Mash-Up!: Weapon H (Marvel, 2018)

So, last year’s Weapons of Mutant Mutant Destruction crossover between the Hulk and the Wolverine books introduced a new character.  After a military team is betrayed by one of their members to protect a village they were about to decimate, the soldier is taken by the organization Eaglestar. Corey (the afore mentioned soldier) is experimented on, being given the transformational powers of the hulk along with the healing factor and claws of Wolverine.  The end result is Weapon H…or..uh…the Hulkverine.

The series picks up with Corey on the run, trying to avoid Eaglestar.  In the first storyline, he finds himself  dealing with an experiment by the Roxxon Corporation.  They are attempting to harness the power of the Wendigo.

The Wendigo in the Marvel Universe is pretty much the version of myth. A person in the woods eats human flesh and then becomes the monster.

Roxxon sends out some employees, and tricking one into consuming flesh, he becomes the Wendigo.  The story actually has a twist on the Wendigo tale which results in a super Wendigo.

Corey tries to avoid dealing with the people from Roxxon, but he finds he just cannot turn his back on them.

This leads to Weapon H and Dr. Strange teaming up for a fight with the Ultra-Wendigo.  This battle brings Weapon H to the attention of Roxxon who send out a bunch of weird monsters that are a combination of animals and the X-Men villains the Brood to try and capture Weapon H.

Now, the Hulkverine is kind of a weird combo.  Like the creators said, You know what the Hulk is missing? Adamantium Claws!

I am not really sure the point of the metallic protrusions.  Are they boney spikes covered in adamantium? And is Corey’s skeleton covered when he is not the Hulkverine?  I mean, I would assume so, but one of the properties of cooled Adamantium is how hard it is…how do his bones grow in the transformation. Oh well, comics.

Like the Red Hulk, Weapon H is intelligent and in control. The story reveals that unlike the Green and Red Hulks, rage is not at the center of his transformation. He also seems to be in control of his transformations.

I like Corey Smith’s art. Smith seems to still be finding his sense of style, and I would say, unlike regular cover artist Leinil Francis Yu, the art does not quite stand out.  It is not bad artwork. Just not quite at that point of being uniquely recognizable.

Greg Pak’s ideas are generally interesting, his notion of Brood Infused monsters works pretty well.

So far, I am enjoying this series, though I confess, it is probably a title I would give up if I needed to cut some stuff out of my monthly purchases.