Warning: contains spoilers for Weapon X-Men #2Marvel’s beloved X-Men comics rarely shy away from intense violence. Still, nothing in an X-Men comic will ever rise to the level of body horror depicted in manga by the iconic Junji Ito. In Weapon X-Men #2, a variant version of Wolverine hilariously gives a shout out to manga horror master Ito, blaming his work for why his children are not afraid of real-life zombies.
Junji Ito, one of the world’s most established horror manga creators, is best known for his terrifying serial comic Tomie, as well as his horror comics Uzumaki and Gyo, all twisted tales that stick with the reader for a long time after they’re finished.
Weapon X-Men #2, from writer Christos Gage and artist Yıldıray Çınar, sees Phoenix bringing her ragtag crew of Wolverine variants back to her reality, where they meet the aged Wolverine of Earth-80777, whose children don’t bat an eye after meeting a zombie variant of their father.
Weapon X-Men #2 (2024) | |
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Release Date: | April 10th, 2024 |
Writers: | Christos Gage |
Artists: | Yıldıray Çınar, Clayton Cowles, Nolan Woodard |
Cover Artist: | Dike Ruan, Neeraj Menon |
Variant Covers: | Jan Bazaldua, Leinel Francis Yu |
ONE HAPPY WOLVERINE! Across almost every universe in existence, Wolverine is driven by pain, by the sins of his past and his future. But in one world — the very one that Onslaught has targeted next for annihilation — has a Wolverine unlike any other. A Wolverine… who got what he wanted. And for the Logan from Earth-X? That news just might be the claw in the coffin. The Phoenix’s handpicked Band of Logans go to war! | |
Wolverine’s Young Children Have Read Too Much Junji Ito
The older Logan, who is happily married to his wife Mariko, hilariously shouts out Junji Ito, saying the reason why his kids aren’t afraid is because he’s been letting them read the horror manga author’s comics. From the Marvel Zombies reality of Earth-2149, the zombie Wolverine seems pulled directly from a Junji Ito comic, with his terrible sense of humor, rotting visage, and violent urges. Yet, Logan’s young children are immediately curious about the zombie who looks like their father, casually walking up to him much to Wolverine and Jean Grey’s chagrin.
It makes perfect sense that Logan’s children wouldn’t be horrified by the existence of zombie Wolverine if they had been reading Junji Ito stories, which heavily feature body horror, monstrous resurrections, and cannabilism. Many of Ito’s most popular works, like Tomie, involve mysteriously immortal creatures that lure humans to their deaths or just depict humans’ flesh rotting in a way that makes zombie Wolverine look perfectly normal in comparison. One of Ito’s short stories, She is a Slow Walker, follows two friends arguing over whether zombies should be depicted as slow or fast in media before both of them succumb to a zombie virus and devour each other.
Zombie Wolverine Might Not Survive Against Ito’s Tomie
Junji Ito’s most famous creation is Tomie, which focuses on a succubus-like young woman named Tomie, who drives men and women around her mad with obsession, usually leading to horrific violence and death. Tomie is unable to die, always resurrecting at some point to spread her curse to another unsuspecting victim. In many ways, Tomie’s healing factor is better than Wolverine’s, and even the “unkillable” zombie Wolverine would find it difficult, if not impossible, to survive against Tomie.
Countless comics and manga writers take inspiration from the iconic Junji Ito, so seeing such a funny shout-out for the beloved creator in the pages of an X-Men comic is wonderful.
Weapon X-Men #2 from Marvel Comics is available now in stores.
