For as long as superheroes have existed, the Weapon Plus program has been trying to use these gifted individuals to develop the next generation of super soldiers. In Absolute Carnage: Weapon Plus #1, Jed MacKay, Stefano Raffaele, and Dono Sanchez-Almara explore Weapon V, the symbiote super-soldiers, and their connection to the rampage Carnage is causing on the Marvel Universe.
Zachary Jenkins: And here we are, after weeks of the X-Men being their own island –literally and figuratively– we have them tied into the larger Marvel universe. This time Carnage is involved [Ed. note: Oddly there are no mutants in this entire issue]!
Vishal Gullapalli: Iām coming into this issue with Absolute Carnage context as well as the Weapon Plus angle, and the idea of throwing these two concepts that Iām thoroughly enjoying together is something that really excites me.
Weapon V
ZJ: So, Iāll admit, I have not been following Donny āDarko” Cates [Ed. note: Appropriate given the depth of the buckwild systems he makes], and Ryan Stegmanās Venom saga. I mostly know Venom and Carnage from Spider-Man: The Animated Series. Whatās been going on with them [Ed. note: Absolutely tons of stuff]?
VG: Having followed Cates and Stegmanās Venom from its first issue, I can confidently say that this is some WILD stuff. The first arc introduced this cosmic entity called Knull, the God of the Symbiotes [Ed. note: The symbiotes are also called the Klyntar, whether we like it or not],and the origin of the All-Black, Gorrās sword from Jason Aaronās Thor. Knull created the symbiotes, who eventually rebelled against him to create a āplanetā of symbiotes which is actually just a whole bunch of them combining to form a planet-sized prison for him. Carnage has come back from the dead and is wearing the Grendel, a symbiote dragon created by Knull to be his steed (I said this is wild!). Earlier in the book it was revealed that the Grendel actually landed on Earth a few decades ago and was discovered by SHIELD and apparently Weapon Plus, which leads us to Weapon V.
ZJ: I love that Weapon āRoman Numeral For Fiveāalso works out to be Weapon Venom . This builds off a couple of points from Marvel continuity. Thereās the Agent Venom series, where Flash Thompson was a secret agent with the Venom symbiote. But also the Sym-Soldier program explored in Web Of Venom: Veānam #1 [Ed. note: Possibly retconned to be in a fictional Siancong conflict, it’s not super clear].
VG: Yeah, so, a major character in the first arc of Catesā Venom is Rex Strickland [Ed. note: What a name], a Vietnam veteran who reveals that he was a part of a SHIELD program to give symbiotes to soldiers as a way to create new super-soldiers. Now obviously, when the idea of super-soldiers is brought up, the devious Weapon Plus has to get involved. Ethan Sacksā recent Wolverine and Captain America: Weapon Plus #1 ended with a reveal of 5 Weapon Plus programs that had not been depicted before, the fifth of which was symbiotes. This issue reveals the Weapon V soldiers going AWOL to embark on a secret mission relating to all the symbiote shenanigans going on recently.
ZJ: Honestly, I wasnāt a fan of the Weapon V soldiers as shown here. They felt like pretty generic soldiers and didnāt really get a chance to do any cool things with the symbiotes. I feel like it was a real missed opportunity to do some unique action. MacKayās script mostly sidelines the soldiers, and when given the chance, Raffaele doesnāt illustrates them doing the dope stuff youād want from a paramilitary squad of Venoms. The choice by letterer Joe Sabino to give them camouflage word balloons is cute, but not the most legible.
VG: Yeah, they donāt really do much throughout the entire issue. Their entire purpose seems to be to get a weapon capable of stopping Carnage because it turns out they canāt do it by themselves at all. They need something incredible. Something indestructible. Something immortal. They need a Hulk. But if they canāt get one, a Hulkverine will have to do [Ed. note: Letās make due with a Hulk with bonus claws, I guess].
Weapon H
ZJ: Weapon H is Clayton Cortez, a former para-military contractor who decided he didnāt want to participate in genocide and got experimented on for it. He became Weapon H, part Hulk, part Wolverine, 100% badass. He then got a solo series where we found out that he was just a good dad and husband who wanted to protect his family. Itās the dumbest concept Marvel has had in years [Ed. note: And we are counting #HotClaws in this] but writer Greg Pak and company made it the best comic about a Hulk who is also a Wolverine they could.
VG: Weapon Hās story opens in Alberta, as he finishes packing up his old house while his wife and kids are looking for a new place to stay. With him in this task is his Mother-in-Law, who his wife wants him to get along with. But when he gets to his old house, he finds out that his old commanding officer and squad in his home holding his mother in law hostage. Having no experience with Weapon H prior to this one-shot, I canāt really say he interested me at all here. But his MIL was amazing. Sheās so sassy and just does not give a [bleep] about any soldiers or Weapon Hs or anything else.
ZJ: Yeah, we need to talk about Janice! She is a frustrated grandma who loves her family but really wishes he daughter didnāt marry a mercenary who became a Hulk with claws [Ed note: Honestly canāt blame her]. In this issue she gets kidnapped and used as leverage to ensure Clayton helps out the Weapon Vs. She sees a dude get very culty with his evil eye drops, and at the end of the day, she takes it like a champ. When are we getting the one-shot about her secret connection to the Weapon Plus program?!
Regardless, this is an Absolute Carnage tie-in, so we should probably talk about how this is related to that massive event right?
Itās Gonna Be Carnage
VG: Cletus Kasady is a serial killer who got a symbiote and used it to just start killing people as Carnage. There really hasnāt been any more depth added to him beyond that. Weapon V and Weapon H are targeting Carnage, who as said before is wearing the Grendel symbiote and so is crazy powered up – heās not even weak to fire anymore! He arrives to the battle in a bus full of beheaded corpses, and just comes out of the bathroom in the back, and thatās the most memorable thing he does.
ZJ: Carnage is real fond of ripping out folksā spines in this issue. When we talked about his issue last night, you mentioned that, and I quote, āCarnage eats spines because they have āSymbiote codicesā.ā This is apparently in a plan to control the symbiote hive mind and free Knull from his symbiote prison. Vishal, do I have this right? And if I have this right, is everyone working on Absolute Carnage alright? Do they need to talk to someone?
VG: Thatās exactly right, Zack. If Carnage can get enough Symbiote Codices, heāll be able to tap into the hive mind, free Knull, and become his new host. It eventually turns out that the scientist of Weapon V was actually a sleeper agent for Knull who was testing Carnage to see if he was worthy of being Knullās host and decided that he was. Which I donāt really get, because beyond saying a few homoerotic things to Weapon H and Weapon V, Carnage doesnāt really do much beyond fight here. Hell, the issue ends with the scientist telling Weapon H to leave because heās decided that Carnage is worthy, and Weapon H just letting Carnage go because he canāt be bothered.
ZJ: I understand that they canāt resolve this massive event in this comic that ties into two different ongoing stories, but it seems a little off that Clayton just kinda walks away and lets Carnage eat the Weapon V soldiers. This is obviously a big deal and you would think that whole āgreat powerā thing would come into play.
Honestly, a lot of this book felt like exposition about the Weapon V program with a fight tacked on that they couldnāt actually resolve. Though I have to imagine this isnāt the last we will see the concept of Weapon V. How did you feel coming away from this book Vishal?
VG: Yeah, there was a lot of exposition – they needed to explain Weapon Plus, Weapon H, VeāNam, Weapon V, and Absolute Carnage before they could get into a proper story, and all that was left was a fight scene. The issue was fine but I feel like it was a connection that didnāt particularly need to happen. I do hope we get to see more of Weapon V in the future, though, I love that concept.
X-Traneous Thoughts
- Between the Captain America & Wolverine one-shot a few months ago and the upcoming Weapon Plus: World War IV, editor Chris Robinson is building an interesting jumping off point for a lot of stories across the Marvel Universe. I hope we get to see this play out next year.
- Grendel is, of course, a reference to Beowulf, a story with a dragon in it where the dragon is explicitly not named Grendel.
- The scientist guy uses eye drops that are secretly part symbiote and allow him to āsee godā, which is both buckwild and super dumb. This is the line all comics should walk!
- Weapon H having a beard makes the design much more unique than āgrey Hulkā.
- This takes place before Absolute Carnage #1, which makes itsā status as a tie-in questionable at best.
- Everything about Man-Slaughter rules [Ed. Note: This is a character, also called Weapon IV, weāre not fond of the act.]
- Special thanks to Chris Eddleman for editing this piece!
- We have pieces about New Mutants #1 & X-Force #1 today on the site too. Check them out!
Vishal Gullapalli is a comics enthusiast studying computer science to enable his media consumption. Heās currently reading through the entirety of DCās New 52 (for some reason) and logging his experience.
Zachary Jenkins runs the Xavier Files Media Empire and is a co-host on the podcast “Battle of the Atom.” Shocking everyone, he has a full and vibrant life outside of X-Men.
Zachary Jenkins co-hosts the podcast Battle of the Atom and is the former editor-in-chief of ComicsXF. Shocking everyone, he has a full and vibrant life outside all this.
Vishal Gullapalli is highly opinionated and reads way too much.
