I haven’t enjoyed elderly violence this much since my ex-marine sixth grade teacher threw some kid’s chair at the wall in frustration. And he didn’t have razor-tipped arrows, either.

The Obligatory Warning: smashed skulls, bow-and-arrow headshots.

Wolverine: Old Man Logan is a new story arc by the same team (inker and colorist, even) responsible for Marvel Comics’ Civil War. Old Man Logan is set in an alternate future where the villains exterminated the heroes years ago, then divvied up a defenseless United States. The only heroes remaining are Hawkeye, now a blind drug courier, and Logan, who has given up both the name and identity of Wolverine. This Logan hasn’t unsheathed his claws for decades. He’s a pacifist seriously in need of money to pay off his homicidal landlords, who happen to be Bruce Banner’s hillbilly Hulk children. When Hawkeye shows up and offers $500 to Logan to help drive a package from Sacramento to New Babylon (formerly Washington, D.C.), Logan reluctantly accepts.

Millar’s inspired story idea takes cues from a jumble of sources. It has the out-of-retirement theme of The Dark Knight Returns, the post-apocalyptic look of Mad Max, and gives an indirect nod to Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. It also borrows from Millar’s own Wanted, another series where the villains created a hero-free America. That said, Old Man Logan is anything but a rehashed derivative.

Millar’s reworking of the Marvel Universe makes these issues distinctive and gripping. America is now a lawless wasteland divided between the Hulk family, the Kingpin, Doctor Doom, and the U.S. President. Las Vegas is a religious site where pilgrims pay homage to Thor’s hammer (Thor was killed years ago), street gangs on Ghost Rider flame bikes terrorize innocents, and the Spider-Mobile is no longer lame. Add to this Millar’s believable characterizations and exciting pacing, and the result is dynamite.

The art, by Steve McNiven, Dexter Vines, and Morry Hollowell, is easily as good as Civil War, and maybe better. Steve McNiven and Dexter Vines are gifted artists, and Logan’s resignation, confusion and pent-up rage are conveyed with a fine hand. Hawkeye’s smugness and borderline Old Testament anger are also a joy to look at. Morry Hollowell is working thus far with a more limited palette than he had for Civil War. These issues are set in the American Southwest, but the omnipresent sky blues and earth tones don’t get boring. In Hollowell’s hands (and Christina Strain’s), they seem to improve with each page.  

Worth the money? Absolutely.