Old Man Logan #5 Review: Bordertown Part 1

Old Man Logan is a man without a past or a family. The alternate reality Logan travels to a place that he once called home and gets more than he can chew.

Old Man Logan #5
Written by Jeff Lemire
Art by Andrea Sorrentino
Inks by Andrea Sorrentino
Published by Marvel Comics

Although Old Man Logan has been a slower paced series compared to the rest of the All-New All-Different Marvel series, these books feel just as impactful if not more important to the overall landscape of the Marvel universe. Writer Jeff Lemire (Futures End, Green Arrow, Animal Man) has been creating a terrific story that continuously gets better every issue. While illustrator Andrea Sorrentino (Green Arrow, God of War, Vampire) provides the artwork that initially is hard to adjust to but once the reader gets accustomed to his work, they instantly want more from this talented individual.

Old Man Logan #5 begins with Logan getting acquainted with this all-new X-Men team. Since this is an alternate version of the X-Men, Wolverine, who was mind controlled and killed his Earth’s version of the X-Men, being a part of a unit again is a weird concept for him to process. Like always Logan feels the need to be a lone wolf even when there are people around him willing to help. But Storm, who has been around a Logan for the majority of her life understands the need for the former Weapon X subject to be alone and lets him go on his own way.

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The first part of the issue really pulls at the heart strings. Logan is a man without a home, family, or friends. He’s trying to find his way in his version of an alternate reality and it’s not working for him. Lemire is such a skilled writer the way he has the characters interact with one another making them feel like real people and not just characters in a comic book. While Sorrentino draws art that makes the setting feel intimate even in the grand scheme of things.

Next, Logan journeys to a place that is near and dear to him. While on his bike ride back to the place that holds many memories for him, he revisits the darkest days of his life and how he tried multiple times to end his life. All Logan wanted to do in this place that’s familiar to him was to blend in and stay away from trouble. However, when it comes to Logan, staying away from trouble isn’t something that he does easily.

One day, Logan revisits the Weapon X facility and the readers find out how he met his wife Maureen. He also meets a Maureen on this earth and he suddenly realizes his new mission, to protect his new Maureen at all costs. Once word gets around that Logan is back alive, a few of his companions from his past are planning to pay the old man a visit.

The way that Lemire makes the reader feel multiple emotions at once for Logan is truly a gift. Throughout five pages a reader could feel grief, anger, want vengeance, want the old man to find true love again is really outstanding. Plus, with Sorrentino’s artwork Old Man Logan #5 really hits home.

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The Bottom Line: Old Man Logan feels a lot like another All-New All-Different Marvel series, The Vision. The reader knows things are going to get ugly, they just do not know when exactly things are going to fall downhill. Logan may not know it yet, but he’s running out of time and once his visitors from his past realize the emotional connection he has to Maureen, things are only going to get worse from here on out.