It's been a while since I turned my attention to Frank Tieri's mutant series, and this issue really merited a look given the high quality of the fill-in artwork. Tieri delves into Marvel's history for a 1940s super-hero story that captures the dark atmosphere of this series as a whole while still touching upon on the wonder of the early days of super-heroes. I'm still not drawn in by the conspiracy elements of the Weapon X plotlines, though, and while the art is amazing, the homage to a modern classic film about the Holocaust seems a little too tongue-in-cheek for my comfort.
It's 1944, and even at that time, the mutant scientist known as Sinister surreptitiously pursues his quest to create the perfect mutant specimen. A certain superhuman -- Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner from Atlantis -- has attracted Sinister's attention, and an encounter between the heroic Invaders and Nazi super-villains provides an ideal opportunity to study the amphibious monarch's genetic makeup.
Leon and Edwards have similar, dark styles, so it makes sense for them to team up. Their work here reminds me a great deal of the style of Tony (Starman) Harris's moody, mature work. They convey the power and classic simplicity of the Sub-Mariner incredible well. The black-and-white motif, with splashes of red to add tension, looks great as well. It works not only as a flashback device, but immerse the story in a tense, sullen mood. Now, it's clear that the artists are following in the footsteps of Steven Spielberg, who used a similar but not as overt technique in Schindler's List, but there's much more movement and energy in the storytelling here.
While I don't mind the visual homage to Schindler's List here, the story's title and the mirroring of a "rescue" of Jewish prisoners from concentration camps in the plot didn't work nearly as well. Comparisons are unavoidable given the writer's intent here, and personally, I felt that they tend to belittle the real-life story that's being referenced.
Tieri's script here is fairly accessible, but it doesn't really get the reader involved in the main plotlines of the series. It establishes the cold and calculating of yet another antagonist, though, but this issue is also lacking in some of the political elements that intrigued me in past chapters. Weapon X is an occasionally interesting series and sure to be a delight for fans of some of Marvel's more obscure mutant characters, but it just hasn't jumped up and grabbed my attention.
