Weapon X Retrospective- Chapter 5

by Dave Scrimgeour and Kevin McCluskey

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

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Synopsis

The Weapon X-perimenters set Logan free, only to feed him to the wolves, which doesn't work out well at all.....for the canines.

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Dave
Into the sixth chapter now, and how fitting is the weather on the cover?


Kev
Yeh, how good is that cover?  It's a brutally beautiful, bleak, inhospitable landscape, and Logan’s claws and forearms being covered in blood as they are, makes it even more striking against the white and the blue of the snow-covered ground.  Lovely stuff.


Dave
Logan is a bit down trodden looking.  Like he's just been sent out to the shops by his mum in the freezing cold and he doesn't want to go.


Kev
Ha, ha!  "Go nip to the shops for a pint of milk, Logan?  And put some bloody clothes on, will you?"


Dave
It's an interesting cover, right enough.  It’s really isolating in tone.


Kev
Absolutely.  The trees are beautifully drawn as well.


Dave
Bob Ross, eat your heart out.


Kev
Ha, ha!  Stunning first page as well.  The panel of the wolves eyes, then the almost full, splash, page panel of Logan with all the wires coming out of him.  This is, once again, visually stunning stuff by Windsor-Smith.  And again, the contrast in the colours that he uses is excellent too.

"In touch with the ground,"

"I'm on the hunt I'm after you."

Dave
That first page is amazing, poster artwork right there, and Windsor-Smith doesn't waste any time in getting back to the wordy dialogue.  I was thinking when reading this issue that Windsor-Smith process of storytelling is so meticulous, and he can put so much into small events, Weapon X would have worked as a Netflix series.  Especially for the development of the story and the pace that Netflix stories evolve at.


Kev
Yeh, I love the way Windsor-Smith uses the caption boxes to go round the image of Logan.  It's not the traditional way of left-to-right, top-to bottom, but again, it definitely helps to sell the idea of just how discombobulated Logan is.  Funny you should say that, I was thinking that with shows like 'WandaVision,' and 'Moon Knight' in particular being fresh in my mind, that the Mouse is not necessarily adverse to pushing the boundaries of what’s expected of superhero material on screen, and taking a bit of a risk, so I’d love to see them adapt this for Disney+.  Which, now that they’ve got Star on there as well, is surely not entirely beyond the realms of possibility.  Or perhaps even a 'What If?' style animated show would be the direction to go in.


Dave
Well, you never know.  It is more suited to TV, with the many layers in this story.  On the first panel on the second page, does it not look like Logan, standing there in stillness, has his hands in his pockets, even though he clearly has no clothes on?  Or he has just realised he has forgot his wallet on the way to the shops?  Great background art in the external scenes.  It really paints the scene so well.

"Smell like I sound,"

Kev
Yeh man, the landscape artwork is fantastic, and like you said, it's really evocative.  Ha, ha!  He does kind-of look like a kid that's been sent to the shop, and then has lost the money on the way there.  I love how heartless Cornelius is; he’s performing this inhumane test on a human subject, and he’s just as, if not more, concerned about the coffee and the danish for his breakfast than anything else.

"I'm lost in a crowd,"

Dave
I like that small panel with the camera on it.  It's such a simple way of showing why Logan is out there.


Kev
Big Brother is watching indeed.  Yeh, and again, Windsor-Smith is employing differently coloured caption boxes to determine different character’s dialogue.  It really is simple but effective comicing.  I love it.


Dave
I noticed that the caption box colour does change, making it even more tricky to follow the narrative at times.


Kev
I find that the changes of colour make it easier for me to follow, if anything.  It could just be because I need that visual stimulus, or reference point.  Maybe I'm quite a visual learner.


Dave
I see The Professor has quickly gotten back to his old self, after last issue’s little meltdown.  Or was this part of his plan to test Cornelius' loyalty to the project, as this issue is about human trials, or mutant trials even.  The wild animal unleashed with the wild animals.


Kev
The trials in this chapter are particularly brutal and bloodthirsty, yeh.  There's definitely a bit of tension, I'm not sure I'd go as far as to call it friction, between The Professor and Doctor Cornelius, but there's definitely something.  I wonder if it's professional competition, or simply even male egos clashing, but I reckon it's going to come to a head at some point.


Dave
Logan is like a zombie when the wolves are unleashed.  The build-up over those two pages to them attacking him is well matched by the dialogue.  It’s the waiting for this sleeping dog, or Wolvie, to wake up.


Kev
He's completely catatonic, isn't he?  I agree, those two pages really help to build the tension in that scene.  You know what's coming, you're just waiting for him to go into the "berserker rage."  You don't want it to happen really, and when it does, it is spectacular, but it's almost depressingly, inevitably brutal as well.  Miss Hines seems to be the only one who is even remotely concerned for Logan’s well-being.  “He’s been out in sub-zero for ten minutes!  Can’t we get on with this?”  Whereas Cornelius is a black-hearted bastard.  His response to the wolves not having been fed for six days, “Well...gee…...they can have my danish” is just cold.  Plus, he has to actually ask if Logan is alive at this point, due to his lack of response to the wolves.


Dave
Those two pages of the wolves attacking the Wolverine are very brutal, but the pacing of the 12 panels is great.


Kev
They're fantastic, aren't they?  I particularly love those four panels of the claws, slicing through the skin on Logan’s hands on page 4.  They're so visceral.

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"And I'm hungry like the wolf."

Dave
At this point Logan is quite literally an experiment, to hell with any humanity this guy has.  Science and progress is more important to The Professor and Cornelius.  Cornelius seems to be turning into quite the protege of The Professor now.
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Kev
Yeh, he's just an experiment, alright.  Just lab rat, running around in their fancy maze.  They're like the cat playing with a mouse.  He says, mixing his idioms.  He's just a toy to them at this point.  A plaything.  I still think The Professor and Cornelius are going to turn on each other at some point.  Perhaps when their survival is on the line once Logan turns on them.


Dave
Miss Hines is the only one with any humanity left, as she is also concerned for the safety of the wolves.  And, of course, The Professor just responds with a dismissive "I think not, Madam."  As in, "Keep quiet, you little underling.  We are witnessing something amazing, created by my God complex."


Kev
Ha, ha!  Totally.  You're spot-on, man.  We're dealing with the God complex of men here, aren't we?  And the sense of impending doom that's all over this story is constantly reminding us that this is not going to end well for them.  Yeh, I love how Miss Hines wants to stop this part of the experiment, in order to save the wolves.  She seems to be the only one with any conscience here, albeit a guilty one perhaps, whereas The Professor, on the other hand, states that he is, “.....enjoying this far too much.”  She even has her head in her hand now.  She's visibly upset by the brutality of this experiment, yet The Professor is disappointed that they don’t have more wolves to feed to Logan’s "berserker rage."


Dave
At this point, they are realising that Logan is now a dangerous, powerful weapon, and coming back to what you said earlier about a brewing tension between Cornelius and The Professor, whoever can fully control, and have Logan at their beck and call would indeed be a powerful individual.  Is Cornelius releasing this, and now wants this power for himself, not some ego inflated megalomaniac like The Professor.  Power can corrupt, and this may be one area where this is going.  Or not.


Kev
That's a good point, actually.  Is the conflict between them going to be about who gets to control their shiny new toy.  That last panel at the bottom of page 6 is fantastic.  As is the first one at the top of page 7.

"Straddle the line in discord and rhyme,"

"I'm on the hunt I'm after you."

Dave
I love how the plain colour in the background puts all the focus directly on the action in those panels.  The Professor can't half rant about his perfect creation on page 7.  Maybe he should just write a poem or sonnet about Logan.


Kev
Ha, ha!  A love letter to his perfect little creation.  Frankenstein writing to his monster.  The Professor is just as cold as Dr. Cornelius.  “Despite his original protestations...I know we’ve done him a great favour.  His most bestial needs...are about to exceed his most primitive dreams.  In our service, of course.  You can turn him off now, Doctor.”  Bloody hell.  “Turn him off.”  They really do see him as the “machine” part of killing machine, don’t they?  He’s not a human being, or a person to them, he’s a toy.  A plaything.  They've completely stripped Logan of any humanity.  Completely dehumanised him.


Dave
The subjection of Logan to endless ordeals is constant with The Professor.  He really wants to see how much Logan can take, and how much he is truly capable of, regardless of the damage it does to him.  Switch him off like a machine.  I'm pretty sure that will badly backfire on him later in the series.  And the cruelty of him, to actually leave him out in the freezing cold all night is completely heartless and totally psychopathic.


Kev
Totally.  “Leave Logan out for the night…...I like the idea of him resting in his own gore.”  The Professor is one sick puppy.  He’s an absolute psychopath.  Even Dr. Cornelius is slightly perturbed by this.  “Uh...Goodnight Professor.”  Man, this last page and change is heartbreaking, with just how cruel they are to him.  The way Logan falls to his knees after being switched off, and then they just leave him there.  He's like a mistreated pet.  A dog, chained-up outside, and left to weather the elements.  It's so sad.


Dave
Yet I'm sure The Professor can sleep like a baby at night.  Greeting them with, "How are we all today?" after subjecting his workers to such a cruel ordeal, like it's nothing, shows the depth of lunacy this guy has.


Kev
Yep, it's just business as usual for him.  He's completely devoid of any empathy whatsoever.  I love that panel of the dead wolf’s open mouth, illuminated by the moonlight.  It’s sad, it’s tragic, and it really hits home the senseless brutality and the needless cruelty we’ve witnessed here.  And we see that this is going to literally be a vicious cycle for Logan, as The Professor sends “The Wranglers” out to bring him in for more of the same at sunrise, after leaving him outside all night in 15 below zero temperatures.

"Mouth is alive,"

Dave
And the last two panels, "We have many more trials for Weapon X," says the Prof, now that Logan has been completely and utterly dehumanized, both physically and verbally.  He is the project.  Still he's clearly gonna go apeshit at some point.


Kev
Ha, ha!  He really is, isn't he?  This is like a bomb, ticking down to its explosion.  It's almost painful to watch.


Dave
The issue ends on the same tone it started with, purely experimentation oriented, with the trials, and it's just going to go on and on.


Kev
It would seem so, yeh.  Nice contrast between the colour palette of the moonlit night and the sunlit morning, at the end here.  The almost silhouetted figures, backlit against the moonlight or the sunlight, plus the snow, puts me in mind of some of the scenes from Kurosawa's samurai films.  Which, of course, all ties back into the Japanese, and the samurai, influence on Logan as a character.

"with juices like wine,"

​Dave
Good spot.  That is true, actually, it does look like that, and the traditional ancient manner of treating slaves.


Kev
Ah, now THAT is a good spot with the treatment of slaves, yeh.  Uuuggghhh.  It's gotten to the point now where, it's not just the landscape that's bleak, this story has become very bleak, and very depressing.  It's a tragedy.  It's great for it though.


Dave
It's heading towards an explosive finale, for sure.


Kev
The taste this story is leaving in my mouth is just getting nastier and nastier.  I just want to see Logan go berserk and turn all those horrible bastards into “bloody, quivering sushi.”


Dave
Probably not until later in the series.  The Professor is loving his work too much.  Utter sadist, this guy is, or what?


Kev
Definitely.  "Sadist!"  That's the word I've been looking for all night.  It's been bugging the life out of me.   Thanks, man.  You've set me free.


Dave
Haha.  Glad I’ve set you free.  Any final points to finish on?


Kev
Just that I thought this was an excellent chapter.  It felt like it moved the trials of the experiment, and therefore the plot, on somewhat.  We’re outside now, the change of scenery may be as good as a rest, and there’s a palpable sense of escalation here.  Certainly in terms of cruelty, brutality and violence.  What about yourself?


Dave
The same, really.  I thought it was a big improvement, the storytelling did advance, and it was all contained under the trial process.  Great writing by Windsor-Smith.  I wonder if we will ever review an issue of this series without repeating ourselves about his writing.  Probably not.


Kev
Ha, ha!  It's so well done.  It's a classic for a reason, I suppose.

(D) & (K)

​Next: The cruelty continues.

"And I'm hungry like the wolf."