Wolverine #125

TITLE: Wolverine #125

PUBLISHER: Marvel Comics

COVER DATE: June 1998

COVER PRICE: $2.99

40 pages


WHAT I REMEMBER...

So here's a first for me (and it's also something I completely forgot about until earlier today). This post will actually be the second time that I've written an on-line review for this very issue. The sharper readers among you are all ready to point out that this is the first issue of Wolverine that we've reviewed here...and didn't I just mention that very same fact a post or two ago?

Well you're right, and to find that first review we're going to have to go way back to ye olden days of the internet. Back when we used to have to walk uphill in three feet of snow to access our dial-up modems in all of their 56 kbit/s glory. The year was 1998 and my isp was AOL. I can't quite remember too clearly, but they used to offer some sort of limited, five-page website/myspace like thing. Being the vanguard of the internet frontier that I was, I thought I could use it to throw up a review or two.

Also at this time, Claremont was making his first return to the X-Verse after his rather abrupt departure after relaunching X-Men back in 1991. What better issue to kick off my new review site with than this one?

Obviously, nothing ever amounted to that first foray into internet stardom, as I think I may have written three reviews before moving on. Who knows how different the internet would be today if I had stuck with it, eh? If I get some time this week, I'm going to do some digging to see if I can unearth a copy of that review. It's got to be on an old floppy disk somewhere, but the hard part is going to be able to find a computer that still has a floppy drive in this USB flash drive world.

So what did I think of the issue back then? I remember really liking it, and you know what? It still holds up pretty well upon rereading.

Logan's Run!

• Writer: Chris Claremont
• Penciller: Leinil Francis Yu
• Inker: Edgar Tadeo & Gerry Alanguilan
• Colors: Jason Wright
• Letters: Richard Starkings & Comicraft/EM
• Editor: Mark Powers
• Editor in Chief: Bob Harras

Here's the thing...I've been pondering over how to approach this review for over a week. As I said earlier, it's a pretty good issue that still holds up, but for some reason I'm having a hard time getting a handle on making this an entertaining review.

I could do a straight summary but this issue is forty pages, and these are forty pages written in Chris Claremont's wonderfully wordy style. To make matters worse, the first ten pages are a dream sequence! Nothing makes me lose interest more quickly than having to read or watch somebody else's dream.

On top of that, Wolverine doesn't even show up until over halfway through the issue. What we have instead is sort of a This Is Your Life-like trip through the ladies of Logan's love life, with Jubilee as our guide.

Haunted by dreams of Logan in trouble, it's up to Jubilee to keep him safe from his pursuers. Who are the people chasing him? None other than all of the ladies that Logan has been close to over the years...Jean Gray, Rogue, Yukio, Psylocke, Tyger Tiger, Jessica Drew, and Shadowcat.

They're all decked out in Viper green, which makes you think that maybe she has something to do with all of this. Spoiler alert...she does, and it's up to Jubilee and Shadowcat to find out what it is and keep Wolverine safe at the same time.

So why does this issue work so well?

Let's find out, but here's the thing, I don't think I'm going to convert anyone over to being an X-Fan with this review. I completely understand why some people aren't and have no interest in being one. Hell, it's been six or seven years since I've considered myself one. But I cut my teeth on Claremont in the mid-80's, so I've always allowed Claremont (and his excesses) a rather long leash.

Instead, I'm just gonna take a rather stream of consciousness trip through this issue and point out what I did enjoy.

CHRIS CLAREMONT

This man is responsible for some of the most enjoyable comics in my collection. The 80's was a glorious time to be an X-Fan, and a big part of that can be laid of the feet of this man. Unfortunately, his track record since leaving the X-Men for the first time has been rather lackluster at best.

The Randomizer did us a favor and actually picked one of the highlights from this period for us to read. There's something about Wolverine that just seems right in the hands of Chris Claremont. I've never been that big of a Wolverine fan, but there's something about a Claremont Wolverine story that appeals to me.

That dialogue just shouldn't work when being read with a straight-face. There's a fine line between corny and bad-ass, but somehow he manages to straddle it with no problem.

It also makes his eventual reveal in this issue send chills up my spine.

You see, you read that dialogue in a vacuum and it's just gonna fall falt. But if you put it in a dialogue box with the arrow pointing at Wolverine...it's game, set and match! It also doesn't hurt to have the image drawn by Leinil Francis Yu. And speaking of...

LEINIL FRANCIS YU

I remember this guy starting out on Wolverine about a year before this issue came out, and he really had a style that stood out and made me a fan right away. Following Adam Kubert and Marc Silvestri on Wolverine is no easy feat, but Yu's style was very complimentary to what had come before, while at the same time being a little slicker and less aggressive.

From the opening shot of Jubilee on the run--

--to the debut of a couple of deadly ladies--

--to the Jubilee and Shadowcat fashion show--

--to the big throwdown between Viper and Logan--

--he gets it right every time.

JUBILEE & KITTY PRYDE

The Dick Grayson and Tim Drake to Wolverine's Bruce Wayne.

Wolverine needs a sidekick like Batman needs a Robin. He doesn't actually, but the fact that he has one humanizes him and brings him back down to earth. Some of my favorite Wolverine stories have also involved either Jubilee or Kitty Pryde. Throw 'em both together, and it's winner winner, chicken dinner!

SO, WHAT DID WE LEARN

I make no apologies here, but I don't think we've learned too much here except for the identity of a few of my biases towards what makes a good Wolverine story. Your mileage may very, and I'm pretty sure it probably does. I haven't read a new issue of a comic with Wolverine in it since Rucka's run, maybe? Somebody's enjoying them though, as he's what...in about a dozen different books these days?

That right there makes me glad that I have issues like these in my longbox collection to fall back on.

Now that I think of it, I think there is one thing that I've learned while rereading this. Even with all of the books that Wolverine's in, I think there is actually room for one more that I would actually read. Give me a Wolverine/Shadowcat/Jubilee team book, similar to a Birds of Prey type thing, written by Chris Claremont and I just might be tempted to break my current Marvel embargo.

All characters and artwork reproduced are (c) Marvel Comics

One of these things is not like the others, one of these things just doesn't belong...or does it?

Well, Happy New Year everybody!

I figured I better tend to the blog before too much of the year got past us, so I hope everyone out there is invigorated and ready to go, chomping at the bit to take on whatever 2011 throws at us!

Speaking of new things for this year, today was the first comic book day of 2011. As I was buying my stack at my LCS, I noticed something strange about the covers. Yeah, it's the first week of DC's iconic cover treatment for the month of January, but there was something else weird. Take a look...

Those covers do look rather nice, all laid out together. It really makes Sweet Tooth stand out. If you look a little harder though, I think Jeff Lemire might be having a little fun with us. Do you see it?

For the month of January, all of the DCU books have a blank white cover with the main character(s) of the book in a rather heroic pose, front and center. Sweet Tooth, on the other hand, went in the opposite direction and has a brightly colored background with the main character as just a blank white figure!

Bravo, Jeff Lemire...Bravo! I don't know if you did it intentionally or not, but it sure made me chuckle nonetheless.

Now, on the business at hand as it's time to pick a new random book to review. Take it away Randomizer...

...and that book is Wolverine #125 from June 1998, published by Marvel Comics!

For someone who has a near complete collection of the one hundred and fifty or so issues of Wolverine's first series, it sure took the Randomizer a long enough time to stumble across one. He actually hasn't been that much of a stranger around here, having had a sleep-over at Dr. Strange's and escaping from Weapon X, but this is the first time he's shown up in his own title.

This issue is also the second in a row written by Chris Claremont that the Randomizer has pulled out of the longboxes. Coincidentally enough, I was actually just thinking about Claremont and Wolverine the other day. With Marvel pulling the plug on X-Men Forever 2, I was wondering if there was any title that Claremont could write that I'd still have an interest in reading. X-Men Forever has it's fans, but in all honesty it's a bit of a trainwreck. In fact, most of his team books have been rather scattershot in their approach to plot in the last decade. That got me thinking that I would actually be curious to see him tackle a single character book, and Claremont's style always seemed to suit Wolverine. Maybe it's the fact that they both think they're "the best at what they do" that connects them?

Be careful with what you wish for in the presence of the Randomizer, as you just might get it. See you in a day or two for the review.

Fantastic Four #347

TITLE: Fantastic Four #347

PUBLISHER: Marvel Comics

COVER DATE: December 1990

COVER PRICE: $1.00

23 pages


WHAT I REMEMBER...

There's two things that I remember about this issue. One of them, it turns out, I've remembered incorrectly.

I'd always assumed that this issue was the start of Walter Simonson's run on Fantastic Four. I'd read a little bit of the Fantastic Four here and there, but never followed it with any sort of regularity. This issue was the start of me buying this title on a monthly basis, and I guess I always attributed that fact to jumping on at the beginning of Simonson's run, but it turns out that he started his tenure on this title back on issue #334!

As much as I hate to admit it, I guess I jumped on with this issue because it had Wolverine and Ghost Rider in it. Don't judge me...it was the early 90's and I was a naive comic book reader.

Luckily for me this was an awesome issue in the middle of an awesome run. Which leads me to the second thing I remember about this issue, which was that it turned me into a Fantastic Four fan. To put it more correctly, I guess I should say it turned me into a frustrated fan as Simonson would be off the title only eight months later.

To me, Simonson set the bar incredibly high with his run. Yes, It was wacky, goofy, and tongue in cheek; but most of all it was intelligent and incredibly entertaining at the same time. Not many other creators have managed to achieve that balance, which is why my collecting history with the title is full of holes.

The closest we probably got was with Waid and Wieringo's tenure earlier in the decade, which unfortunately had it's consistency marred by some overactive editorialial influence. John Byrne had a highly entertaining run, but I don't know how intelligent it actually was, while Hickman's run currently is striving for intelligent, but leaving the fun behind. I've never read any of Stan and Jack's original run (I know, I know...I'll get around to it someday), but I can only assume that it hit the mark seeing as how they were the ones that defined the target.

To me, Walter Simonson's short run is the apex of greatness, and the fact that there are twelve more issues that I never knew existed before today have me chomping at the bit to go do some longbox shopping tomorrow. In the meantime, however, we'll tide ourselves over rereading this issue.

Big Trouble On Little Earth!

• Writing: Walter Simonson
• Penciling: Arthur Adams
• Inking: Art Thibert
• Lettering: Bill Oakley
• Coloring: Steve Buccellato
• Editing: Ralph Macchio
• Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

This issue begins in space, as the silence between the Earth and the Moon is broken by the arrival of a damaged ship that emerges from lightspeed, only to crash land on Earth.

The attractive female pilot (hey, she's drawn by Art Adams...she's gonna be pretty) escapes with her life, swearing vengeance on those that betrayed her and marooned her on Earth.

We'll find out exactly who (and what) she is in a bit, but first let's check in with the Fantastic Four at Four Freedoms Plaza who are enjoying some down time after being away for the last couple of weeks. Like any typical family, however, there's some dysfunction hiding in the background.

Johnny seems to be infatuated with an alien woman that they met a few issues back, even though he's married to Alicia Masters. Johnny Storm married...I had forgotten all about that.

A human Ben Grimm seeks to console his girlfriend, Sharon Ventura, who is currently She-Thing and trapped in her rocky form. She-Thing...I had forgotten all about that.

That right there is the sign of a good writer. You got two things that by all rights should hamper your ability to tell a good Fantastic Four story, and he makes 'em work. So much so, that I had completely forgotten that they were even an issue.

Seeking to take advantage of everyone's distracted attentionzs, our mysterious crash survivor arrives at Four Freedoms Plaza. Using her ability to change shape and her telepathy, she easily slips inside and begins to take the FF down one by one.

Changing her from into Nebula, Johnny's blue-skinned alien infatuation from earlier, she appears before him and gets close enough to shock him into unconsciousness with a hand held taser device.

Similarly, she does the same thing to Ben. Only this time appearing as Johnny's wife, Alicia Masters, his old flame who fell in love with Johnny when Ben was off-world. He obviously still has feelings for her, as the shapechanger is able to take advantage of that to get close enough to use the same device on Ben.

...and we all know the conflicted feelings that Sue has always had for Namor.

Second verse, same as the first...and down goes Sue to the shapechanger.

After drugging She-Thing with a knock-out brew of tea, the mysterious alien sets her sights on Reed. It turns out that the alien actually has a little crush on Reed, and takes the form of his wife to seduce him into unconsciousness.

Unfortunately for her, Reed is too quick and notices her deception and manages to bend his body away from her taser at the last second. As perceptive as he is, however, he's never been that good of a hand-to-hand fighter and he soon finds himself unconscious with the rest of the Fantastic Four before he can alert the Avengers.

Meanwhile, we find out exactly who the mysterious alien attacker was running from as a Skrull warship enters Earth orbit, hot on her trail.

Scanning the planet for De'Lila, they soon find a plethora of Skrull-like lifeforms centered on a small island in the pacific. Cloaking their ship, they head to the island to investigate. Unfortunately for them, that small island is none other than Monster Island, which they find out the hard way.

It turns out that the monsters of Monster Island all have a primitive Skrull like brain, which was the source of the Skrull life readings. The Skrull in charge seems less concerned about why that is, than with using that fact to his advantage to smoke out De'Lila from hiding. Using neural disruptor darts, they tag each monster and teleport it to various cities around the globe. Using the disruptors to increase the ferocity of the monsters, they hope to drive up the mental stress planet-wide and flush her out.

Little do they know, there's a monarch of Monster Isle...and he's none to happy about the current turn of events.

Still in the form of Sue, De'Lila uses the FF's computers to familiarize herself with Earth's superheroes. Reed's files are complete enough that they allow her to pick and choose among them a group of recruits with which she hopes to achieve her destiny. Using her telepathy she sends a mental summoning out to the four heroes who soon arrive at the door of Four Freedoms Plaza.

The Grey Hulk, Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Ghost Rider are soon brought in to see "Sue", who tells them the tragic (and altogether false) tale of how she returned home to find her home in ruins and the rest of the Fantasic Four dead or dying. Using one of her husband's inventions, she called to each of them to come to her aid to help avenge the recently deceased members of the Fantastic Four.

By now, the "new" members of the Fantastic Four have fallen for De'Lila's story and agree to help her find the monsters that did this. Playing right into her hand, she arms them with another of Reed's gadgets that will allow them to track down the energy signature of the attackers. Little do they know, the attackers they're being sent to hunt down are the Skrulls that are hunting De'Lila.

SO, WHAT DID WE LEARN...

This comic was as fun, if not more, than I remember. Maybe it's the fact that there is so little new Marvel that I find readable for three bucks anymore, that I'm starting to get nostalgic for the characters that I grew up with.

Or maybe it's the fact that it's been so long since I enjoyed a good Fantastic Four book, that this issue seems to shine a little brighter. Hell, it's been even longer since I've enjoyed a Wolverine book, that his brief appearance here actually made me miss the old canuck.

Whether it was any of those reasons, or an amalgam of others, this book just pleased me to no end. Even though the Fantastic Four get punked out relatively early in the book, it's got alot of the earmarks that make a great story...Skrulls, Monster Isle, crazy inventions, family drama, space travel, etc...

And speaking of the Skrulls...they're an antagonist I like best when they are played for laughs. They've never been the most dangerous of foes in the FF rogue's gallery, but they are entertaining none the less. The over-the-top inclusion of some of the 90's most overused guest stars let you know right away that this is going to be a fun issue. So with the Skrulls and Mole Man as the villains, we have the perfect blend of absurdity and comedy with which to have a little fun at their own expense.

This is the first part of a three parter, so unfortunately we have to spend most of our time setting things up. Luckily for us, we have Art Adams supplying the pencils for this issue, so even the dialogue heavy pages are fun to look at.

One thing that is distracting about the art, is that the combination of the paper quality and the coloring tended to give this book an over-saturated look on the page. I'd love to see this book recolored using today's technology, as I'm sure it would give Art Adams' beautiful pencils even more attention.

Now we just have to wait for the Randomizer to pick another book from this run, so that we can continue on with one of the best runs from the 90's. In the meantime, I'll be happily looking through some back-issue bins for the issues that I missed.

Holy crap! Simonson had Kang show up during his run?! How the heck did I miss that? Now I'm definitely hitting the comic book store tomorrow.

All characters and artwork reproduced are (c) Marvel Comics

X-Men (Vol. 2) #1

TITLE: X-Men (Vol. 2) #1

PUBLISHER: Marvel Comics

COVER DATE: October 1991

COVER PRICE: $1.50

37 pages


WHAT I REMEMBER...

I didn't think so at the time, but looking back, this issue can plainly be seen as the downfall of my voracious interest in all things X. It would be years before I would give up on Marvel's mutants all-together, but from this point on there would be only brief snippets of genius intermingled with monthly mediocrity.

I still can recall vividly buying this issue (and all of the different covers) from my comic book store. I also remember laying all the covers out on my floor, to make one big panorama. This was when Jim Lee was king, and at this point he could do no wrong in my book.

Oddly enough, most of my memories of this book deal with my emotional reaction and ties to the issue, and not to the quality of the actual story itself. I don't really have a sense of the story, only that Magneto returns. Although, now that I think about it, this must be where Magneto's Alcolytes are introduced as well. I really didn't care for these jokers as villains or antagonists, so if this is dealing with them in detail, color me bored already.

Still, we'll give it the old college try and see how this issue holds up after close to two decades.

Rubicon

• Writer: Chris Claremont
• Co-Plotters: Chris Claremont, Jim Lee
• Penciler: Jim Lee
• Inker: Scott Williams
• Letterer: Tom Orzechowski
• Colorist: Joe Rosas
• Assistant Editor: Suzanne Gaffney
• Editor: Bob Harras
• Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

In space, a group of mutants in a hi-jacked space shuttle are desperately trying to find Mageneto's old base of operation, Asteroid M. They are just about caught by trailing military personnel, when Magneto makes his presence known.

Demanding only to be left alone, Magneto destroys their ships and is about to hurtle them all back towards Earth when one of the fleeing hijackers appeals to Magneto as a fellow mutant, as it's him they've come looking for.

Back on Earth, the fracas in space does not go unnoticed as both the Soviets and the Americans initiate their own plans to deal with Magneto once again.

The X-Men, meanwhile, are oblivious to what is going on out in space as they are in the midst of one of their ever-present training exercises. Professor Xavier has recently returned from Shi'ar space, and is back in a leadership position among his students. After being gone for so long, however, he looks to re-familiarize himself with their abilities and fighting styles.

What we get is eleven pages of the X-Men divided up into three different teams. Rogue and her group attack the mansion from outside and above, penetrating it's walls, only to fall within feet of the Professor at the mercy of Jean Gray and her psychic powers.

Wolverine and his group take a different tack and try to infiltrate the mansion from the tunnels below. Gambit falls first, as he takes the time to impress the ladies instead of delivering the killing blow. Wolverine proves that he's the real deal and manages to pop his claws mere inches from Professor X's nose...game over.

After the battle has ended, Wolverine and Cyclops have their usual pissing match that typified much of their relationship in this era.

It's not long, however, before they are summoned by Nick Fury and briefed on the recent happenings on Asteroid M. With the Russians and the Americans both on edge, Fury thinks it's best that the X-Men are notified. Cyclops agrees, while Wolverine thinks a man should be allowed to make a mistake first, before you condemn him.

Again with the disagreement...why don't you two get a room already.

Back on Asteroid M, Magneto has saved both the mutant hijackers and the American military that were chasing them, trying to stay neutral in their struggle. All he has done, however, is bring their conflict to his doorstep as one of the mutants is gunned down at his feet.

Using his magnetic powers, he forces the soldier's gun to point itself back at it's bearer and fire. Prodded and goaded on by Fabian Cortez, another of the mutant hijackers, he is once again brought into the struggle for mutant equality. These mutants, who have pledged themselves to his cause, will be his Acolytes.

Realizing that the Americans are unlikely to let this death go by unanswered, he decides to act pre-emptively in his own self defense. Returning to the scene of one of his own greatest tragedies, he raises a Soviet submarine that he was responsible for sinking earlier. He's not here to reminisce, however, as he uses his magnetic powers to salvage the remaining nuclear missiles that are still lodged within.

Unfortunately for him, the X-Men are here to talk him out of it. Its a pitched battle, but Magneto is able to withstand their assault long enough to gather his nuclear missiles and make good his escape.

Rogue is not willing to let Magneto go without hearing a piece of her mind, however, as she tries to draw on their recent time together to reason with him.

During her speech, the two of them have inadvertently flown over Russian airspace and the Russians have decided to take this chance to get their revenge on Magneto for the sinking of their submarine. Their fighter jets open fire, with Rogue caught in the crossfire. A further enraged Magneto reacts, with the closest weapon at his disposal...a nuclear weapon!

Before the rest of the X-Men can mourn Rogue for too long, Professor X sends a psychic communication that he has found her. She has ended up in a hospital on the island nation of Genosha? Now exactly how and why this happened remains a mystery (to me, at least), but it gives the X-Men a chance to go toe to toe against Magneto's Acoyltes because they all happen to be there as well, wreaking havoc on the city streets.

It's all a bit too much, and screams plotting by committee as everyone had to get their favorite location inserted into this issue. The X-Mansion...check. Asteroid M...check. Genosha...check.

It all comes to a head, as Magneto reappears to collect his wayward acolytes and pronounce that Asteroid M shall from this day forward be a sovereign nation for all mutantkind. Any act of violence perpetrated against a mutant, shall now be answered in kind.

SO, WHAT DID WE LEARN...

I think the biggest thing we've learned with this issue, is how much the economy of comics have changed in the previous two decades. Thirty-seven pages for a buck-fifty? That's crazy.

What's even crazier, is that all thirty-seven (and a two page centerfold also) are drawn by Jim Lee! I think that pretty much matches his output for the last three years?

As much as I enjoyed looking at all thirty-seven pages of this issue, it was probably twice as long as it needed to be. I mean, I love a good danger room sequence as much as the next fanboy, but a dozen pages worth? That's a bit much.

There's also an interesting kernel of a story in here, but it just gets buried by word balloon after word balloon. Claremont has never been the most terse of writers, but I don't ever remember it being this bad. Maybe it's the fact that Jim Lee co-plots starting with this issue, and it ended up cramping his style somewhat...who knows?

I liked the idea of Magneto being out-crazied by Fabian Cortez, and seeing him essentially being used by him, but it just takes us way to long to get there and did we really need to go to Genosha too? Say what you will about Claremont's meandering, years in the making, simmering plot lines, but they've always at least seemed like Claremont's heart was in it. This time...not so much.

It's too bad that this story ended up being Claremont and Lee's swan song as a team on the X-Men, as they were really put out high-quality work up until this point. Still, it didn't hurt the X-franchise any as they would go on to dominate the market for the better part of the rest of the decade.

All characters and artwork reproduced are (c) Marvel Comics

Odds and sods and Ennis, oh my!

While I'm getting back into the swing of things, let's take a quick tour through some comic miscellany from the last week.

• As much as people bitch about gratuitous guest stars and useless Wolverine appearances to boost sales (although I guess Deadpool is the new century's Wolverine), I think I'm now a convert.
  
  I have a Wolverine review and traffic on my sight jumps 33%. Now if only the Randomizer would pick one of the kick-ass Joe Kelly/Ed McGuinness issues of Deadpool, I'd be all set. I'm crossing my fingers that it'll be this issue.



• The Mass Effect 2 ads are really stunning and quite well done, but I'm ready to read a comic book without having to be startled every other time I turn the page.



• Could the Beast be back in the Avengers?
  
  This better not be Marvel fucking with me...or I'm coming up swinging!
  
  It's about damn time we get the Beast back where he belongs.



• Only one more post to go and I can get that creepy looking cover by John Bolton off of the main page of this blog.

So that's about all, as far as miscellaneous comic book thoughts go. We still have some business at hand, however, and that's picking the next completely random book to review. Take it away Randomizer...

...and that book is Hitman/Lobo: That Stupid Bastich! #1 from September 2000, published by DC Comics!

Aw, hell yeah! It's time for some more Hitman goodness. I could live without reading another Lobo story, but I'll definitely make an exception if Garth Ennis and Hitman are involved!

Throw in Doug Mahnke on pencils, and this is beginning to sound like a "wouldn't it be cool if these guys worked on this book" premise. But no, this is a real book that really happened.

To say that I'm looking forward to it is a bit of an understatement, so stay tuned over the next day or two for the review.

Marvel Comics Presents #84

TITLE: Marvel Comics Presents #84

PUBLISHER: Marvel

COVER DATE: September 1991

COVER PRICE: $1.25

32 pages


WHAT I REMEMBER...

More than anything, I remember the anticipation around the twelve part Weapon X serial more than the actual story itself. Up until this point, there was virtually nothing revealed about the history of Wolverine. For better or worse, the fleshing out of Logan's back story started here. So yeah, this storyline was highly anticipated.

The next clearest memory I have of this title is that it wasn't what anybody was expecting. It was a challenging read that didn't always move in a linearly, cohesive direction. I guess you could say this was decompression before decompression was cool.

It also looked spectacular, and Barry Windsor-Smith deserves a lot of credit for giving the whole storyline a dreamlike (or nightmarish) quality that I can still perfectly re-imagine even 17 years later. Even now, thumbing through the issue, I'm half-tempted to pull the first eleven parts and read the whole story in one sitting. Maybe one of these days, but right now we have a review to get to.

The title page gives us a one sentence review of the previous eleven parts, so let's get brought up to speed.

Logan has destroyed most of Project X, including the Professor...or has he?

So without further ado, let's dive right in to last chapter of...

Weapon X: Chapter Twelve

• Story/Art: Barry Windsor-Smith
• Letterer: Jim Novak and Barry Windsor-Smith
• Assistant Editor: Mark Powers
• Editor: Terry Kavanaugh
• Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

Like the recap said, Logan is standing amidst the rubble of Project X, holding the bloodied corpse of the professor, who was the leader of the project.

We soon find out, however, that this is anything but real as Logan drops the professor's body and it falls into a ring of fire, and then darkness. Out of the darkness we see Logan as he begins to regain his consciousness.

Is this real?

Who knows at this point, as Logan is being bombarded by random voices from the past as he tries to gain his bearings.

He soon realizes that he needs to get out this facility, as it's probably military...or worse.

Making his way through the maze of hallways, he comes upon a lab that has been smashed up. A familiar looking body lies sprawled out across a control panel.

Memories start to return to Logan. Memories of this man and of this place...and of death.

As the stench of dying assaults his senses, he wonders who could of done all of this killing. He looks at his hands, covered in blood, and questions if it was him who knifed that body.

As he looks at his blood covered hands, the voices come faster and more intense. Now they are asking and pleading to be killed quickly. As the voices get louder, Logan's claws begin to extend from the backs of his hands.

As his claws fully extend, Logan wonders if he is dead? Or just a walking dead man? The voice of the professor haunts his consciousness, continually calling him an animal. The image of the professor, and his continued taunting, are too much for Logan in his weakened and confused state to bear.

Now in a berserker rage, he begins to run, but it is soon apparent that he is lost in another dream. The faster he runs, the harder he is chased by...something. Whether it's the animal inside him that he is running from, or the memory of the the process of the adamantium bonding to his skeleton is never made quite clear.

We now cut to reality, as the professor and another scientist, named Hines, are watching the progress of Logan via remote cameras. All of this has been another experiment on Logan, and it's not over yet. Niles seems to think that Logan is accepting the procedure and regaining control. The professor is not so sure.

The cameras catch up with Logan as he slices through the outer fences of the Project X compound. There, another test awaits him as the scientists have places a Siberian tiger in his path.

A true battle of beasts ensues, with the professor and Hines watching closely to see how he reacts. It wasn't so long ago, they ponder, that Logan beheaded a bear in mere moments with barely a thought. Will he be that savage again? Or has the project changed him even further?

They don't have to wait long for their answer, as Logan soon gets the upper hand and disembowels the tiger. He shows a greater capacity for thought and tactics, but his ferocity is still unparalleled.

All of this pleases Hines to no end, as he considers Logan a wonderful success. The professor is still hesitant, as in previous tests Logan had shown the capacity for mercy. It is for that reason that the professor is unsure. Logan may have more control over his inner beast, but they still don't have Logan under their complete control.

While Niles and the professor debate the finer points of the state of Logan's psyche, the wranglers are dispatched to bring Logan back inside the project for more tests. It's all too late, as Logan makes short work of the wranglers and heads back into the compound.

There, the scientists are in a scramble as alarms start to go off. They desperately try to find Wolverine on the closed circuit cameras, but Logan is too fast. They try to shut him down remotely through an implanted transponder, but it's not responding. Voices come in over the radio declaring a breach in D-Block.

Where is D-Block, you're wondering?

I'm guessing the scientists are in for a world of hurt.

The story draws to a close as Wolverine bursts through the steel door as other project members try to raise Niles and the professor on the radio. It's no use, as they don't reply and the radio shorts out.

That's the official end of the story, but we are treated to an epilogue as Logan makes his way through the snowy drifts of Canada, no doubt on his date with destiny in Incredible Hulk #181.

Over the next six pages, a conversation between Niles and his assistant is replayed. They both found themselves questioning the morality of the project, and the sanity of the professor in particular.

Niles seems to brush off and hide his concern behind scientific inquiry. His assistant doesn't have that luxury, and feels sorry for Logan. Niles tells her to cheer up, as it'll all be over soon.

SO, WHAT DID WE LEARN...

Damn if the visuals of this story still look as magnificent and eerily powerful as they did originally. Barry Windsor-Smith is a storyteller that has stood the test of time, and this book is a prime example of his talent. As the journey of Logan progresses from dream, to berserker rage, and finally to reality, BWS has us completely captivated by the artwork.

The one surprise I found with this issue, was that it was no where near as impenetrable as I remembered it being. There were a few places where I had to go back and reread some pages to figure out exactly what was going on, and a second read proved essential to my final understanding. Overall though, it was quite entertaining. Maybe all of those Brian Michael Bendis books with 8000 word balloons per page have trained me to become a better comic book reader.

Remembering back to when I read this originally, I think I was somewhat disappointed at the lack of more specifics about Logan's past. This was essentially a snapshot of the Weapon X project, and even then it was more a morality story about the nature of man vs. beast that worked on several different levels than it ever was a story about answers and specifics about Logan.

As more and more questions have been answered about Wolverine's origin over the last decade, I'm beginning to think that maybe that played it exactly right with this story. Sometimes, less is more.

All characters and artwork reproduced are (c) Marvel comics

Related links for your surfing pleasure...

• Barry Windsor-Smith's official website
• ...and here's the section focusing on Weapon X
• Click here for the Firestar eight-pager that closes out this issue