Alpha Flight in Wolverine: Weapon X #1

[rplass]

Click here for solicit from Marvel

First of all, this much-hyped book is living up to the hype so far, a classic and very bloody, gory Wolverine story with seriously good art and writing. Now it is a bit confusing to understand that the "Weapon X" name means so many things... and somehow Alpha Flight got included in this book in an OHOTMU entry.

SPOILER SPACE



















..spoiling space since 1983..











SPOILERS:

A depowered but fully armed Maverick [Agent Zero] appears at the end, passing info to Wolverine about "Weapon X". Now when I read it, I thought it meant just the Weapon X program from Wolverine's origin, the bad guys that bonded the adamantium to Logan's skeleton and made him all animal-ish. At the back of the book are reprinted OHOTMU-style entries for Maverick and a large entry for the Weapon X group (taken from the Wolverine 2004 OHOTMU book) which includes both that version of Weapon X as well as the series written by Tieri, you know, the Malcolm Colcord-led group of mutant-hunting mutants. The OHOTMU entry for Weapon X lists Wild Child, Aurora and Jeffries, with head shots for each of them.

Unfortunately, Marvel released no fewer than 5 versions of this book, 3 of which are fairly easy to find and 2 are rarer variants, not so easy to find, nor cheap. Completists will buy 5 copies of a book just to get little headshots of reprinted material, but everyone else, just buy at least one copy of the book because it's good.

Love,
rplass

[Flightpath07]

..spoiling space since 1983..

lol

[rplass]

The handbook-style Wolverine: Weapon X files came out this week. It's a really good book about Wolverine, very long, lots of info, but surprisingly doesn't have any Alpha Flight entries... although in Wolverine's entry, Wolverine's origin is quite detailed about his history with Department H and First Flight. Wild Child is mentioned in the Sabretooth entry, as an agent of Romulus.

Solicit from Marvel

So I was about to pout and be all frowny when I closed the book but just then, I spied none other than James and Heather Hudson! The back cover has a reprint of the snapshot from Wolverine v.2 #50, shown below. The actual image on the back of the cover is obscured on the top, so I show the original:



Then I was all smiley. Like this:

Love,
rplass

[Le Messor]

The handbook-style Wolverine: Weapon X files came out this week.

I'm gonna wait 'til the movie comes out; next Wednesday.

- Le Messor
"Football combines the worst elements of America: Mass violence punctuated by committee meetings."
- Author Unknown

[rplass]

Unfortunately, Marvel released no fewer than 5 versions of this book, 3 of which are fairly easy to find and 2 are rarer variants, not so easy to find, nor cheap. Completists will buy 5 copies of a book just to get little headshots of reprinted material, but everyone else, just buy at least one copy of the book because it's good.

Not satisfied with only 5 versions? Fine, get yourself a 6th copy! In case you want to read it 6 times! The issue has gone back for a 2nd printing, and it too has the little handbook entries in the back. Wow, this is getting ridiculous

Solicit from Marvel

Love,
rplass

[rplass]

Issue #2 came out today. Wow. What a book! One of the best I've read in a heck of a long time. Congratulations to the creative team for a job well done.







SPOILER SPACE







snikt









No Alpha Flight members appear in this book but there are minor references....a book on Garner's bookshelf is labeled, "A Secret History of Department H" Man, what I would give to have a copy of THAT book ! Also, there's a sticky note on her corkboard that reads "X-Men" "Avengers" and partially obscured are the letters "LPHA", guess what those letters spell??? It's really hard to spot because in the previous panel, she's not wearing a bra and it's sort of distracting, uh, even for the next panel.

Anyway in this issue, Wolverine gets into a situation, a fight, that he actually RUNS AWAY from, knowing he can't win. I can't think of another time I've seen that! Sort of reminded me of when Weapon Alpha popped away in UXM #109 after realizing he was out of his league when he first battled the X-Men. There's also one panel where he's getting attacked by a bad guy with energy claws, and he feels the claws scraping his guts against his ribs, gross! and he says, "Guess this is what it feels like to be killed by me" Ewww, but totally awesome.

Love,
rplass

[rplass]

Very interesting news in the September solicits:

http://marvel.com/catalog/?id=12873

WOLVERINE: WEAPON X FILES TPB

Four Wolverine handbooks packed into one collection make this the definitive resource to the world of Wolverine! He may be in an acre of comics each month, but this is the only place to get the real score! Featuring some of the Canucklehead's best allies – including Gambit, Maverick, Tyger Tiger and X-Force! And along for the ride are villains – the likes of Blob, Daken, Deadpool, Mastermind, Orphan Maker, Donald Pierce, the Purifiers, Sabretooth and S'ym. Everything you need to know about Hollywood’s favorite mutant is here in one collection! Collecting WOLVERINE: WEAPON X FILES and WOLVERINE ENCYCLOPEDIA #1-3. Rated T …$24.99

PRICE: 24.99
IN STORES: September 30, 2009

That's not a misprint, yes, the missing Wolverine Encyclopedia is being printed for the 1st time in this book! Issues 1 and 2 were printed in 1996, and ended alphabetically in the "R"'s... but issue 3 never saw the light of day. Many Alpha Flight members had entries in those two issues, and it is very, very likely that Sasquatch, Shaman and Snowbird will have entries, possibly other Alphans too.

It is sort of strange to publish this material from 13yrs ago alongside the Weapon X Files book that just came out in 2009, seeing as how so much has happened since then. For readers unaware of the formerly missing material who are just picking this up for a Wolverine reference, they will be somewhat disappointed with the out-of-date information, I suppose. For the rest of us, !!

Love,
rplass