Barry Windsor-Smith’s “Weapon X” is a horror-inspired masterpiece
In 1991, Marvel Comics was exploding. A group of young creators would take control of their most popular characters and turn in stories that were selling millions of copies each week. Todd McFarlane had redefined Spider-Man’s look during The Amazing Spider-Man (1963-1998) in such a way that he was awarded his own ongoing series, simply titled Spider-Man (1990-1998), to showcase both his art and storytelling abilities. The series was a success, selling a whopping 2.5 million copies of its first issue. As popular as Spider-Man had become with readers, it was the world of the X-Men that would really carry Marvel through those booming years. Jim Lee’s gorgeous art on X-Men (1991-2001) accompanying the legendary Chris Claremont’s (Uncanny X-Men) words would show Marvel a return they never dreamed of with the first issue selling 8.2 million copies, still the best-selling American single-issue comic of all time. Artists like Rob Liefeld and Marc Silvestri would take other X titles such as X-Force (1991-2002) and X-Factor (1986-1998) and transform them into bonafide page-turners. Marvel was the comic book organization to beat, and mutants were the keepers of their castle.Â
Out of the hundreds of X-related characters that appeared throughout this golden era, there was only one who became the de facto face to represent them all. After fully debuting in the pages of The Incredible Hulk #181 (November 1974), the character of Wolverine instantly became a fascinating player: a seemingly unbeatable mutant with the ability to heal instantly and use metal claws stemming from his knuckles to battle his foes. In the years following his debut, Wolverine, created by Len Wein, Roy Thomas, and John Romita Sr., slowly became a fan favorite, appearing first in Wein’s Giant Size X-Men (1975) followed by X-Men, The Uncanny X-Men, and a solo series all written by Claremont. The man known as Logan to his X-Men teammates was riding a popularity wave only few other X-characters could match, let alone other Marvel staples. As popular as the character was, his origin had been shrouded in mystery. A few aborted ideas had been presented in the years following his debut: from a mutated wolverine cub to the idea that his arch nemesis Sabretooth was his father. While none of these origins stuck, it was the work of one comic book writer/artist in the pages of the anthology series Marvel Comics Presents (1988-1995) that would become the definitive origin for the vicious Canadian.Â
By the time Marvel exploded in the early 1990’s, Barry Windsor-Smith had become tired of the regular superhero comic book troupes. He had arrived at Marvel in the late 1960’s as a young 19-year-old English transplant looking to make a name for himself at the “House of Ideas”. Working as an artist on titles such as Daredevil, Avengers, and Conan the Barbarian, Windsor-Smith had seen the inner workings of the company and grew disillusioned with the way they did business. Regardless of that, he continued to work for Marvel on and off for the next few decades before the opportunity arrived to write, draw, ink, color, and co-letter (alongside Jim Novak) a Wolverine story for Marvel Comics Presents. At the height of X-Men’s popularity, he was ready to take on a different kind of tale involving their flagship character.Â
After being abducted by a mysterious group of men in combat gear, Logan unknowingly finds himself at the center of a secret underground project called Experiment X. Experiment X is a government facility procedure that bonds the substance known as Adamantium, the strongest metal in the Marvel Universe, to unwilling participants and transforms them into mindless killing machines. Led by assistant Carol Hines, Dr. Abraham Cornelius, and the man only known as “The Professor” (later stories reveal his name to be Andre Thorton), the project turns Logan inside out, erasing his memories and reconfiguring his body makeup by attaching the Adamantium to his bones, creating “Weapon X”. As the Experiment X team learn of Logan’s mutant ability to heal himself, we learn that his signature weapons were the result of excess Adamantium in his bones that forced itself to form into retractable claws. Over the course of its 12-part story, the team prod and poke at his brain, testing his ability to follow direct orders from the Professor by hunting and fighting other predators in the snowy mountains outside the hidden facility. It is during these tests where we see Logan resist the Professors orders which results in more mixing of his brain to attempt to eliminate the push and pull. As the hellish experiments continue, the Experiment X team implement false memories into Logan’s brain to monitor his ability to follow orders. All these failures result in Logan killing most of the facility’s security and seemingly ending the lives of Cornelius and the Professor. As Logan awakes from his false memory, he regains his consciousness and control of his mind, leaving the facility for the woods to question what has just occurred. We discover that the Professor, Dr. Cornelius, and Ms. Hines were in a safe bunker during Logan’s escape and that the images of Logan murdering Cornelius and the Professor were indeed figments of his imagination. As they review the success rate of these experiments, Logan breaks into their bunker for revenge.Â
Weapon X quietly debuted in September of 1991 and ran until November of the same year. A story arc that would twist and turn in ways average Marvel readers would certainly not expect. What began as an interesting introspective look into the mind of Marvel’s most popular mutant evolved into a snowy nightmare scenario lifted straight out of an 80’s horror film. This was not your typical X-Men comic: it was a bloody, shadowy, haunting tale of how a man’s entire life was taken from him. A dangerous unethical experiment that would keep its claws buried deep inside Logan for the rest of his life. The struggle of trying to be a man when the world only sees you as an animalistic killing machine. The origin of his suffering that had been a staple of Logan’s character for years leading up to this story was now being shown in tragic, downright humiliating fashion. While most of the X-titles during this time focused on large backdrops populated with exaggerated dialogue and over-the-top battles, Weapon X was presented as a small, intimate, character drama that explored just how precious life can be even to those who forget.Â