Credits: Scripted by Larry Hama, pencils by Adam Kubert, inked by Dan Green and edited by Bob Harras.
Cast: Earth 295 versions of Logan/Weapon-X, Gateway, Carol Danvers, Donald Pierce, Emma Frost, Brian Braddock, Apocalypse and Rex.
Synopsis: On board an airship, part of a bombing armada, holographic records of cullings in North America, Logan tries to convince Gateway to aid in the bombing of Apocalypse’s America. He later laments to Emma Frost that his success may kill the woman he loves.
As Apocalypse hears that contact has been lost with Mikhail Rasputin and Donald Pierce in Europe, he remains calm, curious to see what this latest test of his strength will be. Speaking of Pierce, he calls in to warn Apocalypse’s regime of the incoming bombing as he and recently cyborgised Carol Danvers attack the lead airship. Once inside he commands a mind controlled Brian Braddock to betray the humans and steer the airship away so to derail the bombing. On the top of the airship Carol opens fire on Logan and Gateway, Gateway gets away clean, but Logan’s right arm is shot so badly he can’t move it just yet.
Pierce comes up to deliver what he expects to be the final blow, but Logan has talked Carol out of the control Pierce had over her, so Pierce kills her, enraged Logan runs at him raising his working arm. We then learn that when his hand was lost, the claws were sheathed, so still remain in the surviving forearm. He unsheathes them through Pierce. Appalled by all this Gateway decides to open a huge portal and the whole armada passes through it, ready to deliver doomsday to Apocalypse’s Empire.
Notes: Citizen Kane is not Jaws. After several dozen comics in this series, I have come to that conclusion, What I mean by that is that these comics need to be seen an appreciated on their own merits and comparison with other titles, even in the same sub-genre. So for this, I just read it as “What is this trying to be? Does it do that?” In that regard Weapon-X nails it. This is a big dumb action movie, sort of Michael Bay long underwear character flick and it does that well. Unkillable villains? Check. Brooding hero who comes through in the end? Check. Huge set pieces that defy logic? Check. Bad-ass moments? Double check, plus. So looking at the end of this story and my involvement with Wolverine’s ongoing, I only have two questions, is it a good use of Wolverine/Weapon-X? As a bit of popcorn fodder action, does it succeed? The answer is yes. Here Weapon-X is an optimist, desperate to believe in a better world, knowing that beliefs like that don’t get things done. He feels the only option is this bombing run on Apocalypse’s America, but hopes that another way can be found. This version of Logan doesn’t believe in the world because of a Charles Xavier he never met, but because of Jean, she is his better world and you can see the pain when he can’t see a path to victory that won’t risk killing her. As for the action scenes? They work well, with a couple of triumph of the spirit reversals and a twist, with Logan’s claws being there, even if his hand isn’t. I know the climactic moments are going to be in the other bookend series, but this was a hell of a third act.
Verdict: Writing – 3 out of 5 – You are not asking for much in regards to dialogue here and you’re not, but the pacing doesn’t quite fit right, with much of the issue feeling like an extended fight scene, so the initial scenes feel odd and out of place. This is made up for by Weapon-X sounding more and more like a 19th century gold prospector living in the wild west.
Art: 4 out of 5 – Action scenes are well handled and the cyborg characters look suitably cartoony, everyone stays on model and it’s as exciting as hell. No great surprises here, but everyone is doing great, but the moving the page around to accommodate the double page spreads does get a bit tedious.
Overall: 7 out of 10 – A fast paced end to a fast paced story, it used it’s time well and told a coherent story from start to end, the rest of these minis could have learned a little. I’m glad I’m heading towards the end of the Age of Apocalypse, but this has been a fun part of it.
Next Time: Another Unlimited issue in the Clone Saga ….(Sigh)
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