Grumpy Old Man (with knives in his hands)

Wolverine. Dear God, Wolverine. Is there any character more over-saturated in comics today?Seriously, in recent years every single writer wanted to either write a Wolverine story or somehow shoehorn the guy into their book. But in 2008, one Wolvie book actually managed to rise above the rest of the crowd thanks to its action movie writing from Mark Millar and Steve McNiven's outstanding pencils. And the world has seen fit to call this Old West action ride: Old Man Logan.

First, some back story: This story takes in a dystopian future where the bad guys have finally succeeded in taking over the world and Wolverine has become a pacifist with a faltering healing factor , a loving family, and claws that he hasn't popped in 50 years.

The most basic way I can describe this story is Dark Knight Returns by way of Batman Hush; by that I mean you get the dystopian future setting, but you see it a way that makes it much more of an action and fast paced romp than a brooding social commentary.

Millar's writing definitely keeps this book moving at a speedy clip. The book is definitely predictable on most fronts, especially the conclusion, so most of the fun is in seeing the expected events take place. And when you do see them happen, McNiven's art will not disappoint; this is one of the most gorgeous Marvel books I've seen in a while. There are so many pages in here that you could enlarge and make a poster out of, that your eyes are likely to bleed with happiness.

Old Man Logan certainly succeeds on delivering some great tight-nit action in the spirit of modern day westerns. The story may not be the deepest in the world, but then again it doesn't need to be. If you don't like Wolverine going all crazy badass on his foes in the conclusion then, frankly, you don't like Wolverine.

-Julian