Weapon X Retrospective Chapter 10

by Dave Scrimgeour and Kevin McCluskey

---

​​Writer- Barry Windsor-Smith
Artist- Barry Windsor-Smith
Letterers- Jim Novak & Barry Windsor-Smith
Editor- Terry Kavanagh

---

---

Synopsis

Cornelius bids us farewell, The Professor stoops to increasingly desperate measures to lure Logan into a trap, and as such Miss Hines finds herself in the role of bait.  Things are clearly going well for the Weapon X crew.

---

Dave
Is that Firestar in the corner box on the cover?


Kev
I believe it is, yes.  The Spider-Man And His Amazing Friends star herself.


Dave
But no Miss Lion.


Kev
Thank the Lord there’s no Miss Lion!  Miss Lion might be the only dog I've ever disliked.


Dave
Haha.  What do you make of the cover?


Kev
I think the cover is alright.  It's not one of the better ones that Windsor-Smith has produced for this run, but in saying that, it's got some mighty stiff competition.


Dave
Yeah, I'm not too keen on it either.  However the story is just straight back into where it left off.


Kev
Absolutely.  It's like a TV show, starting this week's episode exactly where last week's left off on a cliffhanger.  There's no time wasted whatsoever.


Dave
Yeah, and The Prof shows his true colours in this issue.  I sense that Cornelius, in the moment of pressure, is uncertain of the old fight or flight response.


Kev
Yeh, Cornelius is reluctant to shoot Logan, and shows a bit of empathy, whereas The Professor urges him to blast away.


Dave
The next page is almost a bit of a comedy double act, as The Prof slaps Cornelius and the gun goes off.

"Oh, man. I shot Marvin in the face."

Kev
​Ha, ha!  Yeh.  Almost like Vincent shooting Marvin in the face when the car goes over the bump in the road in Pulp Fiction.


Dave
I like the full page picture though.


Kev
Yeh, it's another cracking splash page.


Dave
Cornelius exclaims, "I hit him, I got him, Jeez."  This is clearly new territory for Cornelius.  However things go south real quick for Cornelius, as Logan quickly dispatches of him.


Kev
Yeh, that’s a wrap for Cornelius.  Exit stage left.  Logan turns him into a human shish kebab.  I must admit, I didn’t think he’d be the first to go.  That took me by surprise.  I love the first panel on the 4th page.  The way that Cornelius is gripping onto Logan’s arm for dear life, which is ebbing away from him in this exact moment.


Dave
Yeah, it was incredibly quick, with hardly any build up.


Kev
Yep.  The shock of it totally works.


Dave
It's a brutal killing.


Kev
It certainly is.  Is it Cornelius' humanity that is ultimately his undoing here?


Dave
Yep.  I think, by this point, he realised how much of a pawn he was in a game that has spiralled way out of control.


Kev
Yeah, he hesitates, shows Logan some sympathy, and is rewarded with some adamantium claws to the bread basket for his troubles.
​

Dave
Those panels on page 5, of Logan looking at a dead Cornelius, are quite eerie.

---

"I...I have seen...I have seen you before. In a dream. A vision." "In a memory..."

Kev
Yeh, and this is the first time we’ve had any real dialogue from Logan in so long.


Dave
Windsor-Smith is using this issue to elevate the pace of the story.  And Cornelius, one of the main characters, is shown as being expendable in the end.


Kev
Superb use of the lens in Cornelius’ glasses to frame the image of Logan fleeing the scene of his crime, so to speak.  I get the impression that they're about to get picked off one by one now.

Gratuitous butt shot. Like a Van Damme movie.

​Dave
And that top panel on page 6 looks like a villain's lair in a Bond movie.

"Welcome to my underground lair."

Kev
Ha, ha!  I thought that, about the Bond villain's lair, as well.


Dave
Come to think of it, The Professor would make a great Bond villain.


Kev
Ha, ha!  He certainly would.  He's got the look for it.  Just give him a white cat, and he’s Blofeld. 


Dave
A sinister Professor is emerging very quickly on this page, and you can sense the impending danger to Miss Hines from him.  It’s almost like a full-on slasher film now, isn't it?


Kev
He really is a vile piece of shit, isn’t he?  He's more than happy to use Miss Hines as bait to lure Logan into the exhaust-pit, all the while making it sound like, not only her duty to the Experiment X program, but also something that she should be willing to do without question.  And then he physically takes any choice out of her hands anyway, by dumping her over the barrier into said exhaust-pit.

Such a smooth talker, is the ol' Prof.

​Dave
He's a real sociopath, isn't he?  It makes you wonder if the being afraid routine was just an act.  Bearing in mind this man has lost a body part and is seemingly back to a normal state so quickly.


Kev
That's another excellent panel, the last one on page 6, with The Professor and Miss Hines, beautifully lit by the flames.  It’s superb.  It's almost romantic, in a way.


Dave
Yep, that last panel is excellent on that page.  He's become real sinister real quick.


Kev
He certainly seems to have snapped back to his regular self, after succumbing to his fear earlier on.


Dave
I'm surprised a fall from that height didn't kill her, especially considering the way she lands.


Kev
Yeh.  And, of course, The Professor is as sympathetic as ever.  "Don't...Uhf!...break your......neck, dear lady!"


Dave
He's a real piece of work, this Professor.


Kev
He sure is.  He's kind-of deliciously evil though.


​Dave
Especially the last page, where he has gone full villain again, he's got some great, crazed dialogue, "Because I want you to scream and yell and draw the beast into the pit.”  Yeah, I kind-of like how he has come back to this maniacal character again.  


Kev
That bottom tier of the four panels on page 7 is fantastic visual storytelling.  They almost slow time.  It’s like you're watching Miss Hines fall to her doom in slow motion.

---

Miss Hines has finally fallen for The Professor's charms. I'll get my coat.

Dave
Great point.  That is hard to achieve visually just in pictures alone.


Kev
Yeh, Windsor-Smith is a master craftsman though, so it's not exactly surprising that he manages to pull these techniques off.


Dave
On the last page, we see the dynamic changing once again, with The Professor looking to regain control.


Kev
Definitely.  He's desperately trying to regain some semblance of control over this situation, as well as kill his experiment off in one fell swoop.


Dave​
And to top it off, The Professor is also villainous as well.  Like a crazy mad scientist.  Actually he is a crazy mad scientist.


Kev
Yep.  That's exactly what he is, isn't he?  Frankenstein indeed.
​


Dave
​That last panel is great, the way The Professor is looking down from the control room as poor Miss Hines plummets to her fate.  Is the worm on a hook for a crazed Logan?  Plus, the background lighting is amazing.


Kev
You're right about the slasher movie influences and elements.  Miss Hines is essentially Laurie Strode at this point, and Logan is more or less Michael Myers.

Does that make The Prof. Dr, Loomis? Maybe. Are we reaching, stretching this comparison too far? Definitely.

Dave
I’ve got to say; this issue was a real sucker punch.  I wasn't expecting it to jump into fifth gear like that.  Especially considering the way Windsor-Smith has been methodically building up each chapter in this story.  But I really liked the pace of this chapter of the story.  It’s fast, brutal and comedic.  In saying that there is only 2 chapters left to go now, so I guess it has to start building towards the ending.


Kev
Definitely.  This chapter has been the pressure cooker boiling over, hasn't it?  There's no putting this genie back in the bottle now, that's for sure.  Windsor-Smith has earned this though.  He's been building towards this from the beginning of this story.  This chapter certainly felt like we were well into the third act now.

(D) & (K)

Next:  The Professor attempts to incinerate Weapon X.  Spoiler- it doesn't work out for our old friend The Prof.