Weapon H #1
Writer: Greg Pak
Art: Cory Smith
Colors: Morry Hollowell
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Publisher: Marvel
Review by Michael Farris, Jr.
Weapon H brings us the story of someone we only know as “Clay” who is trying to get by and live life off the radar. Unfortunately, thanks to our friends at Weapon X who brought us Wolverine, Clay is half man, half Hulk, and half Wolverine. This, of course, should make him ManHulkRine, but the creators of this comic settled on Hulkverine. Anyway, on his trek through the Alaskan wilderness, he comes across an archeological team trying to find a site deep within the Alaskan mountains, but some members of the team have alternate motives. Clay, as much as he tries to stay out of things nearly as much as he tries to stay out of his Hulkverine form, ends up in a smash-and-slash showdown with a Wendigo. Chaos ensues.
And my goodness, what a lot of fun this chaos was. The comic book starts out in Butte, Montana. My wife and I drove through Butte one time on a road trip and tried to find dinner there. We ended up settling on an overpriced Asian restaurant where we had to walk through a bar where the world’s saddest bachelorette party was happening. Those were the only people we saw; it was a ghost town. Anyway, I’m writing a lot about Butte, but all this to say, this comic is nothing like Butte.
It has life, it has adventure, and you’ll be entertained. We don’t get to know a whole lot about Clay, but what we do learn is despite his desire to blend in with the crowd, he can’t help but give in to his moral compass and help people in need. Even if that means Hulkverining out to take on a Wendigo. And when we got to that fight, I just remember my overall thought being, “Hell yeah.”
The artwork also handled all the ridiculous elements ridiculously well. I enjoyed the transformation of the Wendigo, the Terminator dude or whatever he was, and Hulkverine looked menacing and awesome. I just wish we had gotten a look at that transformation process.
Verdict: Buy it.
This is so bombastic and over-the-top yet still finds a way for you to care about Clay and his family, and that’s what makes this book great. There’s mythical snow beasts, there’s cannibalism (gross), there’s archeological sites, and there’s government contractor shadiness all around. You’ll want to get in on this ride early and get back in line and go again and then end the day with a few more runs.
