Wolverine Wednesday #21

Weapon x #27

Writers: Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente | Artists: Luca Pizzari, Alberto Alburquerque, Roberto Di Salvo & Ibraim Roberson | Colourist: Frank D’Armata | Letters: Chris Eliopoulos

So after twenty seven issues Weapon X reaches is end. It has been one hell of a ride. A ride which has largely been enjoyable. A long the way we have had solid interior art work, brilliant covers and stories that moved at full throttle. Before this issue I hadn’t heard any official news of the series coming to an end, I just assumed that to be the case when it wasn’t any the January solicitations. My feeling is it was a result of low sales. Because while the issue feels like a good end point for the story arc it doesn’t feel a satisfactory conclusion for the whole team and the series so far. However there are some interesting plot points set up by Pak and Van Lente that have plenty of potential to be exploited in future X-related books, especially with the imminent return of prime Wolverine. Like the previous twenty six issues this finale serves up some non stop action. Again there is dark humour supplied by Deadpool. Even Omega Red chips in with some one liners. My favourite part was when after gutting somebody Lady Deathstrike makes a comment on her actually making a contribution to the mission. Maybe Pak and Ven Lente have been reading my reviews! This time though along with everything we have come to expect from a Weapon X comic we are served a side of heart and surprisingly it comes from Sabertooth. In the space of one issue as well as wrapping up the entire series the writers complete the work they set up with Sabertooth in the previous issue. To say it is character development is a little misleading, by the end of #27 Sabertooth has finally reverted to his full villainous ways in a big way! Like I said it sets things up for the future. My appetite for Sabertooth and Wolverine butting heads in this new status quo is already whet. This final issue is delivered by a collection of artists, all who have previously contributed to the series. With my untrained artists eye I couldn’t tell you what page is who! But that doesn’t matter. Again we are treated to a beautiful cover by Rahzzah. I love the return of the old school Sabertooth! One of my favourite aspects of reading Weapon X from first issue to last is that it has introduced me to a whole new selection of artists. Because it isn’t one of Marvel top tier books you get to discover all new artists you might not have seen else where. Without taking away from anyone who has worked on the series I would say Ibraim Roberson and Yildiray Cinar have been the pick of the bunch. I look forward to seeing them in Marvel Universe sooner rather than later. I have really enjoyed this Weapon X series and if you haven’t read it I highly recommend checking out the trade paperbacks. I will buy anything with Weapon X in the title so until the next time… Goodbye.

Dead Man Logan #2

Writer: Ed Brisson | Artist: Mike Henderson | Colourist: Nolan Woodard | Letters: Cory Petit

Another solid building block in the story of how Old Man Logan will meet his end. Obviously with the title of the series we already know the outcome but Ed Brisson is going to let the readers enjoy every moment till we get there. I get the feeling every building block that Brisson has placed so far is going to be really important come the stories end. Nothing feels like it is a throwaway. So if your sleeping on this title it will make for a great trade paperback read. You can get all the blocks in one place then without the thirty day wait! In the previous Old Man Logan series I gave Brisson a hard time for his opening arc which I felt was too long. I then praised the remainder of his run for constantly changing up story arc lengths. Two issues into a twelve issue story arc the pace of this already feels very natural. In the opening issue he delivered two major cliff hanger moments with the introduction of Neo-Hydra and Forge’s trip to The Wastelands. In this issue he gives both those plot points space to breath. Oh before I go on we get Brisson writing Glob again in this issue! What I enjoyed most about this issue… Glob aside, was the interaction between Miss Sinister and Sin. With a twelve issue series I think it is important to have a good second story running along side the main event and with this two characters we are getting that so far. There is one thing I didn’t like and that was what I feel like Brisson trying to get the reader to have some compassion for Mysterio! This is done with the simple approach of having Cross Bones bullying him! Maybe it is just a throwaway tertiary story, I will be watching it intently to see how it unfolds. I love Mike Henderson’s art on this! Its brilliant! Bright, bold and the visual story telling is A game stuff. All his characters are visually appealing with very expressive faces. What stood out for me most in this issue in collaboration with the colourist is his attention to detail on backgrounds. When a character moves from room to room rather than having blocks of colour, Henderson delivers realistic rendered rooms. I mean that’s a skill and level of work I can really appreciate as a reader.

X-23 #7

Writer: Mariko Tamaki | Artist: Diego Olortegui | Inks: Walden Wong | Colourist: Chris O’Halloran | Letters: Cory Petit

From the cover I was immediately drawn to what the story would be. The I flipped the cover and was introduced to the title ‘X-Assassin’ and I was hooked! What I like about the cover by Ashley Witter is that it places are titular character alone in an unknown location with the sense of being watched. Sticking with the art Olortegui is amazing. Like Henderson’s work on Dead Man Logan his faces are very expressive. Having a younger character like Gabby in the story gives him the chance to run the whole spectrum of facial expressions. There is a little technique he uses and I’m going to butcher it with the way I explain it. So Diego I’m sorry! When Gabby is in the background with the action in the foreground he uses a more animated style to draw her. He does it by giving her small black dot eyes and motion lines. Rather like a Tin-Tin style. Going on to the story now there are times as a comics reader you are calling out for something new and fresh. Then there are times when you are more than happy to sit back and read something close to something we have read before. Without giving away the entire plot we get some elements that aren’t entirely new to X-23 mythos but they have a fresh enough spin on them for the story to be interesting and keep me around for the forth coming issues. Like I said sometimes it makes you feel comfortable staying in a familiar setting. Anytime Gabby is center stage, whether it be a panel or a whole page I feel myself smiling. Again I enjoy having Beast around as like a sidekick, mutant/science consultant to Laura and Gabby’s missions. And again I love how Olortegui draws him. Along with Beast appearing Tamaki plays in some good connective tissue to the wider X-books. With the plot points laid down in this issue and the cliff hanger we may get to see a new dynamic to the Laura/Gabby relationship in the coming months. I believe Tamaki is good enough to deliver a new dynamic so I look forward to seeing how it plays out. I like the angle of the story and I feel Tamaki is growing into the series so it is an exciting time to be reading X-23.