Review- WOLVERINE- OLD MAN LOGAN VOL. 3: LAST RONIN

WOLVERINE- OLD MAN LOGAN VOL. 3: LAST RONIN (Marvel, Second Printing, 2017; Softcover)

Collects Old Man Logan #9-13 (cover dates September, 2016- January, 2017)

Writer: Jeff Lemire

Artist: Andrea Sorrentino

Colorist: Marcelo Maiolo

The back and forth timeslip ('Then' and 'Now') method of storytelling is often a crutch for a thin plot. It is typically employed when the events would be unremarkable if presented in a linear fashion. Lemire manages to hold it together well enough though.

This arc delves into the ninja aspect of the character. Wolverine became insufferable when he started pontificating about honor and discipline and all that jazz. Logan was always too much of an undisciplined brawler for me to buy him being a ninja. Of course ninjas are cool. Who doesn't like watching them fight and throwing stars and stuff? Lemire mercifully sidesteps any honor ninja talk. 1980S Wolverine, only decades older, is holding fast.

I chuckled when Wolverine appeared in his Patch persona. I remember back when his first ongoing series was launched back in 1988, and how excited 15 year old me was at the time. Only when you flipped open the first issue you didn't have Wolverine, you had Patch, the underworld informant, and instead of Wolverine fighting supervillains you had James Bond crap going on. I bolted from that series fast as a kid, although I did read and enjoy the first 10 issues when they were reprinted in the Wolverine Omnibus a while back. I just didn't get what they were going for as a kid.

All of this leads us to the Silent Order and the Silent Monk, the very thing that brought Old Man Logan to Japan in the first place. Logan is still trying to prevent his future from happening even if it is crystal clear that this is not his timeline.

Everything is still moving along at a good pace and I am still enjoying myself. Lemire is sticking to his plan, and Andrea Sorrentino's art, while using obvious Photoshop tricks, is pleasing to the eye and clearly laid out. This gorier adult take on the character makes me smile.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 3.75 out of 5.

The OCD zone- I am surprised that this book received a second printing, as Marvel typically allows material to go out of print so that it can be repurposed in Omnibus hardcovers and, once those go out of print, fat Complete Collection trades.

Paper stock: Fair weight coated stock with a slight sheen.

Binding: Perfect bound trade paperback. This book is on the thin side and feels like a fat periodical.

Cardstock cover notes: Laminated cardstock.