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Death of Wolverine: The Weapon X Program #1 Review

By John McArthur

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Written by Charles Soule, Death of Wolverine: The Weapon X Program is the first issue in a spinoff series of Death of Wolverine. The series follows a group of escapees from the newly revamped Weapon X facility who are fleeing for their lives while they try to understand the new abilities they harness.

Spoilers Ahead

Phase One: Question #1

The series starts in burning Paradise Facility, the place were Wolverine died. A mysterious man named Sharp is slowly regaining consciousness and is unsure of where he is or what he is doing there. He staggers to his feet, and with feline-like reflexes, snatches an incoming tranquilizing dart out of mid-air. As he turns to confront the shooter, we see an armored guard in a gas mask and a mutant prisoner. Sharp throws the dart at the guard and frees the prisoner. We learn that the prisoner, Harold, is a test subject being forcibly held at the Paradise Facility, while Sharp on the other hand was only a volunteer.

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Sharp takes the gas mask from the downed guard and conceals his face with it. We then get a glimpse at what appears to be flashbacks into Sharp’s past with brief black and white vision of war. The two new acquaintances run into another pair of mutants and decide to team up. Shortly after, a squadron of guards confronts the foursome threatening to kill them if they don’t cooperate. The four test subjects use their newly acquired mutant abilities to take out the guards. While searching for a way out of the burning facility, they stumble across a terrified girl who admits to killing some guards with the gift of super speed, which she was unaware she possessed. The girl, Meifeng, joins the other mutants in search of a safe way out of the facility. The mutants reach the roof of the facility to find that the only possible escape would be via helicopter. Unfortunately for them, the helicopter is being heavily protected by guards and a mutant who seems to be in charge.

Sharp devises a plan as to how the group can capture the helicopter. The mutants burst onto the landing pad, catching the guards by surprise, and they eliminate the guards while Sharp kills the mutant in charge. As they begin boarding, they find an unconscious woman in a hospital bed already loaded on the helicopter. They are able to escape right as the facility explodes, making a classic comic book exit.

As the issue comes to a close, Meifeng asks Sharp where he learned how to fight, and Sharp removes his gas mask for the first time and admits that he cannot remember. The final page shows a reflection of Sharp’s face, the first full view of his face the reader gets, and lo and behold, he has a striking resemblance to none other than the Wolverine.

 Review

Normally I’m not a big fan of spinoff series, but I really enjoyed reading this one. If you have read this and are a little confused, I would recommend going back and reading the original Death of Wolverine arc, or at least going back and checking out the review done by Bam Smack Pow’s Roger Lee. I’m really excited to see where this series heads and look forward to the introduction of some new characters. One area I think this series will lack in is the use of darker imagery to convey the plot. The color scheme is pretty dark, but it pretty clear that we aren’t going to get much blood or gore from this series. I’m not saying this is a terrible thing, but I think that if a little blood was added here and there it may help identify the importance of certain situations.

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