In this feature I explore the context behind (using reader danjack's term) "meta-messages." A meta-message is where a comic book creator comments on/references the work of another comic book/comic book creator (or sometimes even themselves) in their comic. Each time around, I'll give you the context behind one such "meta-message." Here is an archive of the past installments!

This time around, we take a look at the final issue of Marvel's Weapon X ongoing series from the early 2000s where someone working on the book let us know that they're happy that the series is over.

Weapon X was a series that debuted in 2002 that detailed the latest version of the Weapon X project (which was the name of the group that had experimented on Wolverine decades earlier). It was basically a team of bad guys, although the focus of the comic changed over the years. Frank Tieri, who was then the regular writer on Wolverine, was the writer of the book.

It was canceled with issue #28. Georges Jeanty was the original penciler, but for the last six issues (two three-issue stories), Tom Mandrake was the artist for the book (penciler and inker). The book was lettered by Dave Sharpe.

Now what I'm about to show you was most likely done by Mandrake, as it is typically the inker who does these sorts of things, but I suppose it is at least possible that it was Sharpe. In either event, in a background panel of the last issue, someone expressed their dissatisfaction with working on an already-canceled comic book.

Check out the journal in the background of this panel...

Someone writes, "I want this issue to be finished and over with. I don't like slogging through the last issue of a dead book" and then something about how he is a pro, though, so he'll do what he has to do and not blow it off.

Pretty funny stuff.

Thanks to reader Wayne C. for sending this one in!

EDITED TO ADD: Just to be clear, I was only echoing the sentiment expressed by the artist that he was happy to get the book over with, since they were working on a "dead" book. I didn't mean it as any statement about the relative quality of Weapon X as a comic book series. I had no problem with Weapon X. It was a fine book.