercules,' Looking Inside 'Invincible Iron Man'". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on December 4, 2015. Retrieved November 28, 2015.
  4. ^ Millar, Mark ( w), McNiven, Steve ( p), Vines, Dexter ( i). Wolverine, vol. 3, no. 66 (2008). Marvel Comics.
  5. ^ Millar, Mark ( w), McNiven, Steve ( p), Vines, Dexter ( i). Wolverine, vol. 3, no. 68 (2008). Marvel Comics.
  6. ^ a b Millar, Mark ( w), McNiven, Steve ( p), Vines, Dexter ( i). Wolverine, vol. 3, no. 71 (2009). Marvel Comics.
  7. ^ Millar, Mark ( w), McNiven, Steve ( p), Vines, Dexter ( i). Wolverine, vol. 3, no. 70 (2009). Marvel Comics.
  8. ^ Millar, Mark ( w), McNiven, Steve ( p), Vines, Dexter ( i). Wolverine, vol. 3, no. 72 (2009). Marvel Comics.
  9. ^ Millar, Mark ( w), McNiven, Steve ( p), Vines, Dexter ( i). Giant-Size Wolverine Old Man Logan, no. 1 (September 2009). Marvel Comics.
  10. ^ Wastelanders: Wolverine #1. Marvel Comics.
  11. ^ Fantastic Four #558 (August 2008). Marvel Comics.
  12. ^ Old Man Logan #1. Marvel Comics.
  13. ^ Old Man Logan #2. Marvel Comics.
  14. ^ Old Man Logan #3. Marvel Comics.
  15. ^ Old Man Logan #4. Marvel Comics.
  16. ^ Old Man Logan #5. Marvel Comics.
  17. ^ Old Man Logan vol. 2 #1. Marvel Comics.
  18. ^ Old Man Logan vol. 2 #2. Marvel Comics.
  19. ^ Old Man Logan vol. 2 #3. Marvel Comics.
  20. ^ Old Man Logan vol. 2 #4. Marvel Comics.
  21. ^ Extraordinary X-Men #2. Marvel Comics.
  22. ^ Extraordinary X-Men #3. Marvel Comics.
  23. ^ Old Man Logan vol. 2 #5. Marvel Comics.
  24. ^ Old Man Logan vol. 2 #7–8. Marvel Comics.
  25. ^ Old Man Logan vol. 2 #8. Marvel Comics.
  26. ^ X-Men Gold #1-3. Marvel Comics.
  27. ^ Old Man Logan #31-33. Marvel Comics.
  28. ^ All New Wolverine vol. 1 #28-30. Marvel Comics.
  29. ^ Dead Man Logan #1-5. Marvel Comics.
  30. ^ Dead Man Logan #6. Marvel Comics.
  31. ^ Dead Man Logan #7-10. Marvel Comics (2018)
  32. ^ Dead Man Logan #11. Marvel Comics.
  33. ^ Dead Man Logan #12. Marvel Comics.
  34. ^ Edge of Venomverse #4 (August 2017) Marvel Comics.
  35. ^ Venomverse #1-5 ( 2017)
  36. ^ Yehl, Joshua (September 25, 2015). "Mark Millar Explains How a Wolverine: Old Man Logan Movie Could Work Without Marvel Studios Characters". IGN. Retrieved October 30, 2016.
  37. ^ Books of Wonder (November 28, 2021). "The Fowl Twins Get What They Deserve Launch Event with Eoin Colfer and Pádraig Kenny". Crowd Cast. Retrieved November 28, 2021.
  38. ^ Artemis Fowl Appreciation (November 28, 2021). "Eoin Colfer kinda confirms Artemis/Holly". YouTube. Retrieved November 28, 2021.
  39. ^ Grunenwald, Joe (May 18, 2021). "Wastelanders: Old Man Star-Lord kicks off Marvel & SiriusXM's slate of scripted podcasts". Comics Beat. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
  40. ^ Schreur, Brandon (June 13, 2022). "Old Man Logan Returns to Battle President Red Skull in New Season of Marvel's Wastelanders". CBR.com. Retrieved August 9, 2022.
  41. ^ "Marvel's Wastelanders: Wolverine". Apple Podcasts. June 13, 2022. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
  42. ^ "Emma Frost Old Man Logan Costume". MarvelHeroes.com. Gazillion Entertainment. August 13, 2014. Archived from the original on November 27, 2016. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
  43. ^ "Costume Page – Hawkeye Old Man Logan". MarvelHeroes.com. Gazillion Entertainment. Archived from the original on November 27, 2016. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
  44. ^ "Chase Costumes are Back!". MarvelHeroes.com. Gazillion Entertainment. September 17, 2014. Archived from the original on November 27, 2016. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
  45. ^ "Marvel Contest of Champions Old Man Logan Spotlight". YouTube.com. Marvel Entertainment. February 4, 2016. Retrieved March 20, 2017.
  46. ^ captainjoel (October 9, 2015). "Wolverine (Old Man Logan) – New Character Introduction and Analysis – Marvel Puzzle Quest". YouTube.com. Retrieved March 20, 2017.

External links