Wolverine: Weapon X Deluxe Edition collects the original Weapon X storyline from Marvel Comics Presents #72-84, as well as a Barry Windsor-Smith flashback excerpt from Wolverine #166, and the classic Body Shop issue of Uncanny X-men #205. Backing up these issues are some cover reproductions, penciled pages, and a brief afterward by Larry Hama. Beyond the Weapon X story, these add-ons bolster the page count and keep the collection focused on Windsor-Smith’s artistry; however, the reproduction quality leaves much to be desired.
Weapon X endures as the seminal Wolverine origin whose effects continue to be felt in the character to this day. It took Logan’s inherent dichotomy between man and beast to areas previously unexplored as Logan is captured and experimented on. The experiment puts Logan through unimaginable torture as his body is grafted with adamantium and his mind is fractured into subservience. Each chapter takes on its own life in the moment, from the disorienting and fragmented opening sequences to the blood-soaked final pages, yet each chapter flows effortlessly into one another. This was my first full read through and after the striking imagery of the opening chapter, I could not put it down. Weapon X is a classic for a reason, and its artistic intensity still leaps off the pages.
The additional excerpt from Wolverine #166 makes for an interesting companion to the main story, but reads jarringly. It’s Windsor-Smith’s art 20 years after the original, which is cool to see, but it only reprints his pages within the issue which means it begins and ends abruptly. The inclusion of Uncanny X-men #205 makes for another worthy companion and classic Wolverine vs. Lady Deathstrike fight. Windsor-Smith’s work was truly ahead of its time, especially in the action sequences where he utilizes more “widescreen” style paneling, years before it would reach popularity in the late 90s-early 2000s.
Leaving the time-tested merits of the titular story aside, the paperback itself has several drawbacks. First, at the time of publication, this trade will be the sole Weapon X collection in print. A brief search showed me that Marvel put this collection out, the same material and all, just last year as a “Gallery Edition” with a larger size, hardcover, and $45 price tag. This gallery version has now fallen out of print and Marvel is releasing this scaled-down “Deluxe Edition” paperback with a $30 price tag. Who knows how long this copy will stay in print, but it may be worth waiting on a price drop or tracking down older reprints depending on your view on its reproduction quality.
The second and largest drawback here is the lackluster image reproduction. Everything in the compilation of this trade seems to want to celebrate the artwork, as well it should. Windsor-Smith’s work here remains as powerful and gritty as when it debuted and deserves the highest quality reproduction available. Unfortunately, the reprinting artificially brightens the colors beyond their original palette. I’m not in printing so I don’t know at what stage of the process the breakdown occurs whether it’s the original file scans or the cheap paper it’s printed on, but this edition does not do the artwork justice.
I noticed the whites seemed pretty bright as I read through, but this being my first read-through of Weapon X I didn’t really have a lot to compare it to. However, I did have a reprint of the Uncanny X-men #205 issue on hand in a Marvel Premiere Edition of LifeDeath. A side-by-side comparison confirmed my suspicions about the rest of the collection: the colors are way off. You can notice below the new printing (right) looks considerably whiter and eliminates the original’s (left) richness of the coloring. As a result, the colors come off flatter than they should. The lettering colors skew off the original too and the shadows are downplayed due to the artificial brightening. Now, for those who don’t have anything to compare this to, I can understand how it may not be a huge deal; but for fans such as me who care about quality reproductions, this trade absolutely misses the mark.
I would be less upset with the trade if it were just a barebones reprint of the Weapon X story and knocked down to the $15-20 price range of your typical Marvel paperback. But this edition tacks on the extra content here to try to make it look like a celebration of Windsor-Smith’s artistry and then goes and provides a shoddy reprint. The true magic here is that the story and artwork do work well in spite of the lackluster reproduction.
Weapon X Deluxe Edition remains a story worth keeping in print and maybe if sales are good enough on this trade, Marvel might release a higher-quality edition. Wolverine: Weapon X is worth picking up for those who’ve never experienced the story before and don’t have the ability to find an older reprint, but this second-rate reproduction quality makes it hard to recommend to fans or collectors.
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