Wolverine: Tales of Weapon X

Sometimes when I buy books I don’t exactly know what to expect. Wolverine: Tales of Weapon X is one of those kinds of books. You see, I tend to buy lots of graphic novels – and when I say ‘lots’ I mean groups of books bundled together – and I figure that some of these books will be good and some well, not so much. This is one of those ‘not so much’ types of books, but that’s the gamble you take when you buy lots right? Well, the title had the words ‘Wolverine’ and ‘Weapon X’ in it and pictures of Deadpool and Sabretooth on the cover so I was sure it had to have some redeemable qualities in it.

Well, the book is a collection of of ‘First Class’ books topped off with a generous helping of Power Pack. That’s right, I said Power Pack. I can’t believe I currently have 2 graphic novels that actually contain those pint-sized annoyances. Well, if you didn’t know what ‘First Class’ books are you aren’t alone, I had no idea of what they were either. Turns out, ‘First Class’ series required the writers to ‘Make the titles appropriate for all ages’, well 9 and up according to the press. It’s not just that they removed the blood from a graphic novel starring a guy with razor sharp blades on the back of his hands and added some teenage prattle courtesy of Kitty Pride, but the stories are dumbed down as well.

Ok, so it was written in simple style for kids, but it can still be a good read, right? I mean look at all those guest appearances right on the cover. Well, Deadpool plays no role in the stories whatsoever. He just babbles with himself, and it isn’t very funny. And Gambit, my God he’s like 17 in the story and looks even more effeminate than you could possibly imagine. These two side-stories had absolutely nothing to do with the main Wolverine story lines, it’s as if they were just tossed in to introduce a younger generation to these characters for future marketing.

Did I mention that this isn’t even a full-sized graphic novel? Grrrr. Ok, I won’t belabor my annoyance with this book any more. Here are the spoilers.

Spoiler

The main storyline follows Wolverine and Professor X as they try to break through Wolverine’s mental barriers to try to unearth his shattered memories. The two of them walk through his mindscape and experience the savage transformation of a mutant into Weapon X followed by his aggresive outbursts against the men who did that to him. It’s too much for Professor X to handle and by the end too much for Wolverine to handle as well. So Wolverine requests that Professor X put his mental barriers back in place and bury those newly revealed memories deep down inside of himself where he can’t access them. Well that’s kind of a rip-off, huh?

The side stories include Gambit breaking into the Weapon X facility to steal journal of atrocities for Mr Sinister, Deadpool talking to himself as a prisoner in the same facility and my favorite story when Sabretooth attacks Wolverine on his birthday at a resteraunt filled with ninjas. Yeah that’s right, ninjas… sweet!

Of course the most inane and annoying side-story is the one starring the Power Pack. For some reason they are at Charles Xavier’s school for mutants and they sit in on a lecture about mutant history and they decide mutants are great and then they help protect the mansion from an attack of Sentinals.

Ok, so what was good about the book? Well the art was pretty cool. I think I’m going to leave it at that.

Story
Artwork
Value
Can It Stand Alone
Cool Factor
Average