Comics / Comic Reviews / Marvel Comics

Wolverine: Weapon X #12

By Andy Frisk
April 10, 2010 - 23:37

25 years into the future, the evil corporation Roxxon controls the world. Their reign is threatened by a super powered being from the present. As we’ve seen before, when evil masterminds take over the future and a leader rises to the occasion to battle him or it, said evil mastermind will attempt to wipe the heroic leader out by sending something or someone into the past to kill them, usually before they are born. It’s just how it’s done. If you want to control the future, you better control the past. This is exactly what Roxxon intends to do. It’s a recurring requirement of being an evil mastermind.

 

Ok, we’ve really only seen one evil mastermind try to do this before (in the Terminator films). In Wolverine: Weapon X #12, writer Jason Aaron unabashedly rehashes the same plot, albeit with a bit of a twist. Skynet…uh, I mean, Roxxon doesn’t know which superhero they have to kill so they decide to kill ‘em all. This might seem a bit like a tired plot retread, but this is Jason Aaron we’re talking about here. It’s also Wolverine and Bucky Cap as well. The action, plot twists, sheer adamantium laced violence, and smart-ass dialogue top any Terminator tale (well, at least any Terminator comic book spin offs). Add Garney’s bad-ass and tough as nails pencils to the mix, and you’ve got yet another storyline that demonstrates why Aaron and Garney’s Wolverine: Weapon X is the best series to feature everyone’s favorite canucklehead in years.

Aaron simply has a knack for writing and bringing out the best in the slightly anti-heroic leaning characters and taking them to new heights. His Ghost Rider run was one of the most fun yet engrossing portrayals of the flaming skull brothers Johnny Blaze and Daniel Ketch. His Wolverine run is shaping up to be just as good if not better. In Aaron’s hands, Wolverine is once again the sharp witted, hard shelled, fast healing scrapper who despite all his hardships is a hero and good man at heart. He’s what he was back in the glory days of Chris Claremont’s Uncanny X-Men run. Wolverine as a character can stagnate fast. Often his storylines run along the lines of “snikt, growl, slice, stab, brood, mope, and repeat.” With Aaron we get plenty of the above, it just feels fresh. Aaron throws in a heap of sly political and societal commentary, but he does so without coming off as trite or preachy while delivering heaps of action at the same time. In Wolverine: Weapon X, he’s at the top of his game.

Wolvie wouldn’t be Wolvie without someone to capture the rough and tough look of the world’s rowdiest mutant and bring the aforementioned “snikts, growls, slices, and stabs” to life. Garney nails a realistic, detailed, well choreographed, and fast paced action portrayal of Wolverine's superhero fisticuffs. His panels flow easily and clearly into one another. He pulls off the feat of portraying two simultaneous hand to hand battles (Bucky Cap verses a Deathlok and Wolverine verses his own Deathlok) on the same page with no confusion or misdirection. The addition of Jason Keith’s considerable coloring talents finishes up the best looking Wolverine series we’ve seen artistically in years as well.

There’s really no reason why a fan of the character Wolverine or any fan of comic book superheroes shouldn’t check out Wolverine: Weapon X. It’s fun, fast paced, well written, and drawn and colored spectacularly. It’s not a heady work, or as particularly profound as some other superhero books and their current storylines, but for sheer rockin’ coolness and action with a heart, Wolverine: Weapon X can’t be beat.

Rating: 9 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12