SABRETOOTH’S IN CHARGE: Are you ready to root for the bad guy? Sabretooth and Omega Red team up to take down SICKLE! But Warpath isn’t too fond of this idea and does his own thing. Eventually they’re going to have to talk it out…but today’s not the day.
WEAPON X #19
Authors: Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente
Artists: Yildiray Cinar
Colors: Frank D’armata
Letters: Joe Caramagna
Publisher: Marvel
What You Need to Know:
After Logan and Sabretooth celebrated Logan’s birthday, Logan was left too weak to lead Weapon X and so he turned the reins over to Sabretooth (despite the objection of Warpath). Their first mission was to kill Omega Red but Sabretooth has instead decided to appeal to Red’s humanity, trying to reach the animal inside. Sabretooth promises to release Omega Red from SICKLE’s control by destroying the nanobots inside him.
However, as Red and Sabretooth “reconcile” (I use the term loosely), Warpath has had enough and quits Weapon X, instead choosing to help the inmates at a superhuman gulag in Russia.
What You’ll Find Out:
Deathstrike and Domino continue to track Sabretooth, but Deathstrike makes an interesting discovery: Sabretooth has been working with a mysterious benefactor.
Sabretooth and Omega Red look for Red’s original target: General Zaslow (who is heading a hundred armed soldiers and five Titanium Men). Omega Red, under orders from SICKLE through the nanobots in his blood, jumps into the fray, going after the general, leaving Sabretooth to deal with the Titanium Men.
Warpath leads the mutant prisoners to the Weapon X ship, piloted by Logan. There, he makes a discovery…Logan’s healing factor isn’t really working all that well and Logan is dying (where have we heard that before?). Logan makes another effort to convince Warpath to trust Sabretooth, to give him a chance.
Meanwhile, Lady D and Domino jump into the battle as well but it’s hard to tell who’s on whose side. Sabretooth and Omega Red versus General Zaslow but Deathstrike and Domino are there to protect Zaslow…it’s very headachy. Suddenly, Zaslow reveals to be a mutant herself which is why SICKLE wants her dead. And so Sabretooth proposes a deal…to join with Zaslow to take down SICKLE.
But as Sabretooth and Deathstrike work to drain the nanobots, Warpath declares to Domino that he has no intention of joining Sabretooth’s strike against SICKLE and will do what he can to stop them.
What Just Happened?
I never thought I’d say this…but I’m actually enjoying this schism. Sabretooth versus Warpath, with Logan trying to mediate, Deathstrike obviously choosing a side, and poor Domino caught in the middle. I really hope we get to see some development from her considering what she’s been through in her own limited series. She’s siding with Sabretooth but that seems more due to the excitement and adrenaline and the hope that eventually she’ll see a payday. But that means going against the man she’s started a relationship with. Whether or not she has feelings for him or is just going with the flow is hard to say, but Pak has an opportunity to go somewhere with this.
Unfortunately, he seems to often to miss these opportunities. But I’ve long been a fan of Domino and Warpath and would love to see something happen there, whether good or bad.
Pak and Van Lente give us more of what they’ve given in the last several issues. We get an intriguing story and some fun (sometimes witty) dialogue. Some hints of things to come. With the news of the upcoming title, Weapon X-Force, we know where this is heading and I’m having more fun than I thought I would.
It’s not perfect, though. Logan dying has already been done and considering that OML has his own title that (to my knowledge) is not on any chopping block, his being sick is either a pointless ruse or no real threat. And Cinar’s art is, as always, mostly fantastic, but there were just a few scenes that didn’t really resonate with me, including the final image of Sabretooth bleeding Omega Red dry. It just seemed too static to end the book with.
But all in all, this was another good issue that finally starts to let some of the other characters peek through (including Deathstrike).
Rating: 7.5/10
Final Thoughts: Pak, Van Lente, and Cinar deliver another fun book. It’s definitely an enjoyable read with plenty of action and drama. It’s all leading somewhere and if you’ve been unsure about Weapon X in the past, you may want to give this arc a try.
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