Secret Wars: Old Man Logan's Place in the New Marvel U.

Not a big week for Secret Wars (9 tie-ins to the usual 13, 3 of theme "Last Days"), so I thought I might single one out: Old Man Logan. The reason I do so is because this is the version of Wolverine we're apparently getting in the core Marvel Universe once it reforms in October (in addition to X-23 becoming a female Wolverine). The way his mini-series is developing may be a hint as to how he and other "implants" from other continuities (Ultimates, Squadron Supreme) will be integrated into a new timeline.

From the looks of it, they won't actually be.

Let me explain. In Old Man Logan, the character is made to visit several domains (in this issue, Armor Wars' Technopolis, for example), cutting him off from his home domain, a postapocalyptic future similar to the original Old Man Logan's. While some characters in Secret Wars know all about other domains and do move about, most do not. Old Man Logan is certainly bewildered by his meeting people he knows, but who don't know him. It appears his domain really IS the future of Earth-616 (or at least has a past that is exactly like 616's), so if he were to move to a reconstructed universe, as it were, he would "know it" as his past. As someone who "remembers" the former universe (in a way), he's primed to move back there with a minimum of fuss. He might even be one of the few people who remembers Battleworld when all's been said and done. But that doesn't make him a "continuity implant" retroactively inserted into the Marvel time line; it gives him the status of refugee. From Battleworld, from an alternate future, call it what you will. Is that what's ahead for the Squadron Supreme and the Ultimates? Will they remember their former worlds and have to adapt to the new one? Looks like it. We won't be looking at a Marvel Universe where the Squadron was operating in upstate New York, somehow, or has been born anew.

My guess is that certain characters will join the fight near the end of the event and get a chance to escape Battleworld's destruction, finding their way to the new Earth, much as the twin ships of Reed Richards and Thanos did, from the colliding universes to Battleworld. Speaking of which, the one new series out this week is Star-Lord and Kitty Pryde, and it's the first outside the core book to feature a character from the previous universe. This is the Peter Quill from our world, and he's just laying low after being scattered to the winds by Dr. Strange (at least until he meets a Battleworld Kitty who works for Doom). It's not necessarily part of the larger core story, however, just a side-trip for one of the refugees, though it does reference it and the location from Attilan Rising. If you're not reading the whole thing, this stands as a warning.

Now then, here are my picks for 5 Favorite Moments of the Week (spoilers ahead)...

5. Even though it's Ragnarok out there, it's not too late to put someone in their place.
4. Hehehe. Apelantis.
3. The mythology of the Marvel Zombies domain is pretty fun, especially Carnage as a typical scab monster.
2. E for Extinction is like a lost chapter of Morrison's X-Men run, and there's a lot to like there. This early escape from the U-Men's base is quite fun.
1. I keep forgetting Marvel actually owns Crystar and his whole world, not the Remco toy company! I loved being reminded through their use in Weirdworld!
You might have other picks. Don't be shy about letting us know what they are!

Comments

snell said…
Now that Fox & Hugh Jackman have announced that the next Wolverine movie will be Old Man Logan, you have to wonder if certain Marvel execs will push the "FF Panic Button" and backtrack on some of their plans re: OML being so central.
Martin Gray said…
Thanks for keeping us up to dat - I bailed with Week Two. When does it all end?
Siskoid said…
October... but I'm in for the long haul.

Then I probably won't read another comic for months.
Brian said…
snell, since the issue has been with non-comics products licensed by Marvel to other companies, while keeping the characters who are in the Fox licenses well-represented in the actual comics*, I think that having an OLD MAN LOGAN movie actual benefits Marvel. Much like FIRST CLASS and DAYS OF FUTURE PAST, there's going to be lots of back catalog that Marvel can market to fans of the movie when it comes out (similar to how AGE OF ULTRON had the name of an old book and CIVIL WAR is going to have the same) – no one really expect an OLD MAN LOGAN film follow the Millar storyline (there's no Hulk, Hawkeye, Red Skull, etc), but it's a familiar title that evokes the image of a Wolverine survives beyond all those who he's known in a world gone mad to reader-viewers and let's Jackman do the "Wolverine in UNFORGIVEN" that he wants to do.

(*after the past few FANTASTIC FOUR runs, everything since Hickman, has failed due to low readership and even the case of Fraction leaving when he did, the situation of Marvel opting to end this series prior to SECRET WARS and actively rest the brand-as-series as they are is oddly being taken conspiratorially, given the number of X-Men titles continuing and how different FF characters are continuing in other books and have been effectively headlining SECRET WARS. I'm going to get a good laugh when the next FANTASTIC FOUR #1 is launched in a year or so's time and is that month's number-one bunch on account of all the hype built up over the theories that folks have had and the likely mandate of exploring the renewed post-Battleworld Marvel universe/multiverse...)
LiamKav said…
I also think fans are playing up the "Marvel are killing everything FF and X-Men related to spite FOX" stuff up a bit much. Secret Wars, their line-wide crossover, has Reed and Doom as pretty important characters, after all. However, they are definitely reducing the number of X-Books. Paul B'Brien did a count and reckons the line is going down from 15 to about 5. Granted, a lot of those 15 were mini-series (or "series that aren't expected to last that long", like Storm) but there's definitely a reduction. Of course, the X-Books have been due for a reduction in number for YEARS now, so this is probably a good thing.
Siskoid said…
While the X-Men will likely always be popular (especially Wolverine), the Avengers are the hot brand right now, and where there used to be wayyyyy too many X-titles, now it's the same with Avengers.

Not Batman level yet, but pretty close.