Old Man Logan #47 // Review
Old Man Logan #47, by writer Ed Brisson, penciler Damian Couceiro, color artist Carlos Lopez, and letterer Cory Petit, features Logan and Alpha Flight trying to save a small Canadian town from an alien monster. Will they be able to figure out a way to stop it before it destroys the town? After last issue’s very cliche set-up, this one does something rather novel, and it serves to a elevate a trope that most comic readers have experienced a thousand times.
The alien creature has grown bigger and the heroes are hard pressed to stop it. As plans are made and discarded on how to deal with it, the creature links with Shaman, and he’s able to see what happened to its homeworld and why it came to Earth. He shares this info with Logan, who comes up with a plan to stop the creature. Afterwards, Puck reveals he’s found someone that Logan has been looking for.
This issue is another testament to Ed Brisson’s skill as a writer. He takes a generic alien monster invasion story and does something a little different with it, drawing a parallel between the creature and Logan. Both are beings whose homes were destroyed and found themselves on another world. At first, both of them were lashing out, trying to carve out a niche and survive. The difference being, of course, that Logan was able to assimilate to the world around him and become a part of it. The alien in this story can never do that, so Logan and Alpha Flight are forced to deal with it violently. Logan and the team regret what they have to do, but in order to save lives, they have to take this creature’s. It adds a note of poignancy to what is otherwise a story that’s been told in multiple formats umpteen times.
Beyond that, Brisson keeps ratcheting up the tension as the monster grows bigger and gets closer to killing the last few people in the town, as well as Alpha Flight. It’s rather typical of this kind of story, but it’s effective. This little two parter isn’t going to set the world on fire or change the comic industry, but it’s entertaining. Again, the interplay between Logan and Puck is great, capturing the friendship and trust these two characters have for each other, even though in reality, they barely know each other. Apparently, in the Marvel multiverse, one of the constants is that Pucks and Logans are always friends. It ends on a rather tantalizing mystery, setting the groundwork for the next story to come, as Puck tells Logan that he’s found a person Logan has been looking for and Logan sets out to find whoever it is. It’s the kind of cliffhanger moment that will keep fans guessing and dying to find out what happens next. Brisson knows how to keep his audience on the hook.
Much like last issue, Damian Couceiro’s art is nothing special, but it’s not bad and an improvement over the last issue. The first page is a nice splash page of the monster coming for Guardian and it sets the tone for the issue rather well, highlighting how massive the monster is and how small the heroes are in comparison. His action scenes are well laid out and kinetic. The problem comes with detail on long shots of the characters, just like in the last issue, but his close ups on Logan capture his grizzled demeanor perfectly. Carlos Lopez’s color is top notch as usual, and it serves the art rather well.
Old Man Logan #47 could have been a cliche affair and, while it still definitely has elements to it that could considered as such, Ed Brisson throws in a twist on the formula that makes the whole thing shine a little bit more, and the cliffhanger ending sets up the next story arc wonderfully. These two elements, along with improved art, make this one into something special. Subverting a formula while still giving readers something satisfying isn’t always easy (ask Rian Johnson), but Brisson and company pull it off here and make it look effortless. The art could be better, but this is definitely a story worth picking up.
