Ultimate Wolverine Just Had an Insane Weapon X Moment

Ultimate Wolverine has jumped to the top of the Ultimate book heap, vaulting over Ultimate Black Panther, Ultimate X-Men, and The Ultimates as one of the hottest books in the comic industry. Ultimate Wolverine is a wilder Wolverine than ever, a tool of the Eurasian Republic, acting as their Winter Soldier. Ultimate Wolverine #4 gives readers a story they’ve been waiting for, as Ultimate Wolverine breaks from the control of the Russians. However, for those who have read the best Wolverine stories of all time, this issue is very, very familiar. The entire issue is basically a retelling of the classic Wolverine story, “Weapon X”, the tale that told how Wolverine got his adamantium and broke free from the supersoldier program that gave it to him.

“Weapon X” was published in 1991, running through Marvel Comics Presents #72-84, by writer/artist Barry Windsor-Smith. Marvel Comics Presents was Marvel’s anthology series, telling several short stories per issue, with a main story starring the most popular Marvel characters. Wolverine has a great legacy of Marvel Comics Presents stories, but “Weapon X” is easily the best one. “Weapon X” is one of the most important Wolverine stories of them all, and taking a closer look at it puts it, and Ultimate Wolverine #4, in context.

“Weapon X” Answered a Lot of Questions About Wolverine

Wolverine rode the man of mystery trope to superstardom in the late ’70s/early ’80s, but that can only last for so long. Fans wanted answers to their questions about who Wolverine was and where things like his adamantium skeleton came from. While readers got stories like Wolverine (Vol. 2) #10, a story set in Wolverine’s past, too much of the character’s background was opaque. That’s where “Weapon X” came in. Writer/artist Barry Windsor-Smith was a trusted Marvel creator, making his name on Conan the Barbarian. Windsor-Smith would also be responsible for some amazing Uncanny X-Men stories like “Lifedeath”, usually penciling/co-plotting one or two special issues per year, inculding at least one about Wolverine. Windsor-Smith was chosen for “Weapon X” and definitely knocked it out of the park.

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“Weapon X” picked up on the idea of Wolverine as a subject of a supersoldier program, and added in a hefty dose of horror. The main characters of “Weapon X” are actually the Professor, Doctor Cornelius, and Carol Hines, the three heads of Weapon X. They’re the reader’s doorway into the story, as they watch their subject transform into an unstoppable killing machine because of their actions, their fear and impotence continually growing. Superhero comics and horror go well together, but it’s rare that the focus of the story, the superhero, is the source of the horror. “Weapon X” brings in two kinds of horror — body horror, because of the terrible experiments done on Logan, and monster horror. In fact, on its own, “Weapon X” could be looked at as a birth of a monster story, connecting the audience to the monster’s suffering, and making them cheer when the monster finally breaks free and destroys everything in their way. It’s an extremely important story in the history of Wolverine and Marvel, and is one of the best stories the publisher has ever put out.

Ultimate Wolverine #4 Does “Weapon X” in Its Own Way

From the first page, Ultimate Wolverine #4 is doing a “Weapon X” pastiche, but it goes in a different direction. So, for example, the story is told by captions of the Russian scientists working with Wolverine, exactly like “Weapon X”. However, instead of showing it, the issue’s art uses a metaphorical battle between a wolf and a bear, representing Wolverine and the Russians. It’s an excellent way to do “Weapon X” because it builds anticipation for when we finally see the violence, leading to the beautiful above image from Alessandro Cappuccio and Bryan Valenza. It’s a smart way to do a story that readers have read a million times before.

It’s also serves as an important part of the story of Ultimate Wolverine. Readers knew that something was going to change after last issue’s battle with Kitty Pryde, and this issue shows that the echoes of the past we’ve gotten in this book so far are closer to the surface than ever. While the Russians have a back-up for their control of Wolverine — the psionic brain of Xavier and the comatose Jean Grey — it’s easy to see that pretty soon, the beast will be unleashed on the monsters who made him into their killer.

Ultimate Wolverine #4 is out now.