Written by: Mike Fish
For those wondering, I do read comic books that are not horror. Mostly Marvel, some Dark Horse, Independents, and the occasional big boy book, but you know, I dig them all the same. Shocking enough, there’s more Wolverine books than X-Men books, so the furball is kind of hard to ignore. So in the spirit of the X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE film coming out this Friday, I’ll tackle a Wolverine comic book that’s about as close to horror as it can be. Shocker, I know.WOLVERINE: WEAPON X – Issue #1
Marvel Comics http://www.marvel.com/
Written by Jason Aaron | Art by Ron Garney
The horror of Wolverine might flow from the inkblood of writer Jason Aaron. From his edgy Vertigo book SCALPED to his sly growl on FRIDAY THE 13TH: HOW I SPENT MY SUMMER VACATION, Aaron usually incorporates a taste of horror in his writing. More of a lurking terror that can rip people to shreds if they’re not careful, which is perfect for the antihero Wolverine whom tends to spend more time in the tight spandex than his real home in the noir-horror world. I mean come on, we’ve all had arguments when we were kids on who would win in a fight: Wolverine or Freddy Krueger? They both had claws that ripped flesh, had a tenacity to go after people until they were dead, very unpredictable, and seemingly unstoppable in the worlds they lived in. In essence, Wolverine is a character that should be feared, not celebrated. He’s kind of like Snake Plissken from ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, only with claws and a metal skeleton. Jason Aaron seems to recognize this dark and gritty side to Logan.
In WOLVERINE: WEAPON X, one of many Wolvie books, Old Man Logan finds himself meeting up with old Weapon X mate, Maverick, (whom many people will get to know as Agent Zero in the movie) with some urgent news that the facility from which they were “enhanced” into killing machines has been taken over by a private agency. On the way there, Logan manages to ride the subway train and attract the trouble of some bad hoodlums looking to rob people of their possessions. But instead of some karate moves, a punch to the gut or some big talk, Wolverine decides to say the hell with it and cuts off one guy’s hand and shoves a gun up the ass of another. Yeah, definitely not the Saturday morning cartoon version. So after meeting up with Maverick, Logan heads back to the facility to find it in full use, and from the looks of it, many other soldiers have been turned into “Wolverine-ites”, as they hack up an entire village with glow in the dark Wolverine claws. It’s a mystery that speaks volumes of a possible return for the presumed dead and decapitated Sabretooth, so don’t be surprised if he shows up. It’s a comic book and nobody stays dead there.
As long as writer Jason Aaron and artist Ron Garney can keep it dark and adult-orientated, WOLVERINE: WEAPON X will be a series that will lift the superhero mold off Wolverine and make him more of what he is: A badass antihero that uses his claws to cut, kill, and decapitate people that so much as look at him wrong. That’s not so bad, is it?
GRADE: 3/4
CONTINUE READING? I think so. This seems to be the Wolverine story horror fans might like.
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