Logan #3 (of 3) – Review

Brian K. Vaughn (writer), Eduardo Risso (art), and Dean White (watercolors)

Logan has been an odd miniseries right from the start. The whole story, while extremely interesting in concept, has been a letdown for me and probably could have been told in one double-sized issue as opposed to being stretched out. I understand why it was done, but that doesn’t let anyone off the hook in this case. The conclusion here is satisfying enough, but the story as a whole feels unnecessary since Lt. Warren is little more than a bad mutant tainted by the war and Atsuko’s not much more than a window into Logan. Let me explain both the good and the bad now that the series has, thankfully, wrapped up.

First with the good: Brian K. Vaughn’s take on Wolverine has been solid enough to keep me reading, although hardly breaking new ground. Jason Aaron is doing a better job with the “Logan in pain” monologues in his fun “Get Mystique” arc and I mention this mostly because this final issue has a good amount of “Logan in pain” moments (with good reason, I have to add). Lt. Warren is a decent enough villain. The contrasts between he and Logan are the most interesting parts of the story early on. If the dialogue between Logan and Atsuko weren’t so wooden at times, I would even say a nice, if short, relationship was developed here also.

Another nice high point is the Dean White watercolors which give the whole book a surreal feeling that permeate through the entire story. They fit the story well and had Eduardo Risso’s art been stronger, I think we’d have a nice looking book on our hands.

The final thing I enjoyed was the sufficiently brutal resolution to the Warren and Logan conflict. It lifts the book as whole, if anything, because it plays off the healing powers of both men well. And the monologue given as the battle comes to a close is excellent as well. A few lines were powerful enough that they will probably stick with me as a prime example of how to write of death.

And now the bad: As I said before, the book as a whole feels somewhat unnecessary and, at times, phoned in. Eduardo Risso’s art also brings the book down, simply because it came across as either sloppy or thrown together. It seems like everything could be stronger if the surreal aspects of the story were integrated into the artwork more.

Overall, the Logan series is extremely underwhelming. It has it moments, but not enough of them. It has a great concept, but just doesn’t run with it enough to keep it interesting. Other than a couple of nice looking scenes and a few bits of memorable dialogue, I see myself quickly forgetting I ever read this story. (Grade C-)

-Kyle Posluszny