It’s not Man-Thing in this Comic Book. It’s Man-Slaughter.

Cover for Weapon Plus: World War IV. Comic book cover by Kyle Hotz & Dan Brown.

Where to buy this comic book:

Credits:

Benjamin Percy – Writer ("Weapon IV")

Georges Jeanty – Penciler ("Weapon IV")

Wayne Faucher & Marc Deering – Inkers ("Weapon IV")

Rachelle Rosenberg – Colorist ("Weapon IV")

Ryan Cady – Writer ("Weapon II")

David Baldeón – Penciler ("Weapon II")

Jesus Aburtov – Colorist ("Weapon II")

VC’s Joe Sabino – Letterer

Kyle Hotz & Dan Brown – Cover Artists

Skan – Variant Cover Artist

Chris Robinson – Editor

Jordan D. White – Senior Editor

C.B. Cebulski – Editor-in-Chief

SPOILER-FREE ZONE

The art in Weapon Plus: World War IV is excellent. I thought the story wasn’t bad either. The one problem I did have with it is there isn’t much back-story until about mid-book. If you aren’t already familiar with Man-Slaughter, a lot of what happens becomes a big question mark. To help counter-act this, go ahead and read this report by Marvel. It provides you with a back-story that I wish I had when I first read the comic book. Due to violence I recommend it for mature audiences. Due to ultra-violence I wouldn’t say it’s a 100% mature production.

END OF SPOILER-FREE ZONE

You are now exiting the spoiler-free zone. Do yourself a favor and stop reading if you don’t want any spoilers.

Jackson Strode, AKA Man-Slaughter, is finishing up a mission for Weapon Plus. He requests the cure from his condition, but his handler informs him that they need him for another mission. This mission is to save his brother, Phillip. Though he doesn’t want to go on any other missions, he has to accept this one. Finally we get some back-story on Man-Slaughter’s creation and his brother.

Man-Slaughter tracks his brother down, but not before fending off a small group of zombies. He was able to track him through the spores that are consuming his brother. He finds his brother, still alive but trapped and being eaten alive by a fungus. Having completed his mission, Strode asks for the cure once again. And again his handler is holding it back.

Man-Slaughter makes a decision of extreme finality. I won’t completely spoil the ending for you though. This comic book left me scratching my head, which is why I researched it. I thought I was reading some sort of alternate-universe Man-Thing. I should have noticed when they mention Man-Thing by name in the comic, but that part got past me. To be honest I haven’t read much Man-Thing. Maybe I should start? Man-Slaughter had some pretty cool shape-shifting powers. He also likes to use his power to create plant sculptures.

I would recommend reading up on Man-Thing at least a little bit before reading this comic book. It wasn’t my favorite comic book this week, but the story has potential. If you’re looking for something new, you might as well give it a try.