Wolverine #68
Wolverine #68 is the third installment of the landmark 'Old Man Logan' arc, a post-apocalyptic reimagining that fundamentally reframed what a Wolverine story could be — trading superhero action for a road-novel meditation on trauma, guilt, and redemption set across a villain-conquered America. The issue delivers one of the arc's sharpest narrative twists: the rescue of Ashley Barton, the granddaughter of Peter Parker and daughter of Clint Barton, who turns out to be neither victim nor hero but a calculating opportunist who immediately seizes criminal power for herself. That character beat — and the full debut of Ashley under the moniker 'Spider-Bitch,' a name so transgressive Marvel had to sanitize it in every subsequent reprint context — gave the Spider-Verse a genuinely subversive new figure who would resurface in Superior Spider-Man, Spider-Verse, and Spider-Geddon. The broader arc it belongs to became the creative template for the 2017 film Logan and contributed a cameo-level variant to Deadpool & Wolverine (2024), cementing 'Old Man Logan' as one of the most culturally durable Wolverine stories of the modern era.
In "Old Man Logan Part 3," a weary Logan and a determined Clint Barton race toward Salt Lake City to rescue Clint’s daughter from the new Kingpin’s grasp. With Logan reluctant to fight, Clint takes up the mantle of heroism—only to face a shocking twist when his daughter Ashley steps into her father’s role, turning on the Kingpin with brutal finality. As Logan is pushed to the edge, he must confront the cost of violence in a world where even the most hardened survivor can’t afford to stay clean. Written by Mark Millar and illustrated by Steve McNiven, with inks by Dexter Vines and colors by Morry Hollowell, Justin Ponsor, and Jason Keith, the issue’s cover by Steve McNiven and Dexter Vines captures the weight of this turning point in a fractured future.
Find on ebay
Sell my copy
Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.
We Buy Collections ▸History
Writer Mark Millar and artist Steve McNiven reunited for 'Old Man Logan' approximately a year and a half after their run on Civil War (2006–2007), the two collaborators having developed a working shorthand that allowed McNiven's hyper-detailed, cinematic pencils to carry Millar's densely plotted, pop-culture-saturated scripts. Millar drew explicit inspiration from Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven and the Mad Max franchise — a 'retired outlaw on one last ride' framework transplanted into a dystopian Marvel Universe where the villains won a coordinated global assault on the heroes fifty years prior. The arc was edited by John Barber under group editor Axel Alonso, with Dexter Vines inking McNiven's pages and Morry Hollowell providing the primary color work across the run; the series went to at least three print runs on several issues, a testament to demand that outpaced initial orders.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Issue is the third chapter ('Part 3 of 8') of the 'Old Man Logan' storyline, set in the dystopian alternate reality Earth-807128, where supervillains overthrew Earth's heroes roughly fifty years before the story's present.
- Full debut of Ashley Barton (credited in-issue only as 'Ashley'), the granddaughter of Peter Parker and daughter of Clint Barton / Hawkeye, who assumes the identity later canonized as 'Spider-Bitch' — a codename so explicit it was replaced with 'Spider-Girl' or 'Spider-Woman' in all subsequent reprints and crossover appearances rated T+.
- Key plot beat: Logan and Hawkeye stage a rescue of Ashley from execution by the Wastelands' Kingpin; Ashley immediately kills the Kingpin herself and seizes his territory, revealing her true villainous ambition rather than any heroic motivation.
- Creative team: writer Mark Millar, penciler Steve McNiven, inker Dexter Vines, colorist Morry Hollowell (with additional color credits to Justin Ponsor and Jason Keith), letterer Cory Petit; cover by McNiven, Vines, and Hollowell.
- Editorial staff: editor John Barber, group editor Axel Alonso, editor-in-chief Joe Quesada.
- The 'Old Man Logan' arc as a whole was a direct creative influence on James Mangold's 2017 film Logan (Hugh Jackman's final solo outing as the character) and contributed a variant-universe cameo to Deadpool & Wolverine (2024).
- Ashley Barton went on to appear in Superior Spider-Man #33, the Spider-Verse event (2014–2015), Spider-Geddon (2018), Old Man Hawkeye (2018), and Old Man Quill (2019), making her full debut in this issue a recurring point of reference in Spider-Family crossover publishing.
- The complete 'Old Man Logan' story (Wolverine #66–72 plus Wolverine Giant-Size Old Man Logan #1) has been collected in multiple trade paperback and hardcover editions, including a Marvel Premier Collection with an introduction by artist Steve McNiven.
Cast · 1 character
Full credits
Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
Logan and Clint take off for Salt Lake City to save Clint's daughter from the new Kingpin. Logan refuses to do any more than drive the car as Hawkeye cuts through the Kingpin's men and rescues his daughter. Ashley kills the Kingpin and decides to become the Kingpin herself, turning on dear old dad. In order to save his friend, Logan is going to have to forsake his pacifistic ways and resort to a little mutant mayhem.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).
Key issues in Wolverine
Variants (3)
Reviews
Reader reviews
No reader reviews yet.