IF HE DIES, HE DIES, PART 1: Weapon X is in Russia, going up against the best of the best, SICKLE and the Winter Guard. But Warpath isn’t going to let them create an international incident!
WEAPON X #20
Authors: Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente
Artists: Ricardo Lopez Ortiz
Colors: Frank D’Armata
Letters: Joe Caramagna
Publisher: Marvel Comics
What You Need to Know:
Sabretooth has taken control of Weapon X. They’ve recruited Omega Red and as part of their agreement with him, they’re ready to take out SICKLE. But Warpath, unhappy with the new direction, has quit the team and is instead determined to stop them from doing something everybody will regret.
What You’ll Find Out:
The new Weapon X is heading to take out SICKLE. SICKLE’s Helicarrier is hovering above Moscow. Omega Red is heading after the head of SICKLE, but Warpath is on his way to stop them (flying…ugh!). Of course, before Warpath can get in the way, he’s got to get past Russia’s own super team: the Winter Guard. Ironically, Warpath is there to protect the leader of SICKLE, but where’s the fun if he doesn’t get to beat up some other mutants in the process?
Omega Red gets hold of Director Rossovich, which prompts the rest of Weapon X to take out all the soldiers on the deck of the carrier. Of course, unbeknownst to Weapon X, this is only a secondary objective. Sabretooth gets to the bridge and downloads the registry of Russian mutants and sends to…a foreigner? Or the Foreigner? It’s really not clear. But it’s the guy who’s been conspiring with Sabretooth.
Of course, his victory celebration is short lived as Warpath crashes through the deck.
What Just Happened?
I say we get a petition to have Rahzzah draw every Weapon X book from here on out. The cover of this book was amazing!
Of course, then I open it and…wow…just….
I don’t rag on artists too much…I try not to because it’s a hard job and often a thankless job and let’s face it, even the worst artist in the industry draws better than I do.
And in fact, I’m even going to lay off the insults. Heck, I’m not going to really harp on the artist’s name. If you’re really interested, it’s mentioned at the top with the other credits. But this seriously has some of the worst artwork I’ve ever seen in a comic book…ever. It’s so bad that I can’t even enjoy the Winter Guard, a super team I’d love to see more of. It’s so bad that I can’t even enjoy Pak’s writing (granted…using Warpath as essentially Superman is stupid but some of the dialogue is great). It’s just… bad. I mean, I’m not even sure if Foreigner is someone we’re supposed to recognize or not.
The lines are all over the place. There are weird lines in the middle of a picture where there shouldn’t be any. The faces are horribly distorted and for some reason, Warpath sometimes looks like a character out of Dragonball Z. Which, of course, is the next problem…it’s not just that the art is bad, it’s that the art is completely out of place. Weapon X is a particular type of book and this art just doesn’t fit.
Heck, the only scene I can compliment is the image of the SICKLE carrier hovering over Moscow: it’s big, blocky, and simple. Seems very much like a standard Russian machine.
And see, that’s what frustrates me most. I should be talking about how disappointed I am that we know the end game here and how we know who makes up the new team. I should be complimenting Pak’s clever writing, or complaining even more about Warpath’s Superman complex. Instead, I can’t help but focus on the art.
Unfortunately, it’s not a horrible story, but sometimes you come across artwork that just makes a book unreadable.
Rating: 3/10.
Final Thoughts: What could have been a fun story is done in by bad art. It’s happened before and it’ll happen again. Let’s just move on and hope Weapon X #21 is better.
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