Wolverine famously has a mysterious past; for many years, no-one knew quite where he came from, not even himself. His “real” name, Logan,” seemed like it could just be an alias too. His most obvious feature, his Adamantium-coated skeleton (and claws to go with it), was a story that demanded telling. Surely even a mutant like Wolverine couldn’t have been born with such features, right?
In 1991, 17 years after Wolverine’s debut in “Incredible Hulk” #180, that tale was finally told by Windsor-Smith in “Weapon X,” published across “Marvel Comics Presents” #72-84. Windsor-Smith had previously drawn some excellent “X-Men” issues written by Chris Claremont (such as the Storm tale “Lifedeath” in issue #186, or Wolverine facing Lady Deathstrike in issue #205). “Weapon X,” though, was all him; he wrote, penciled, inked, colored, and lettered it.
American superhero comics are usually more collaborative, but Windsor-Smith approached “Weapon X” like an auteur. The results are breathtaking; Windsor-Smith simultaneously uses a bright color palette and heavy shading, suggesting both a shadowy atmosphere and garish neon out of a nightmare (a la Dario Argento’s “Suspiria” or the original color printing of “Batman: The Killing Joke”).
Windsor-Smith also color-codes the comic’s text-boxes (many panels are wide shots of Wolverine being tortured while off-panel scientists look on; the color is needed to convey who is saying what), and often arranges them in a u-shape. A text box will begin at the left edge of the page, then the next one will be lower, until the boxes loop around the panel’s main subject and reach the right end of the page. This means that the comic’s actual art is largely unblocked by text, yet the two never feel disconnected. Windsor-Smith proved himself worthy of handling every part of the comic with this admirable precision.
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