WEAPON X SYNTHOIDS

Membership: Brown & Tan Wolverine, Department H Wolverine, Feral Wolverine, Logan, X-Men Gold Wolverine

Purpose: Training tools for Alpha Flight

Aliases: Weapon X

Affiliations: Department H (General Clarke, chief engineer Su, others)

Enemies:Alpha Flight (Flex/Adrian Corbo, Guardian/James Hudson synthoid duplicate, Murmur/Arlette Truffaut, Puck/Eugene Milton Judd, Radius/Jared Corbo, Vindicator/Heather Hudson)

Base of Operations: Department H, Canada

First Appearance: Alpha Flight II#8 (March, 1998)

History:

(Alpha Flight II#8 - BTS) - Acting on orders of general Clarke, Department H's chief engineer Su created a squad of semi-organic synthoids modeled after various incarnations of Weapon X (James Howlett). These synthoids were built to act, respond and fight like Howlett, using old Department H training footage and personal data.

(Alpha Flight II#8) - The Weapon X synthoids were programmed to attack the members of Alpha Flight individually in the team's Department H training facility. Heather Hudson did not want to fight copies of her good friend Logan, but Brown & Tan Wolverine attacked her from behind, flirting with Hudson as he lashed at her. Guardian was engaged with Department H Wolverine while Flex and Murmur tried to hold down X-Men Gold Wolverine and Puck tussled with Logan. Radius had no qualms facing down Feral Wolverine and easily held his bone claws at bay with his forcefield.

(Alpha Flight II#8 - BTS) - General Clarke and chief engineer Su observed the battle and were pleased to see Alpha Flight's combat capabilities were improving. Su dryly noted that things would be different if the synthoids were programmed for teamwork, but Clarke was more occupied with how the Alphans were faring. He ordered Su to escalate the exercise as he made his way to the training room.

(Alpha Flight II#8) - Su announced the training exercise was switching to "kill or be killed' scenarios, forcing Alpha Flight to use lethal force against their now even more aggressive synthoid opponents. Radius relished the opportunity to "finally do some permanent damage" and lashed out at Feral Wolverine using a move he called the "nutcracker special". By extending his forcefield, he crushed his opponent. Puck used his acrobatics to throw Logan on the claws of X-Men Gold Wolverine while a ruthless Vindicator used his electromagnetic blasts to fry all but Brown & Tan Wolverine. That final synthoid was destroyed by Heather when it mocked the death of her husband. As the wrecked synthoids laid smoldering, Hudson chewed out Su and Clarke for this scenario. She felt training to use lethal force was out of the question and added that fighting these Wolverine clones taught them nothing about defeating the genuine article whose mind could not be reproduced, in spite of Su's claims.

(Alpha Flight II#8 - BTS) - The destroyed Weapon X synthoids were carted off while Alpha Flight were told the purpose of their training session: they were sent out to capture Wolverine who Clarke claimed had killed their teammate Madison Jeffries.

(Alpha Flight II#8) - A team of Department H custodians were seen dragging the deactivated synthoids into the Department H incinerator room. Watching the semi-living machines burn up, they wondered just how much "these robot things" must have cost the tax payers.

Comments: Created by Steve Seagle (writer), Scott Clark (pencils), Chris Carlson (inks).

Profile by Norvo.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Weapon X synthoids have no relevant connections to:

• Wolverine, James "Logan" Howlett @ Incredible Hulk I#181
• or any other "Wolverine" or "synth(ez)oid" characters  

Department H Wolverine

A synthoid based on James Howlett's days as Wolverine, working for Department H. It attacked Guardian during the training session, but despite its vocal taunts and quips, it could not get through to his opponent who acted like he'd never seen him before (this Guardian was secretly a synthoid copy of James Hudson as well).When the session switched to kill or be killed scenarios, Guardian used his electromagnetic forceblasts to quickly shortcircuit and destroy the synthoid. Department H Wolverine was later taken down to the incinerator room where it was melted down.

--Alpha Flight II#8 (March, 1998)

X-Men Gold Wolverine

A synthoid based on Wolverine's early days as a member of the X-Men, convinced it was the best there is at what he does. The synthoid attacked Murmur and Flex, impressing both by jumping up despite their weight carrying him down. He was incapacitated when Puck launched the Logan synthoid on his claws, leaving him defenseless for Guardian's lethal electromagnetic forceblast. X-Men Gold Wolverine was later taken to Department H's incinerator room where it was melted down.

--Alpha Flight II#8 (March, 1998)

Brown & Tan Wolverine

A synthoid based on Wolverine's later tenure as an X-Man. Sly, mouthy and sarcastic it used the copied memories of James Howlett against Heather Hudson, taunting her with intimate details about her friendship with Logan and even mocking her husband's death. This enraged Heather so much she used her suit's geothermic powers to destroy the synthoid, even though she abhorred the kill or be killed scenario of the exercise. X-Men Brown & Tan Wolverine was later taken to Department H's incinerator room where it was melted down.

--Alpha Flight II#8 (March, 1998)

Logan

A synthoid based on Logan, the covert identity used by James Howlett. The synthoid found Puck as its opponent, complimenting the diminutive Alphan on his attack style. Puck had little trouble keeping the synthoid at bay with his acrobatics. In the end, he launched Logan towards the claws of its fellow synthoid. The impact instantly caused Logan to short circuit. Logan was later taken to Department H's incinerator room where it was melted down.

--Alpha Flight II#8 (March, 1998)

Feral Wolverine

A synthoid based on the brief period Wolverine went feral after losing his adamantium. The synthoid's bone claws were unable to pierce Radius' forcefield, which made him a negligible threat to the young, bloodthirsty Alphan who enthusiastically destroyed the synthoid during the kill or be killed scenario by extending his forcefield to crack the robot as a nut against a nearby wall. Feral Wolverine was later taken to Department H's incinerator room where custodians watched it melt to slag, wondering how much it had cost the Canadian taxpayers.

--Alpha Flight II#8 (March, 1998)

images: (without ads)
Alpha Flight II#8 p2&3, pan1 (main image)
Alpha Flight II#8, p5, pans2&3 (destroyed by Radius)
Alpha Flight II#8, p22, pans4&5 (incinerator room)
Alpha Flight II#8 p2, pan1 (Department H Wolverine)
Alpha Flight II#8 p3, pan1 (X-Men Gold Wolverine)
Alpha Flight II#8 p1, pan1 (Brown & Tan Wolverine)
Alpha Flight II#8 p3, pan1 (Logan)
Alpha Flight II#8 p2, pan1 (Feral Wolverine)

Appearances:
Alpha Flight II#8 (March, 1998) - Steve Seagle (writer), Scott Clark (pencils), Chris Carlson (inks), Jaye Gardner (editor)