Old Man Logan, Part 6

Old Man Logan might seem like kind of a hopeless story. Anytime that anyone is pinning all of her or his dreams on something, well, that one thing tends to go pretty badly. The story shows this in little ways and big. 

You get the failure of the crops on Logan's family farm. You get the daughter of heros, Spiderman's granddaughter, turning out to be a power hungry criminal. You get crowds of downtrodden people praying for the return of Thor that will never happen. 

But it isn't just the good guys whose plans don't work out. Spider-bitch, Spiderman's granddaughter, the first time she sends her army out, that army is wiped out. The Kingpin is unable to hold onto his territory. Giant Loki got crushed under a falling building. The giant Venom T-Rex? Well, you'll have to see for yourself.

The centre cannot hold, things fall apart. 

What's interesting about the comic, though, is that no one stops hoping. For such a deeply pessimistic story, there are an awful lot of characters who seem to think that salvation is right around the corner. Logan keeps going Hawkeye keeps going, people keep making plans and trying them out.

Old Man Logan is really built on the idea of expectation, the idea that things will get better, that our best days haven't quite gotten here yet, not matter what the world looks like. Despite the beatdown of every single character, the idea that it'll all work out is still central.

The characters who have given up, Spider-Bitch's mother, Emma Frost in this issue, Logan himself, they are still shown in a negative light for their inability to keep the faith.

It's quite beautiful, and a little sad.

We finally find out what the package is in this Wolverine #71. Not to spoil anything, but it comes right on back to the idea of hope, of expectation. 

Comments

[generic cialis]

I may be wrong, but I don't think this is a question which has a
simple, scientific answer. Science isn't always good at "why"
questions. Spiders have eight legs because their ancestors had eight
legs. Nature's tendency toward bilateral symmetry makes an even number
of legs a "given," but the abstract concept of a functional spider
doesn't absolutely require eight legs, rather than six or ten or
twelve. Eight legs is just what they've got.