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Who's in this issue?
Recommended?
Potential. This was the first word that came into my mind. The unimaginable potential that any writer can do with the entire Weapon X saga nowadays. Sure, it's been done before, but its potential for exploring it and utilizing it nowadays is so much more broader than it used to be when it was first brought into light many years ago.
This, essentially, is a great issue. Why? Because with the upcoming release of Wolverine: Origins, which will tell the story and define Wolverine's true origins, this particular book does give the means of justifying that "controversial" book's release. The idea that Wolverine's original memory remained intact in the Weapon X files, and the fact that these files can be pulled out, justifies that revealation of his true past. I, for one, never really took into consideration that you could use the Weapon X to destroy his past memories ... and use it to resurrect his past memories ... as a possible pathway to tell his past, but man, this writer, Frank Tieri, helped to justify Paul Jenkins' project to write and define Wolverine's true origins. It's a pity, however, to seemingly do this with the "death" of other Weapon X castmembers such as Maverick, John Wraith, and maybe Sabretooth, but if it's gotta be done, it's gotta be done.
(Coincidentally, I don't think Maverick will be dead since his mutant power is to absorb kinetic energy and transfer it to concussion blasts, so his fall may not have killed him, though the lashing he got from Sabretooth could ... and John Wraith is never shown to actually have died in Sabretooth's hand since Sabretooth was interrupted by the call from Weapon X HQ. As for Sabretooth? Sure, the Shiver Man may have mentioned that Sabretooth's judgement day is at hand when he came in to fight Sabretooth, and after the explosion, you can see that the Shiver Man is the only one to walk out of it alive, but killing off Sabretooth is as doubtful as killing off Wolverine).
Back to Sabretooth: Wolverine makes a long mention that he believes Sabretooth now believes ... as so does he ... that Sabretooth may now be the better of the two. Of course, this isn't saying much since Logan was already in bad shape to begin with before they fought in this issue, but still, this may be an indication that Logan may be no match for Logan in the future. Now, some of you may think that heck, if Shiver Man was able to take out Sabretooth, then why can't Wolverine? Well, the Shiver Man, as indicated before in his first appearance, doesn't seem to be human, as he has the ability to teleport himself around and he seems immune to pain, which means he could probably take a beating and keep on attacking. (Of course, eliminate his arsenal of weaponry, and we could say something different, but still, being someone ... or something ... that doesn't appear to be of this world does have its advantage).
It's funny how an unknown could rise up the ranks to eventually run the new Weapon X program could do so just because of his "battle scars" against a mindless Wolverine back during the original Weapon X scenario. His face is never shown just to emphasize the horror of the scars that he had been subjected to when Wolverine slashed the heck out of him.
Lots of questions are left opened in this issue, which is to be expected. So what's going to happen with this new Weapon X program, and at what lengths is it going to go? Is Maverick, John Wraith, and Sabretooth truly dead? And what's the deal with the Shiver Man; is he going to remain a mystery? Did the new implants into Wolverine's memory go in before Shiver Man interferred? And what about restoring Wolverine's real memory ... how is that going to be achieved? Is his original memory on a chip, or is it something that's been stored on hardware, and can be remapped to Wolverine's actual memories? Lots of unanswered questions (not to mention that gory character, Mauvais, from the last issue) which hasn't been answered, but will hopefully be brought back into light in the future.
Barry Windsor-Smith's brief cameo in this issue was to revisit the original Weapon X days. This, in my opinion, works *real* well, especially for those who did read the original Weapon X saga. Utilizing his artwork to talk about the original Weapon X days, when they were introducing this new character who runs Weapon X, gave the book the feeling that yes, this was really what happened back then as a flashback in memory. No Weapon X storyline, in my opinion, is ever complete without having Windsor-Smith's artwork in it.
Overall, I highly, highly recommend this book. It is the book which justify the means of why Wolverine's origins ... his definitive origins ... can be told without much controversy, and it features virtually all remaining Weapon X characters for one huge reunion. (Too bad they didn't showcase Shiva, as he should also be considered to be one of the original Weapon X characters). It reopens Wolverine's entire background of the Weapon X saga, taking the title a different direction from the one that it was taking, which was a title which lived on one unrelated story arc after another. This allows for this title, I hope, to develop something that uses the entire Weapon X saga ... and Wolverine's true past ... as the foundation for future storylines. This book is good reading, and it gets my highest rating for something that should be read.
Rating (from 1 dot (not recommended) to 5 dot (highly recommended)
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"The Hunted: Conclusion"
IN THIS ISSUE:
Wolverine awakens seeing red ... literally. Strapped to a table with a programming helmet on, Wolverine finds himself having been rescued by Sabretooth in the previous issue to be back where his origins were: the Weapon X program. Wolverine asks who they were since he had done away with the original Weapon X castmembers many years back when he had escaped from the Weapon X compound (and after his revisitation of the compound in Wolverine #47 through #50). The new guy in charge, calling himself "The Director", said that he had brought back a new and improved lot to run the newly revitalized Weapon X program for the new millenium. The helmet is removed ... as it was a vintage item from back in the early Weapon X days. Logan is introduced to the director, still in the shadows.
The Director never mentions his name, but does tell Wolverine about his history: how he was a no-named young soldier given the assignment to guard the gates of a US/Canadian top-secret project; how on the day that Wolverine bursts out, he watched in horror as his fellow soldiers were savagely murdered by a deranged, animalistic Logan; how when Logan came up to him, the lowly soldier who guards the gate shivering in fear, and began to systematically slash his face beyond recognition and left him to die in the snow; how his fellow soldiers came to rescue him after Logan had disappeared when he refused to let Logan's act be his justification to die. He steps out of the shadow to reveal his face to Logan, who looked at him in shock.
In New York City, at the Millenium Hotel, Maverick pays a visit to one of his old Weapon X colleagues, John Wraith, who had called him to let Maverick know that the old Weapon X team was being rounded up and Wolverine was the first, which meant they would be next. Only after he sees Sabretooth there does he realize that John Wraith had already been rounded up, and so was himself.
Back to the Director, who continues his revelation to Wolverine about his history: the Director reveals to Logan his refusal to get reconstructive surgery done because he figured that the damage that Logan had cause to his face, even reconstructive surgery wouldn't be able to heal it, and furthermore, he would use his face as a reminder to himself of what Logan had done to him. He was placed into an office duty upon his recovery, where he gradually worked his way up as a result of his obsession to reach his ultimate goal: to resurrect the Weapon X program, utilizing their potential enemies, mutants, as government weapons. Wolverine figures that because the government was going to sponsor shady mutant activities that Sabretooth would be the first one to sign up, only to have him be told by the Director that Logan was actually the first one that they had recruited. The Director reveals to Logan that he had been killing for them all along, and that some of his dreams that he was having wasn't dreams at all but, instead, were real.
Back to the New York highrise, where Maverick accuses Wraith of selling him out. Maverick threatens to kill Wraith for betraying him. Wraith and Sabretooth tries to convince Maverick to join them, as they believed that what the government had up their sleeves, they'd be better off joining their ranks than to be against it. Maverick opens fire, shooting a bullet wound through Wraith's midsection. Sabretooth attacks Maverick, throwing him out the window.
Wolverine demands to know what the Director had done to him. The Director continues with his story: how during their search through the original Weapon X facility to find anything they could possibly retrieve, they discovered and retrieved Wolverine's original mental implants, which was what the original Weapon X program had used to control Logan. They had reactivated the implants located in Logan's mind, using him as a "sleeper agent" to conduct their shady operations by scouting out potential targets before their men would assassinate them, and Logan's dreams were an aftereffect of these events. They eventually did use Wolverine to kill Senator Walsh, who was planning to reveal to the world about the original Weapon X program. Logan was sent in to kill him, but as a result, the shock of him committing a murder resulted in the deactivation of the implants, resulting in him failing on the assignment to kill Senator Walsh. He went on the run, resulting in the program losing control and contact of Logan. This is where Special Agent Jackson stepped in: to locate Logan and return him to the Weapon X compound. Jackson is revealed to be a "mole" inside S.H.I.E.L.D. for the Weapon X program. Logan is given the choice of having them reinsert memory implants into Wolverine's mind, or be cooperative with them. If Logan agreed to it, they would clear him of any wrongdoing under the eyes of the law. Furthermore, the Director reveals to Logan that they recovered his original memory imprints, and had the ability to restore to Logan his real memory, which would give him the ability not only to know who he really is, where he came from, his own real name, and the ability to control his own inner rages and thereby living his entire life as a normal man. Logan was intrigued, but remained resilient in agreeing to their proposal. Disappointed, the Director instructs the doctors to prepare Logan for re-implantation of the memory implants, thus restoring control of Logan to them.
Back to the highrise, as Maverick had not fallen off, but rather attacks Sabretooth from behind. The two fight it out, Sabretooth savagely attacking Maverick while Maverick, using his mutant powers of converting kinetic energy into concussive blasts, unleashes a blast towards Sabretooth, knocking him out. As he approaches Sabretooth, Sabretooth promptly rams his nails into Maverick's midsection. With Maverick, hurt badly, dangling at arm's length fron Sabretooth, gives Maverick one last chance to join them. Maverick, defiant to the end, refuses, and Sabretooth lets Maverick fall over the edge of the building and into the streets below.
As the new implants into Logan continues to be integrated, the machines in front of the doctor operating it suddenly explodes. The Shiver Man appears, and sets Logan free. The Shiver Man, who had been in the shadows all along, had been following Agent Jackson for Nick Fury, and learned of Logan's innocense of the murders. The Shiver Man phases Logan out of his restraints, and Logan promptly tries to attack the Director. However, the Director is teleported out of there before Logan had a chance to gut him. Logan slices through a door to locate the Director, only to find himself face-to-face with many waiting soldiers outside, ready to stop Logan. Logan sends the Shiver Man (whom, I have to note, is unphased by the gunshots passing through his body from the awaiting soldiers) to locate and rescue Beast as he heads out to handle the soldiers personally.
Back to the highrise, as Sabretooth finds Wraith still barely alive. Sabretooth chooses to finish off Wraith instead, agreeing with Maverick that Wraith was too much of a mystery and what his own ambitions were. Sabretooth was just about to break Wraith's neck before Sabretooth is called in from the Weapon X personnels, saying that they had a situation there with Logan loose and systematically destroying the soldiers there. The Director now makes his escape while setting their current facility on self-destruct. Logan makes a run for the exit, only to have Sabretooth suddenly appear before him. Logan and Sabretooth battles it out, only to have Logan realize that Sabretooth fought with a "cockiness" about himself: he felt as if Sabretooth was now faster, stronger, and just better than himself now, and Sabretooth knew it. Sabretooth was just about to launch the final blow to Logan, until from behind, the Shiver Man fires a blast into his back. Logan makes a breakaway with Beast, whom the Shiver Man had just rescued, while the Shiver Man faces off against Sabretooth, whom the Shiver Man sensed much evil within Sabretooth ... evil which he had to purge as he tells Sabretooth that "...your day of judgment is at hand". Logan and Beast escapes from the compound just as the compound explodes. From the ashes and flame, Logan sees the Shiver Man emerge, unscathed. Logan was just about to ask the Shiver Man what had happened to Sabretooth, only to have the Shiver Man ignore him and disappear.
Many days later, as Fury and Wolverine (now with a patch in one eye, just like Nick Fury), are discussing the recent ordeal over a round of beer and smokes. Nick Fury, in covering up the entire murder for Logan, tells Logan that in doing so, the entire Weapon X operation and involvement was also being covered up as well. Nick would have loved to see the downfall of the Weapon X program, but the only problem is what that the program had even the president's approval. From afar, Jackson and the Director watches Fury and Logan, wondering whether the implants they had been putting into Logan had taken a hold yet or not. The Director tells Jackson that they had only suffered a minor setback, but what they had already started was taking motion and their encounter with Logan was only the beginning.
