HAPPY BIRTHDAY, OLD MAN LOGAN: It’s Logan’s birthday! And Sabretooth is helping him celebrate the same way they always do: by trying to kill each other! But this time, they’re in a lab surrounded by monsters who want to kill them both!
WEAPON X #16
Authors: Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente
Artists: Roland Boschi & Andrea Sorrentino
Colors: Frank D’Armata
Letters: Joe Caramagna
Publisher: Marvel Comics
What You Need to Know:
Every day on Wolverine’s birthday, Sabretooth has a little tradition he likes to follow: he tries to kill Logan. Even being inverted during the Axis event a few years ago hasn’t changed that. Sabretooth may be a “good” guy, but he still enjoys giving Logan his “birthday present”.
For this birthday, Sabretooth took them to a lab in New Mexico where scientists had created various monsters. And now, Logan’s pissed.
What You’ll Find Out:
Logan has pretty much had it. He’s in full berserker mode as he lunges after Sabretooth.
Which is exactly what Sabretooth wants.
The two fight, clawing at each other while the monsters in the cages behind them cheer them on. (okay, maybe not cheer per se, but they’re definitely getting riled up). Logan is clearly winning as Sabretooth is even getting woozy from the loss of blood.
So finally, Sabretooth decides to add another element to the mix. He breaks open the cages and the monsters pour out, attacking both mutants. Logan is in his element, all the while Sabretooth is loving just how far he’s fallen. Logan’s no longer a man, he’s as much an animal as the beasts he’s killing. And that tickles Sabretooth to no end.
A section of the wall breaks away, revealing in the distance kids playing soccer. That helps to snap Logan out of his rage as he now needs to protect the innocents. Sabretooth, of course, finds this a laughable concern as Logan would know nothing about innocence.
Finally, the last of the monsters are dead. Logan is enraged…they didn’t need to die, they could have stayed in their cages. But to Sabretooth, they’re all monsters…the creatures…Logan…Sabretooth. All of them. And then it’s just the biggest monster wins. But Logan knows differently. He remembers the future he came from, where Sabretooth had finally given into his animal side completely, but Logan, still a man, knew what had to be done and put Sabretooth down like a rabid dog.
Sabretooth and Logan face off, Logan ready to end this once and for all. He was tired of giving Sabretooth chances. And that suits Sabretooth just fine. But then the alarm chimes. Logan’s birthday is over. Sabretooth walks away, leaving Logan trying to figure out what just happened.
Warpath is there, watching. He and Logan discuss even putting Sabretooth down, but Logan vetoes that idea. He does see something in Sabretooth. Maybe he’s not the same guy as he was before. But there’s still the concern that his homicidal tendencies are still there. So Warpath and Logan agree that they just need to find him someone else to kill.
What Just Happened?
It’s a Weapon X without 60% of the team.
But ultimately that’s okay. Logan’s the star of the show and he always has been. You’re not going to read Weapon X if you don’t want to read about him. The problem comes in the exposure we get to the rest of the team: Sabretooth, Domino, Warpath, and Lady Deathstrike.
But really, that’s not a problem with this particular issue. Maybe with the series as a whole but last issue already set up that this was a story about the relationship between Logan and Sabretooth. Do I wish Pak would give us something with more involvement from Warpath and Domino? Yes, without a doubt. But I’m not going to fault this issue for that.
And if we can ignore that 60% of the team is missing, then we can move on. Because I know a lot of you are going to bring that up.
The one thing that I am going to bring up, however, is the art. Last issue, Boschi’s art seemed to be an interesting choice and I found myself enjoying it, for no other reason than it seemed to be unusual. Sometimes an artist who doesn’t follow the standard 90’s formula is a nice change of pace. I still had my problems with him but felt I could take it in small doses. This issue, however, it’s just too much. The art is easily the weakest part of this book.
The redeeming part of the art is the few pages drawn by Andrea Sorrentino. His work on the Old Man Logan portion of Secret Wars was amazing and it’s a refreshing call back to that spectacular miniseries.
And it’s really hard to get past the art. Which is really too bad because I find myself really enjoying the story. Sabretooth is trying to prove that Logan is just as much a monster as he is and he’s so desperate to do so, he’ll risk both their lives. This suggests that he’s always been jealous of Logan and it’s clear that he’s got some issues.
On top of that, Sabretooth is really struggling with his inversion suffered during Axis. He is a hero now, but he’s not happy about it. He’s still a killer and how does he reconcile the two? But this also gives some great insight into how Logan views Sabretooth. Logan understands what Sabretooth is, but he sees something in Creed, something that perhaps isn’t evident to anybody else, not even Sabretooth. And that’s why he’s keeping him around. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing where Pak takes this relationship.
Rating: 6/10.
Final Thoughts: Fans of Logan and Sabretooth won’t want to miss it. It’s definitely enjoyable, but unfortunately, comics are a visual medium and you may not be able to look past the art. Still, Pak gives us an insightful glimpse into one of the most dysfunctional bromances. Of course, Pak also gives us the “furball special” so I’m not sure if this is a win or not.
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