Customer Reviews

Wolverine: Weapon X (Wolverine (Mass))

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Wolverine: Weapon X by Marc Cerasini is a delicious read, whether or not you've read the seminal Barry Windsor-Smith version (if you haven't and you're a Wolverine fan, shame on you, it's ISBN # 0785100334. Treat yourself, you'll be glad you did). If you haven't read the Weapon X graphic novel, then this is a rare opportunity for you, a chance to see how Logan was forced to have his Adamantium skeleton. If you have read the BWS version, then prepare to be delighted by tons of new detail.

Without giving away much of the plot, the story begins with Logan between government spy jobs, down on his luck, and hiding out. But what little luck he does have evaporates when he is captured by a secret Canadian organization. Soon he's undergoing hellish surgery and experiments, designed to completely change who he is inside and out.

The writing is very well executed, the plot fast, and the imagery intriguing. There is a sub story about Logan back from his spy days that is completely unique to this novel, so even if you think you know all there is to know about everyone's favorite Canadian mutant, check this one out anyway. It's got enough new things to keep regular X-Men readers happy, and is well told enough that a newcomer to X-Men and Wolverine would not be lost.

Not recommended for children as there is reference to sexual abuse and torture. But recommended to everyone else as a fine addition to your library.

I Thought that this was a really good book. It explained alot of what had happened to Logan, and what they did to him. The book really makes you think, and the science in the book really helped me remember things for my biology test by associating all the boring facts with a really interesting book.

For reasons I won't get into, I was skeptical of this novel at first, but I quickly became a fan. Why? The typical prose novel based on a superhero is simplistically YA in its prose style, tame in its content, and formulaic in approach. This one is none of the above. It is a stunning and disturbing modern horror story. It's also dead brilliant, and it is not for children (or anyone who has absolutely no knowledge of Wolverine beyond the Hollywood movies).

From the surreal first page of Wolverine: Weapon X, even the first sentence, you know you're not in your little brother's world of formulaic superheroes. Cerasini starts by giving us Logan's intense, fractured point-of-view, as he drifts in and out of consciousness at the start of the story. What we are reading are splinters of Logan's present, past, and the fractured wanderings of his mind trying to make sense of what's happening to him at the start of the drama.

No sentence or idea in this first chapter is thrown away. The language and disturbing rantings have been carefully wrought, laced with meaning and metaphor based on Logan's long history.

(The Earth's water cycle, for instance, is clearly a reference to Logan's own eternal warrior back story, which, yes indeed, has been explored in previous Wolverine graphic novels published by Marvel.)

This book, which was also published by Marvel Press in hardcover, is based on Marvel's own Barry Windsor-Smith graphic novel of the same name (Wolverine: Weapon X). This story is just one chapter in the very long history of the mutant named Logan, whose transformation into Wolverine was a century-long process.

Wolverine: Weapon X is an "origin story" in the sense that it informs us how Logan came to gain his adamantium skeleton. As you'll see by the end of this book, what Logan goes through solidifies more than his skeleton. Like Windsor-Smith's original graphic novel, Cerasini taps into the deadly dark anti-hero tradition (begun in comics by the greats - Alan Mooore and Frank Miller).

The story opens when Logan (a down and out, ex-Canadian special forces solider) is kidnapped and taken to a remote Canadian laboratory where technicians begin their experiments on him under the direction of a disturbingly driven genius (the professor).

The original graphic novel never explains why the professor had this done, or who the technicians were that would choose to participate in Logan's excruciating transformation. Cerasini fills in these blanks, painting each minor character with disturbing clarity and realism, showing us their back story and what brought them to a point in their lives when they would agree to serve the professors ends in this way. We also find out why this enigmatic (and utterly creepy) professor chose to transform Logan (the reason does not disappoint).

The plotline faithfully follows Windsor-Smith's graphic novel while exploring it in ingenious ways (thus constantly surprising and intriguing this reader). This is dark, fierce material, and Cerasini rises to the occasion, conveying not just explosive prose but a multi-dimensional backdrop of the characters involved in what amounts to Wolverine's crucifixion.

Logan does rise again, transformed, at the other end of this dark tunnel, emerging from this harrowing drama as the mutant with the adamantium claws. And when you turn the last page, the words "tortured past," will have a very specific meaning when you hear them applied to this particular comic book anti-hero.

My recommendations are as follows:
- If you want a traditional good guy gets bad guy superhero story, or if you are literally a child of 14 years or younger, move along. This book is not for you.

- If you are someone who is only familiar with Wolverine from the X-Men movies, you might want to first read Windsor-Smith's original Marvel graphic novel. Be warned: what you saw on the Hollywood screen is only one aspect of Wolverine/Logan.

- If you are a fan, you might want to keep in mind that Marvel Press published and--DUH--therefore vetted and approved all aspects and details of Logan's history in this fine novel.

-If you want to read a fantastically written, brutally haunting modern horror novel, then you won't be disappointed with Wolverine: Weapon X by Marc Cerasini. It's a fierce, disturbing, beautifully violent tale ingeniously told. True fans of Marvel's Wolverine (as opposed to Hollywood's) should not miss it.

Although I rarely read comics, I was somewhat familiar with the back story of Woverine before picking up Wolverine: Weapon X, and really enjoyed Cerasini's take on the events. I especially liked how he took certain things into consideration regarding the adamantium bonding process which had always bothered me (an explanation of how they were able to bond the metal to the bone without interrupting important biological processes - sorry, you'll have to read it to find out).

Something readers might find interesting is that the myostatin blocking enzymes used to enhance Wolverine's muscularity are not fiction. Although the "myostatin blockers" advertised in bodybuilding magazines are bogus, there are real drugs for blocking myostatin currently undergoing clinical testing for FDA approval, and scientists are already capable of altering genes to block myostatin production. A search for Sejin Lee (one of the main scientists involved) and myostatin will turn up some interesting reading for those who want to know more about just how muscular a person (or mutant in this case) can become when myostatin production is blocked.

I enjoyed this book for two reasons, The writing was well done and it gave a indepth analysis of how the bonding process worked.

I would have to say this is a good book for any level of fan. From the "just getting into" and the old fan. It does not give you a extremely detailed history of Logan, but enough for you to understand why he was chosen, and why he is the way he is.

I also enjoyed this book because it explained the bonding process with an in depth look at it. There were parts of the book that were a little slow, but were needed in order to fully explain how the bonding process worked. That is the one of the reasons I rated the book a four out of five. Not a real big mark against the book, but a mark nonetheless. Also, the point about him being tied to alot of historical battles was a bit of a stretch. Symbolically I understand, but figuratively it was a stretch.

Overall, I highly suggest the book for anyone just starting out or just enjoys a good Wolverine story.

When I first started reading the book, it was hard to get into because there is so much terminology used when describing every little detail. But, when you piece it all together you can see yourself there in the lab as they do all these horrible things to Logan. I am half way through the book but so far am finding it harder and harder to put down. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of X-Men.

Wolverine, one of the most iconic superheroes of the Marvel Universe, is also one of the most difficult to do well. There have been many graphic novels involving Wolverine's life and his adventures, and also a few prose novels. Wolverine: Weapon X is very likely the best of them all.

Wolverine: Weapon X tells the tale of how Wolverine got his adamantium skeleton, based on the comic book run written and illustrated by Barry Windsor-Smith. It was probably the greatest run in Wolverine's history, gritty, oversaturated colors, and utterly horrific, capturing the essence of Wolverine's character. And let me start off by saying that this novel, by Marc Ceracini, does just as good a job.

It starts off with action, and doesn't let up until, literally, the last page. We get the gritty scientific details of how the adamantium metal is laced to Logan's bones, and also flashes of the harsh reality these characters live in. Ceracini delves into the stories of many of the characters, including some of the scientists and facility personnel. But the transitions are smooth and slide easily from person to person, and it never gets bogged down with the details.

The most important part of a book is the characters, especially when dealing with a character like Wolverine. Ceracini does a brilliant job evoking the same emotions brought up in the comic book run by Windsor-Smith. He goes a step further and does some great characterization with people like Dr. Cornelius and Mrs. Hines. We care about them. But a hero is only as good as the villain, and while the shadowed Professor is never really explored in detail, he poses enough of an ominous threat to keep the story rolling.

The writing style is nothing extraordinary, but it works for the material, and is sufficient to move the plot along. Ceracini does a great job of utilizing scientific lingo to define exactly what the scientists are doing to Logan. To someone like me who knows nothing about this sort of thing, it seemed believable enough. And it's science fiction, so doesn't have to be real anyway.

Most importantly, the book is gripping and highly entertaining. No matter what is happening, we are invested enough in the characters to care what will go down. Ever scene is tense. And the action is very well written, and very, very bloody. If you have a weak stomach, I'm sure you won't be able to handle organs being ripped out and heads cut off, limbs being torn, bones broken, and an assortment of other ways for people to die. But this is Wolverine, and it should be expected.

While Wolverine: Weapon X is certainly a very worthy read, it does have its problems like every other book. The ending seems a little too rushed, and slightly forced. Ceracini is a very good writer, so I'm sure he could have played out the end a bit smoother. Also, some of the back-stories don't match up with the original story and seem a bit pointless and out of place. Of course, I don't know everyone's origin and story by heart, so I could be wrong.

I did like the subplots, and it was cool to see a lot of cameos. Over all, Wolverine: Weapon X is a fun, yet very dark and bloody, entertain read. I highly recommend it to any Wolverine fan. I have yet to read the sequel, and I look forward to see how Ceracini continues the story. It receives and easy five stars.

I won't repeat the plot as "Goblyn Queen" has done a fantastic job. I would just like to add that this is the goriest, grisliest book I've ever read, bar none. Despite that it is science-fiction and much of the plot is hinged on technology that doesn't exist, this book is so realistic and dark and gruesome that I felt slightly queasy, like I was actually witnessing the dehumanization told of in the book. In that respect, it was extremely well-written. It was also horrifying. Rather like the novel equivalent of Batman: The Dark Knight.

I was hesitant to read these X-titled novels, and this was the first. I grew up with X-Men comics (I'm 45 and no, I don't live with my parents). This novel was excellent, well-written and deals with a period the comics have elaborated upon extensively. And despite that bulk of previous handling of this subject matter, I highly recommend this book. If you're a fan of the X-Men's Wolverine, don't miss out on this one. And the other books on Wolverine done by this publisher with other authors are worthwhile as well. Pleasant surprises, all!

This was the second book i have read of the Wolverine book. I really enjoyed it, but felt so sorry for the dude. I kept wanting him to kick ass and take names.
This is pretty detailed and graphic, not for kids. In the end Wolverine gets away. and that is good. The characters in the book are rich with detail and their own demons to battle. That explains maybe why they want Logan and the depravity they go down that path of being inhumane to Logan.