This is why I love Old Man Logan

We are a little more than a month away from the release of Logan, Hugh Jackman's "last" performance as the Wolverine we've all grown used to seeing on the big screen. When this movie was first announced, Jackman posted on social media saying, "3 words. Old. Man. Logan." And the internet freaked out. So did I.

I've written about my distaste for the screen version of Wolverine before, and I've certainly mentioned this graphic novel before, just never in detail. Today I'm getting specific about why Old Man Logan is my FAVORITE comic of all time.

The premise:
It's fifty years into the future. The villains of the Marvel Universe joined together and killed all the heroes. The ones that are left don't stand a chance, or have dropped off into legend. There's narration at the beginning that alludes to an incident involving Wolverine, and that he disappeared and hasn't popped his claws or even raised his voice in 50 years. Then the story begins.

Wolverine has accepted a simple life as a farmer. He doesn't go by Wolverine anymore, just Logan and married a woman named Maureen. Logan also has two kids, a boy and a girl named Scott (presumably named after Scott Summers aka Cyclops) and Jade.

The world is not the Marvel Universe that we're used to. The USA has become a wasteland, separated into kingdoms. The West Coast is controlled by the Hulk and his family of inbred hillbilly cannibal children. Seriously they eat people. It turns out that the Hulk decides to turn bad, and the only person capable of handling his... ahem... manhood is his cousin She-Hulk. Their offspring form a small army of Hulk-like cannibal hillbillies. Every month, rent is collected from the farms in the Hulk territory. If you can't pay rent, the Hulks punish you. Which usually means they kill you and eat you. This month, Logan and his family can't make rent. The Hulks beat Logan real bad, to where he needs a day to fully heal. During that time, a face from his past returns.

Clint Barton aka Hawkeye, has arrived to offer Logan a job. He's blind now though and needs Logan to drive him across the country to deliver a special package to the resistance, a group of people trying to overthrow the villains who are led by the Red Skull. In order to get the package to the resistance, Logan and Hawkeye must take the Spider-Mobile through the Kingdom of the Kingpin, the wasteland that was the Rocky Mountains, through the Green Goblin's kingdom, Doctor Doom's kingdom, and finally to the President's Quarter on the East Coast. The Red Skull is now the "president" and has taken up residency in Washington D.C.

Along the way, the duo come across some smaller adventures that help remind Logan on how to be a hero. We meet Spider-Woman, aka Ashley Barton, Hawkeye's daughter and Peter Parker's grand-daughter. Hawkeye finds out Ashley has been captured by the Kingpin and convinces Logan to make a detour to save her. They use the Spider-Mobile to crash the Kingpin's hideout and free Ashley, who it turns out, is actually a gangster herself and is trying to kill the Kingpin. She does, in a truly gruesome fashion.

Moving on, and in effort to shorten this post, I'll just mention the highlight of their journey. Encountering a Tyrannasaurus Rex that's been possessed by the Venom symbiote. The artwork is the best part!

We also learn about what happened to Logan that made him quit being a hero. It turns out that Mysterio (a rogue of Spider-Man's) created an illusion that made Wolverine think he was fighting off a group of villains, but was actually fighting his friends the X-Men. Wolverine fights for hours, thinking he's the only X-Man around but when it's revealed that he's actually killed all of his friends, he falls apart and tries to kill himself by letting a train run over his head. But because of his adamantium laced skull and incredible healing factor, he survives; living on as if the hero part of him died.

Finally they make it to New York and meet the resistance. There's a betrayal, Hawkeye is killed and Logan is captured. He's brought before the Red Skull, who is waiting in his trophy room. I love this part. The trophy room is full of items taken from the fallen heroes. Spidey's mask is in there, Cap's shield, Iron Man's armor, and many other items.

Red Skull has even dressed himself in Captain America's uniform before confronting Logan. Then they fight and Logan uses the weapons of his fallen friends to win! Then, to tie it all together, Logan uses Iron Man's armor to escape and fly back to his family.

But he's too late. The Hulk family got bored and killed everyone. Logan finally breaks, embraces who he actually is, pops his claws, and goes after the Hulk family, killing them all until he finds Bruce Banner himself. Banner has not aged well. He's an old man, who looks frail and sickly. Instead, he's still as strong as ever and doesn't need to transform into the Hulk to have superhuman strength! Wolverine stabs Banner through the chest, seemingly killing him, but only angering Banner enough to trigger his transformation. The Hulk that we meet is not the one we expect. He's enormous, but has almost 0 muscle tone. Their fight is epic and ends with Wolverine being eaten, and then bursting out of the Hulk!

This story can be summed up in the most simple of terms. IT'S FREAKING AWESOME! When introducing people to comic books, this is one of the first books I recommend. It showcases all the best about Wolverine. How he really is a true hero, how violent and deadly he is, how important he is to the overall Marvel Universe, and especially what actually motivates him to be a hero. Logan is the most guilt ridden character in the Marvel Comics Universe, and often times his motivation is based on guilt and vengeance. If you've never read this story before, please do so. Then you'll fully understand why I love this character so much.