Wolverine: Weapon X Omnibus is a collection of three classic Logan, aka Wolverine of X-Men fame, novels from Titan Books. Marc Cerasini’s Weapon X, the first in the trilogy is the origin story of how an old mutant with incredible healing powers has his skeleton forcibly covered in the world’s strongest metal, adamantium. Because Wolverine is hooked up to wires that keep him in a pliable mental and physical state, it may be surprising to discover that Wolverine, himself, gets very little time to shine in this novel. It works, though, because the “bad” guys are anything but one-dimensional. Their backgrounds certainly do not excuse the abuse they perpetrate on our pal Logan, but the back story of each scientist is compelling and interesting and gives the entire book the type of weight it deserves. The second book, David Alan Mack’s Road of Bones, sees Logan traveling to his favorite destination: Japan. Once he gets there, he must track down an experimental drug that could cure most known human diseases, but is, instead, being used for blackmail purposes by an underworld organization you will be glad to see Wolverine slice through. The last book in the trilogy, Hugh Matthews’ Lifeblood, takes place at a time when Wolverine has completely forgotten his past. He begins to have memories of fighting against the Germans during World War II and, surprise surprise, he finds himself in a concentration camp where a scientist obsessed with eternal life begins to experiment on Logan with hopes of tapping into the fountain of youth.
All three of these novels remind me of Don Pendleton’s: The Executioner series in that we are constantly given the same character, in this case Logan / Wolverine, and watch to see how he will react to different dangerous situations. Like Mack Bolan, there is more space given to the types and number of weapons than to the character relationships; and to be honest, that works for Wolverine considering his typical inability to navigate any type of deeply emotional relationship among his colleagues. Also, the action is fast and violent from the first to last pages with major plot points coming exactly when you expect them. All three books are strong, but there is a familiarity seeping through by the third book. By page nine hundred, most readers will be thinking the stories seem awfully similar. The good news is that they are strong stories and worth the read.
