Weapon H has developed a secret weapon. A soldier with the combined abilities of the Weapon X programs deadliest veterans and the strength of the Hulk. Logan, Sabretooth, Warpath, Deathstrike, and Domino are determined to stop the one man army, even if it may well cost them their lives.
WEAPON X #8
Author: Greg Pak
Artists: Marc Borstel & Ibraim Roberson
Colorist: Frank D’Armata
Publisher: Marvel Comics
What You Need to Know: Weapon X and Department H are both hunting for Weapon H (affectionately referred to as Hulkverine). Weapon H seems to be tracking his past, trying to remember who he was and where he came from. Weapon X finally caught up with him.
What You’ll Find Out: Even though Logan wants to talk, Weapon H isn’t taking any chances. He attacks, taking down Warpath, Deathstrike, Sabretooth, and Logan (even though Logan just wants to talk). He leaves Domino alone, but that’s probably because her bullets just bounce off of him. She manages to get them all on board the ship and bandaged up. Logan points out that Weapon H didn’t kill Domino because he does actually have a moral code. She’s the only one without a healing factor…everybody else would have survived. Sabretooth, of course, is tired of Logan trying to reason with the Hulk. Domino suggests reinforcements and that gives Logan an idea.
Hundreds of miles away, Hulkverine continues his trek when another flashback hits. This time, it’s of one with him in the army. As his squad-mates slaughter civilians, Clay turns on them which causes them to beat him into unconsciousness. Suddenly, Clay awakes as a human in the snow outside a cabin. Inside the cabin, he sees familiar faces, a woman and two children. But it’s part of his hallucination as one of the kids shoots him and he realizes that it’s a room full of armed soldiers. But he doesn’t need to turn into the Hulk. He deals with them the old fashioned way.
As Weapon X tracks him, Domino begins an investigation to find out who Hulkverine really is. They find a block of military records that have been wiped out by a computer worm developed by a private contractor. That leads them to safe houses, one that they are sure is the house Hulk was headed to. But Sabretooth decides this is a good time to assert his position as team leader. But no sooner does he sucker punch Logan does Logan’s reinforcement show up (sorry, guys…while I saw this coming, I’m still gonna keep it a secret).
What Just Happened? I think Weapon X suffers from trying to do too much at once. Pak clearly wants to establish this new Hulk as a worthwhile character and I do honestly think he’s an interesting one. I want to know more about him. But when we watch Weapon X chasing after him, I’m reminded that everybody else seems to be sitting this out. Logan, at the very least, is perhaps the most interesting he’s been in years in his attempts to reason with Clay considering that this is the very antithesis of his normal behavior. Perhaps Logan sees something in the new Hulkverine (I seriously want that to be his official code name) that reminds him of his younger self or maybe the horrors he endured at Department H and the Weapon X project. But this keeps getting interrupted by Sabretooth’s attempts to assert control which never seem to go anywhere. And it’s getting tiring. Domino occasionally chimes in at least and seems to be the voice of reason. (her snappy patter definitely makes this book more worthwhile)
But why are Warpath and Lady Deathstrike even on this team? They only serve to get injured and bleed all over the place. Occasionally they get to contribute but their scenes could easily be replaced by one of the other three.
The art is decent. Fairly consistent for Borstel and Roberson. The close ups are great (they excel at facial expressions) but the distance shots are often a bit boring.
And how bad is it when the surprise at the end is one I knew was coming from the moment it was mentioned? I sure hope Pak wasn’t hoping for some big twist because it didn’t shock me (still not going to blow it for those of you who haven’t read it).
Rating: 6/10
Final Thoughts: This is one of those series that I really want to like. It started out as one of those undiscovered gems that nobody was buying but everybody should. But the problems I had with this book have been for the past several issues. I actually love the new Hulkverine and I love Logan’s role in this, but you could drop everybody else and we wouldn’t lose much from the story. Here’s hoping we get a bit more development as we go.
