WOLVERINE WEAPON X #11
Review by: flapjaxx
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PENCILS: Ron Garney
COLORED BY: Matteo Lolli
LETTERED BY: Rich Ginter
COVER BY: Ron Garney
Size: pages
Price: 3.99
This review contains spoilers, click here to read
Jason Aaron is slowly but surely making his mark on the character of Wolverine. To become an important writer in the history of the character at this point--after two decades of overexposure--would really be impressive. While I think the Weapon X series has been a bit uneven, and Aaron's writing hasn't been as consistent as I'd like, the general trajectory of this series is without a doubt positive. This is at the very least a series to watch, especially when Ron Garney is providing the best art of his career with practically every new issue that he's the penciller on.
With the layouts and stylization, to my eye it seems like Garney's channeling Adam Kubert a bit. That's a good thing since Adam Kubert is probably the best Wolverine artist in history post-1992 or so. The inking and coloring also has to be commended. The look of the book is great: it looks bright, in a sense, but the inking isn't heavy. It's a rare look, the complete opposite of the "muddy" stuff you see in a lot of Marvel comics lately; and it's "bright" without being cartoony. Again, the only parallel that comes to mind are some of the Adam Kubert X-comics I remember from around '99-'00.
I'm not a Deathlok expert, but I don't think the character's ever looked better. Normally, the idea of seeing Deathlok in a comic in 2010 would seem almost like a joke to me, but the character just looks awesome. It's hard to turn back the clock like this for me personally, but in this issue I got flashes of how I felt in 1991 or so, opening up a pack of Marvel Universe Series II trading cards and looking at how kick-ass characters like Deathlok or Death's Head or Cable seemed, before I really knew who they were (I still don't know who Death's Head is).
These days, the prospect of spending $16 total to read a four-issue arc with Deathlok as the antagonist is not something I would have thought I'd have been looking forward to, but so it is. Part of that is the art, but part of the credit of course goes to Jason Aaron as well. He has Deathlok doing menacing things. The plot has a Terminator feel, as it should, but Aaron doesn't stress the storypoints heavily. This is an action comic mixed with character moments between Logan and Steve Rogers. Aaron doesn't try to force-feed the reader (or front-load this first of four chapters) with tons of backstory about Deathlok's mission, which would have undoubtedly brought out the stereotypical elements of the story. But instead we get all of the cool elements of this sort of a sci-fi time-travel tale without sensing any of the well-worn tropes all that much. Also, though Deathlok's actions are very brutal, Aaron doesn't play up the shock value. There aren't multiple splash pages of bloody violence or close-ups of body-parts flying off of people. That's for the best, as this story seems more suited for semi-realistic fun sci-fi action, not grisly grim realism at its sickest. (For a counterpoint, the previous multiple-issue arc, "Insane in the Brain", definitely benefited a bit from being a bloody mess of pages. It was that kind of story and it worked that way. This is a different sort of story, though, and the refrain from showing detailed ultraviolence was a great decision.)
There were a few negatives on Aaron's part that pulled me out of the story. It's a bit frustrating, because none of these things are terribly important; the story easily could have gone on without them. Their inclusion seems totally unnecessary. For instance, the way the issue opened, with a long "Rorschach"-ish monologue, taking up multiple pages, all from an anti-hero whom Deathlok soon kills unceremoniously, rendering the preceding monologue ironic and pathetic, but not quite funny or clever. Why start this arc this way? I can already tell that this is going to be a four-star story, so why start it off on such an unimportant note? Why not start with a scene of Steve and Logan shaking hands in greeting or something? Or, why have the uber-cliche, purposely overly grim-n-gritty monologue go on for as long as it did? Just do it for one page, then have Deathlok blast him to start page 2. Maybe this is a minor point (although it IS the whole START to the whole damn arc...), but it just bothered me a bit, because I think if Aaron gave a second-thought to this, he definitely would have opened the story differently.
My second, and final, minor criticism involves the run-up to another Deathlok slaying. The couple out on the date banter like idiots up until the end. They hardly seem phased by Deathlok appearing in front of them, holding a gun. Deathlok's right there, but the woman seems instantly fascinated by the revelation that the guy's family has a house in Tahiti? It's too unbelievable. The woman was completely done with the guy beforehand, and it rings very false for her to change her tune instantly and care about something like that, particularly because, uh, Deathlok's right in front of her. This is just a moment of bad characterization, and it stands out as particularly bad because the two people are killed two seconds later. It creates a situation we might find in a weird humor book, or a black comedy, but this story doesn't seem to belong in either of those genres.
For the most part, however, the writing was fine. The dialogues between Logan and Steve made me want more of them--so it's a good thing that Steve's coming back for the rest of the arc. The way Logan talked (and didn't talk) about Steve's absence was perfect. Touching, but not overdone. Standoffish in a Logan-type way, but also genuine and heartfelt, also in a Logan-type way.
With the layouts and stylization, to my eye it seems like Garney's channeling Adam Kubert a bit. That's a good thing since Adam Kubert is probably the best Wolverine artist in history post-1992 or so. The inking and coloring also has to be commended. The look of the book is great: it looks bright, in a sense, but the inking isn't heavy. It's a rare look, the complete opposite of the "muddy" stuff you see in a lot of Marvel comics lately; and it's "bright" without being cartoony. Again, the only parallel that comes to mind are some of the Adam Kubert X-comics I remember from around '99-'00.
I'm not a Deathlok expert, but I don't think the character's ever looked better. Normally, the idea of seeing Deathlok in a comic in 2010 would seem almost like a joke to me, but the character just looks awesome. It's hard to turn back the clock like this for me personally, but in this issue I got flashes of how I felt in 1991 or so, opening up a pack of Marvel Universe Series II trading cards and looking at how kick-ass characters like Deathlok or Death's Head or Cable seemed, before I really knew who they were (I still don't know who Death's Head is).
These days, the prospect of spending $16 total to read a four-issue arc with Deathlok as the antagonist is not something I would have thought I'd have been looking forward to, but so it is. Part of that is the art, but part of the credit of course goes to Jason Aaron as well. He has Deathlok doing menacing things. The plot has a Terminator feel, as it should, but Aaron doesn't stress the storypoints heavily. This is an action comic mixed with character moments between Logan and Steve Rogers. Aaron doesn't try to force-feed the reader (or front-load this first of four chapters) with tons of backstory about Deathlok's mission, which would have undoubtedly brought out the stereotypical elements of the story. But instead we get all of the cool elements of this sort of a sci-fi time-travel tale without sensing any of the well-worn tropes all that much. Also, though Deathlok's actions are very brutal, Aaron doesn't play up the shock value. There aren't multiple splash pages of bloody violence or close-ups of body-parts flying off of people. That's for the best, as this story seems more suited for semi-realistic fun sci-fi action, not grisly grim realism at its sickest. (For a counterpoint, the previous multiple-issue arc, "Insane in the Brain", definitely benefited a bit from being a bloody mess of pages. It was that kind of story and it worked that way. This is a different sort of story, though, and the refrain from showing detailed ultraviolence was a great decision.)
There were a few negatives on Aaron's part that pulled me out of the story. It's a bit frustrating, because none of these things are terribly important; the story easily could have gone on without them. Their inclusion seems totally unnecessary. For instance, the way the issue opened, with a long "Rorschach"-ish monologue, taking up multiple pages, all from an anti-hero whom Deathlok soon kills unceremoniously, rendering the preceding monologue ironic and pathetic, but not quite funny or clever. Why start this arc this way? I can already tell that this is going to be a four-star story, so why start it off on such an unimportant note? Why not start with a scene of Steve and Logan shaking hands in greeting or something? Or, why have the uber-cliche, purposely overly grim-n-gritty monologue go on for as long as it did? Just do it for one page, then have Deathlok blast him to start page 2. Maybe this is a minor point (although it IS the whole START to the whole damn arc...), but it just bothered me a bit, because I think if Aaron gave a second-thought to this, he definitely would have opened the story differently.
My second, and final, minor criticism involves the run-up to another Deathlok slaying. The couple out on the date banter like idiots up until the end. They hardly seem phased by Deathlok appearing in front of them, holding a gun. Deathlok's right there, but the woman seems instantly fascinated by the revelation that the guy's family has a house in Tahiti? It's too unbelievable. The woman was completely done with the guy beforehand, and it rings very false for her to change her tune instantly and care about something like that, particularly because, uh, Deathlok's right in front of her. This is just a moment of bad characterization, and it stands out as particularly bad because the two people are killed two seconds later. It creates a situation we might find in a weird humor book, or a black comedy, but this story doesn't seem to belong in either of those genres.
For the most part, however, the writing was fine. The dialogues between Logan and Steve made me want more of them--so it's a good thing that Steve's coming back for the rest of the arc. The way Logan talked (and didn't talk) about Steve's absence was perfect. Touching, but not overdone. Standoffish in a Logan-type way, but also genuine and heartfelt, also in a Logan-type way.
Story: 3 - Good
Art: 5 - Excellent
Art: 5 - Excellent
Great review. I’m also glad they didn’t delve into all he details of Steve Roger’s death and return neither. I don’t know much about Captain America, and I’m not exactly dying to have it spoiled for me already if I ever do decide to dive into him and his backstory.
I’ll be glad to comment on your reviews if you wanna comment on mine’s too. It drives me nuts when I take 10 to 25 minutes out of my time to type up a review and I get ZERO comment love!!
Definitely a great review.
Your second minor criticism is right on. I thought it was the weakest part of the book.
I think there are several elements of black comedy in Aaron’s Wolverine. The long build up was more Dark Knight than Rorschach. The extra pages was to make you think this character (who is he? he sounds like Batman) is going to be important. Nope. Deathlok steps out of time and cuts off his head, interrupting the book just like he interrupts the proper flow of time. And it is kinda funny to kill Batman, mid-internal monologue. But yeah, I’d have to agree on the couple. That was a bit awkward.