The wait is finally over as WEAPON X-MEN #3 goes on sale this week by Joe Casey and ChrisCross! Don't waste a moment. Grab your copy right now then have a seat and kick back for a look under the hood of this issue with writer Joe Casey.
If this is your first time joining us for this series of interviews, catch up right here to see what Joe had to say about issue #1 and issue #2.
Now that you're all set, let's get right into this latest issue #3:
Impulse Creations: Now that it’s no longer a spoiler to reveal that the team is dealing with the machinations of Baron Strucker, what made you feel that he would be a good villain to pit these heroes against rather than a more traditional mutant villain?
JOE CASEY: Well, in a series chock full of movie stars, the villain needed to be cinematically familiar, too. And for those fans -- like me -- of Avengers: Age of Ultron, then you'll remember Baron Strucker from the opening action scene. Plus, he had a long history in Marvel comicbook continuity, my favorite being his appearances in Jim Steranko's classic Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. strip that first appeared in Strange Tales back in the late 1960's.
IC: While Cable “feels” a bit like a team leader given his almost militaristic bearing, the rest of the team don’t often like following orders. Would you say the team even has a leader or are they a more loose affiliation that simply goes where events lead them?
JC: I would say that either Cable or Wolverine can easily step up to take charge when the situation calls for it, in the heat of battle. And both of them obviously possess the gravitas to get that respect from the other Weapon X-Men, at least in the heat of the moment. Of course, when things calm down and they're all just hanging around with each other... the idea of a "team leader" becomes much more nebulous.
IC: Thunderbird was a bit of a reluctant addition to the team and has remained somewhat detached but, in this issue we begin to see that he’s had some issues bottled up since his resurrection on Krakoa and he now has a chance to let those feelings out. How would you describe him at this point?
JC: Thunderbird has a lot to prove. And he's constantly trying to prove all of it. His moment in issue #3 is a good example of how he's trying to "work things out" for himself. He sees smashing things -- a gaggle of WMD's, in this case -- as a kind of therapy. Not to mention, we see him starting to fit in slightly more than he thought he would. It's all about character development, y'know...
IC: Next up in issue #4, we know we’ve got the return of Red Ronin to look forward to. Is there anything you’d like to tease about that?
JC: I'm super-psyched about WEAPON X-MEN #4, mainly since it's basically a sequel to the classic AVENGERS #197-199 -- by favorite creators, David Michelinie and George Perez -- from back in 1979. I read those issues when I was a kid and I've been waiting more than four decades to pay proper homage. I was able to use Red Ronin -- a bit on the sly -- in the DARK REIGN: ZODIAC mini-series I did about fourteen years ago, but in this story I was able to go balls deep into old continuity and really sequelize the story I loved so much as a kid. On top of that, the character dynamics of the team come into sharper focus. It's always nice to get past the first storyline and settle into the true rhythm of the series, how it was always meant to be.
That's wrap for this issue and we hope you're loving Weapon X-Men as much as we are!
Issue #3 is on sale now and you can also pick up issue #s 1 &2 if you act fast. For the very best deal though, we're offering sets of the first three issues, all signed by Joe Casey!
Choose the signed sets, the individual issues, or grab both so you can read now and treasure the signed copies after those are available to ship. The choice is yours but the only wrong choice is to miss out!
Order in-stock issues!
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See Joe's interview for issue #1
See Joe's interview for issue #2