WOLVERINE #66

[MattBrady]

Marvel has provided Newsarama with an exclusive look at next week’s Wolverine #66, the first chapter of Mark Millar and Steve McNiven’s “Old Man Logan.”

As Millar explained it when we spoke to him about it in January,

“I'm a huge Marvel fan, a huge Unforgiven fan and a huge Mad Max fan. So I threw them all together and this thing wrote itself. I love the idea of the cobbled remains of the Marvel Universe... the flooded Baxter Building, the ruins of Xavier's mansion and so on. Visually, it could be something quite new and lots of fun to draw. We're so familiar with those iconic images like The Fantasti-Car so seeing a gang of radiation sick muties riding around in it and breast-feeding at 200 mph seems interesting to me. There's so many vile villains in this book. I feel we've outdone ourselves in terms of the bad guys. So, of course, it's going to be very satisfying when Logan gets pushed too far and pops those claws again.”

And of course, “Old Man Logan” ties in to Millar and Bryan Hitch’s run on Fantastic Four, 1985, as well as Kick-Ass…somehow.

“The thing that really links them is a man called Clyde Wyncham. He's introduced in 1985, but also features heavily in Fantastic Four and is pivotal in the origins of Old Man Logan. But there's other, more direct ways too. The FF have time-travel capabilities and this allows them in the second story (“The Death of the Invisible Woman”) to travel into the future and meet the future Wolverine from Old Man Logan. Plus the incident in 1985 is reflected through the two other main series. It really pulls everything together and even, quite naughtily, gets a major scene in Kick-Ass. This is naughty because it's not a Marvel book, but we've done it in such a way that nobody can sue. It's really more of an Easter Egg in Kick-Ass, but remember that both Kick-Ass and Marvel 1985 are set in our world, the real world, and so they should touch each other a little. Wolverine, I think, is going to be the monster book, though. Steve and I keep calling each other up and giggling with glee. We're very excited about this book and think it's going to hit horribly, horribly big.

The solicitation for the issue reads:

"Old Man Logan" Part 1 (of 8)

MARK MILLAR and STEVE MCNIVEN—who last teamed for the monumental CIVIL WAR—bring us the most important WOLVERINE story of the 21st Century. Nobody knows what happened on the night the heroes fell. All we know is that they disappeared and evil triumphed and the bad guys have been calling the shots ever since. What happened to Wolverine is the biggest mystery of all. For 50 years, no one has heard hide nor hair from him…and in his place stands an old man called Logan. A man concerned only about his family. A man pushed to the brink by the HULK GANG. A man forced to help an old friend—the blind archer, HAWKEYE—to drive three thousand miles to secure his family's safety. Get ready for the ride of your life, Logan.

IN STORES: June 11, 2008
Parental Advisory …$2.99

Click on the thumbnails for larger versions.

[GotReekstah?]

Say what you will about Millar, the man knows how to tell an epic tale or two..

And McNiven's art is beautiful.

I'm all over this.

[matthewstarnes]

Looks fantastic.

[eddie3429]

i'm in, love these two guys and lets not forget muree on color

[rekrap-retep]

sh*t a brick. this is gonna be good.

[HaveMercy]

This story looks dope.

too bad ill have to wait for the trade

[Michael Heide]

I have to stress again, I think it's great that a project like this gets told in the main series of a character as opposed to yet another miniseries. For years, those miniseries were cannibalizing the sales of the main ongoings that were often burdened with second-rate creative teams. Today, we have huge names on the ongoings. Amazing Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Action Comics, Batman...

Say what you want about the stories (I don't want to open the Brand New Day debate again), but it's good to see that the publishers are trying again.

[Evilomar]

No matter how many times they have used this gimmick in the 25 years I have been reading comics; I'm still a sucker for possible future stories.

[Tekkamansol]

Man this looks good

[MisterE]

You lost my suspension of disbelief at the mention of an "X-box" still being around in 50 years.

Nothing lasts forever. Technology changes. New models are introduced with more compelling names.

I hate it when authors fill an otherwise timeless story with modern pop culture references.

"Gee, Pa... that there Hulk Gang seems awful riled up. Maybe we should show 'em our breakdancin' moves to prove we're dope or invite 'em over to watch our cuttin' edge Betamax movie collection?"

[Truthseeker]

Looks like someone has read Cormac McCarthy's The Road. I am of the opinion that Millar is over rated as all hell. McNiven however, whoa, that'll get me through the door.

[Maytal]

Originally Posted by MisterE

You lost my suspension of disbelief at the mention of an "X-box" still being around in 50 years.

Nothing lasts forever. Technology changes. New models are introduced with more compelling names.

I hate it when authors trying to fill an otherwise timeless story with modern pop culture references.

Classic Millar, he taints/ruins all his work like that. The only time it works is in "1985" because the pop culture references are relevant, actually existed in that time and help reader immersion.

[Rednax310]

Originally Posted by MisterE

You lost my suspension of disbelief at the mention of an "X-box" still being around in 50 years.

Nothing lasts forever. Technology changes. New models are introduced with more compelling names.

I hate it when authors trying to fill an otherwise timeless story with modern pop culture references.

"Gee, Pa... that there Hulk Gang seems awful riled up. Maybe we should show 'em our breakdancin' moves to prove we're dope or invite 'em over to watch our cuttin' edge Betamax movie collection?"

Well, Nintendo's been around for how long now? 25 years? Plenty of people still call it simply "Nintendo." Also, it's quite clear that Logan's family is poor. Mentioning that they have an X-Box instead of Ultra X-Box 1200 X-Treme!!! simply illustrates that they can't afford the best toys.

[Eric Palicki]

Originally Posted by Truthseeker

Looks like someone has read Cormac McCarthy's The Road.

I was thinking THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, myself. Right down to the ex-archer sidekick.

[newfoundma]

Originally Posted by Rednax310

Well, Nintendo's been around for how long now? 25 years? Plenty of people still call it simply "Nintendo." Also, it's quite clear that Logan's family is poor. Mentioning that they have an X-Box instead of Ultra X-Box 1200 X-Treme!!! simply illustrates that they can't afford the best toys.

As opposed to just not name-dropping in an attempt to seem hip and relevant.

[Irishfan7/12]

I thought the xbox reference was fine. I figured it was because of the sort of post apocalyptic world that they don't have new games consoles.

[Northstar04]

Originally Posted by MisterE

You lost my suspension of disbelief at the mention of an "X-box" still being around in 50 years.

Nothing lasts forever. Technology changes. New models are introduced with more compelling names.

I hate it when authors fill an otherwise timeless story with modern pop culture references.

"Gee, Pa... that there Hulk Gang seems awful riled up. Maybe we should show 'em our breakdancin' moves to prove we're dope or invite 'em over to watch our cuttin' edge Betamax movie collection?"

Yeah, like when they make Superman references in old movies? Superman would never last that long.

I wouldn't let a simple reference throw off your belief in a comic book story. Maybe the X-box is just really, really old.

[Adm_Snackbar]

Is that Hulk woman breastfeeding on that cover? Is that a first for comics?

[wjclark01]

Usually when someone drops the "epic" and "most important (fill the blank) story" bombs, it means something semi-huge until the next epic rolls around. This looks and feels like the real deal.

[mimic_616]

I don't care what anyone says, l love Millar, l love McNiven and this looks awesome.

[Punchy]

Originally Posted by MisterE

You lost my suspension of disbelief at the mention of an "X-box" still being around in 50 years.

Nothing lasts forever. Technology changes. New models are introduced with more compelling names.

I hate it when authors fill an otherwise timeless story with modern pop culture references.

"Gee, Pa... that there Hulk Gang seems awful riled up. Maybe we should show 'em our breakdancin' moves to prove we're dope or invite 'em over to watch our cuttin' edge Betamax movie collection?"

Maybe Microsoft is still calling their consoles the X-box, like the X-Box 720 or X-Box 1080 or something.

[mendolar]

looks awesome and not a DOFP reference in sight. w00t!

[kalabro]

This looks VERY intriguing. Good storytelling, great art...I don't know if my wallet can handle it though--frakkin' economy!

[lesterg]

I'm going to guess that Millar watched the remake of 3:10 to Yuma shortly before writing.

Anyway, the art is great. I like that Logan's kid is named Scott.

[thefrogman]

I'm going to wait for the trade if only to save money but this looks fantastic. I'm also happy that Millar spilled on how Old Man Logan, Fantastic Four, 1985, and Kick-Ass all intersect each other.