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by Dave Scrimgeour and Kevin McCluskey    Writer- Barry Windsor-Smith Artist- Barry Windsor-Smith Letterers- Jim Novak & Barry Windsor-Smith Editor- Terry Kavanagh SYNOPSISThe Weapon Xperimentors continue their cruelty towards Logan, but The Professor pours him a cup of coffee. Dave The cover of Part 7 is visually great. The use of the plain white background puts all the focus on the Wolvie image. It's looking really cyberpunk-esque with that cover. Kev Totally agree with you on the cyberpunk vibes. The use of technology in this story definitely has echoes of it. The cover is excellent. It's a nice profile shot of Logan, and with the grey Hulk in the corner box this time, no less. I’m loving how Barry Windsor-Smith draws Wolverine’s hair. It's luscious. Vince Noir would be proud. Dave Yeah, the hair is something else. Wolvie’s showing those glam rock boys in the 80s how's it done with the hair. I like the use of a different Marvel character in the logo box each month. Kev I'd kill to have hair like that these days. Not that I ever did, really. Like he's "just stepped out of a salon." "Because he's worth it." And all that. Dave Vidal Sassoon's newest model, I think. Kev Ha, ha! Definitely. “If you want a puppet, you gotta have strings.” That line kind-of sums up The Professor and Dr. Cornelius's attitude to Logan really, doesn’t it? Dave Yep. The first panel on the first page is great. It is Windsor-Smith doing another great close up, with so much detail in it (one would think the man enjoys this type of artwork). Also, the second panel on page 1, with The Professor looming over Cornelius, is cracking as well. It gives a menacing, intimidating feel about The Professor, as he is looming over Cornelius. It’s very much still taking place in the experimentation zone though, and they are doing it all very methodically, with each stage being carefully covered.  "It's your basic back-combed structure, slightly root-boosted, framed in a cheeky fringe."  That's the problem with toys that big, they need loads of those big D cell batteries, and they weigh a ton. Kev Windsor-Smith is fantastic at that technical aspect of drawing the technology. The pins and the rods and the cables and the wires are all superbly rendered. That's a good point about The Professor perched over Cornelius's shoulder. Like a devil influencing him. I’m really enjoying the increasing tension between the two of them actually. The Professor is flexing his authority, “I will have my way on this Cornelius,” and Cornelius is like a belligerent teenager when he answers, “Whatever.” Dave You were right about the brewing tension between these two, it is more evident in this issue, as Cornelius is growing in his self-assurance, and is now getting more confrontational with The Prof. Pages 2 and 3 are like a Windsor-Smith art gallery, with captions. He's really pulling out the treats for artwork in this issue. And all throughout these two pages, Logan is still completely and utterly suffering in agony. Kev The composition of the panels on that second page, and the level of detail within them is just outstanding. And those close-ups of Logan’s face on the third page, as he starts to bleed from the mouth due to the intensity of the experiments that they’re performing on him, are amazing. “We’re losing goop here.” Lovely.  Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Bastards. Dave Indeed. "Poor Geezer." Cornelius is looking for a role in a Guy Ritchie film by the sounds of it. Not that he was making movies around 1990, I don't think. Kev Ha, ha! That's a good point. So Cornelius must be a cockney then. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Arseholes. Dave Every issue in this series, so far, is full of techno-talk. Windsor-Smith can sure pack a panel full of this. Kev It's really densely packed, isn't it? Both visually and verbally. Dave TAnd ten page 4 is just epic. A poster art piece, as you often hear me refer to them as.  Is that a piece of monitoring equipment, or are you just pleased to see me? Kev That splash page of Logan sitting, looking dejected, with all the wires and paraphernalia coming out of his naked body, with a carefully placed piece of "equipment," is superb. Dave The complete and utter dehumanisation of Logan is summed up on that panel. It actually didn't need any captions. Kev Yeh, the fact that they keep him even semi-conscious speaks volumes of their cruelty towards him. Dave I guess Windsor-Smith is showing us in this way, to slowly show how much torture Logan is being subjected to. He is well and truly broken looking on page 4. Kev That's another good point, man. Is the pacing deliberately slow, to allow the extent of the torture, and how the pain would slow time down in Logan's perception of it, to really wear on the reader? I like how The Professor is still narked that Cornelius couldn’t quite give him his 10 mile range and topped out at just over 9. “Hmpf!” Dave The Prof is a tad touchy, and by the time we get to page 5, he is feeling that Cornelius and the staff are mocking this stage of the experiment. The Prof is starting to become a bit of a laughing stock amongst the team. I like how Miss Hines refers to him as "Prof." Kind-of in a nickname way, not at all how he would like to be addressed as the Lord of all he surveys. Kev Ha, ha! Yeh, she's getting a bit too informal for the professional working environment. Dave It's also his ego feeling threatened, as the staff are no longer seeing him as a fearful figure, and they are laughing at Wolvie being controlled like a puppet. Kev Oh, definitely not. The aura around The "Prof." has been diffused a bit here. I really liked how you almost think The "Prof." is pissed off at the “staff” for degrading Logan in this way, but then it turns out that all he’s really annoyed about is someone trying to tell him how to play with his toy. These cruel bastards are actually just having a good laugh at The Professor failing to control another human being like a puppet, and he can't take it. The cracks are really beginning to show within the personnel of the program. Too many massive, fragile male egos at play here. Dave "Weapon X he likes walkies." These scientists don't have much of a conscience really. Kev No, no conscience at all. They're actually playing with Logan like a remote controlled car. Pulling strings to make him do their bidding. The little piggies bit with the claws is pretty sickening. Dave There is a slight injection of much needed humour at this stage, especially on page 6. Kev True. It hasn't exactly been a barrel of laughs, has it? Dave No. It certainly has not.  Roast beef. Dave I do like how the story jumps into this bit of humour unexpectedly though. Even a story this dark needs some light bits. Although, it is still done with black humour. Kev Definitely. A little bit of levity, to just let the tension out of a story that has been pretty grim and bleak on the whole. We also see that The Professor only cares about his own, personal safety here, particularly after Logan tried to choke him to death earlier. He doesn’t give a damn about Logan’s safety, or anyone else’s for that matter. Dave He sounds like an irate politician, does The Prof. when he loses the plot with the team for laughing. "Blast you all. Your staff are fools and ignoramuses." Kev The Professor really does see everyone as inferior to him, doesn't he? Complete and utter God complex. Dave Cornelius is just remaining cool with his response, "Okay boys. that's it. Take a break. Get out of here." It seems like he is slowly looking to usurp The Professor and take over. Kev Totally. There's a definite power play here by Cornelius, who is pretty heartless as well though. “When the power’s on, you got him by the tail…...when it’s off--like now--he’s just dead meat…...So go spit in his eye.” But even he refers to this morally bankrupt program as a “circus” though. Perhaps even he doesn't really want to be there, doing all this. Dave Cornelius is not that much better than The Professor, no. It just seems like another day in the lab to him, "I've had enough of this circus for one day Professor." He really is talking to him like an equal, not a boss now. And The Prof. is crapping it that Logan will go off on one and attack him. Why on earth would he not think that would happen? Kev Yeh, it's inevitable. You can hear it coming, like distant thunder, and as such, I can’t believe The Professor pours his hot coffee into Logan’s face. Is it just another bizarrely cruel experiment? Just to see what will happen? We all know what's going to happen. Logan is going to kill him. Dave I like how that final page is just all visual, with no caption boxes, or dialogue, just The Professor proving how big of a dick he actually is again, by doing that to Logan with the coffee.  I'm not convinced that The Professor has quite grasped the concept of a coffee enema. Kev Yeh, that last page is a cracking piece of "silent" storytelling. The Professor seems to regret it immediately though, like even HE feels like this was a step too far this time. He even looks remorseful. Dave Do you think The Prof. is looking remorseful, or just looking at him like he is his possession, and so he can do whatever he wants to him? It's hard to get a read on The Prof. with that callous poker face at times. Kev And with the lenses of his glasses being reflective surfaces, you can't see his eyes. Funny you should say that; but looking at it again, I'm not so sure if it IS remorse, or if it's just more cold, clinical, analysis. Like he was simply observing his lab rat in his experiment. I think I may have misinterpreted that on my initial reading of it. Dave I think The Prof. is so far gone, that he just sees Logan as his experiment. As the expression on his face in those last few panels does not change at all. Like he's deep in thought.  That's going to leave a stain. Kev Yeah. The coffee thing is just disgustingly cruel. Dave It is a good setup for the inevitable though. There has got to be some real harshness for Logan to push back against. Kev Absolutely, this was another chapter that was pretty slow and uneventful in terms of plot development, but to use wrestling parlance, it really put sympathy on the babyface and heat on the heels. You really can’t wait for these cruel bastards to get their comeuppance, and for Logan to exact his revenge. Dave Yeah, not much really happened in this issue. It just plodded along at its usual pace, but those first four pages of artwork by Windsor-Smith are some of the best I have seen so far in this series. It’s a real treat to look at, and that makes up for the slow pacing, which is just more cruelty and experiments really, with the small humour scene added in. This all makes it one of the better issues though. I think we are partially getting numb to the endless torture of Wolvie, but can't wait to see the man unleashed in his rage and fury. (D) & (K)  Cafetiere. Coffee tear. Get it? I'll get my coat.
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