I'm a bit tardy on this -- it's exam season, sorry! -- but, I finally got around to reading Wolverine and the X-Men. As a follow up to my previous post anticipating the book, I figured it's only right to write up my opinions on it after reading.

I absolutely loved the issue; it did everything that I'd hope it was going to do and more. Aaron using Xavier to set things off in the very beginning was smart and, for me, a bit unexpected -- I did not think Charles was going to show up this early on and certainly didn't expect him to be characterized in the way that he was. I think that whole opening was a very effective passing of the baton type of setup and it really worked.

Logan is written exactly how I want him to be written in this situation -- apprehensive and nervous. It's a weird thing... those two adjectives aren't generally ones that are attributed to Wolverine, but I definitely think that they're appropriate in this case. In truth, I would have been disappointed if Logan was brash and take-charge right off the bat. I think one of my favorite things about Logan is his sense of humanity. Of course, there's the beserker, animalistic part of him (and it's cool), but what makes Logan so relateable to me is that he's so awkwardly human, even after -- and in spite of -- everything he's been through. If I were in Logan's shoes, I'd have taken the kids back to Westchester, and I'd be damn nervous about starting things up, too.

Sticking with characterization, I loved the way Aaron portrayed Beast as well. It makes sense for him to be under a great deal of pressure and a little on edge and, of course, aloof. Kitty was written well, too, and I think it's important that she's stepping into the Headmistress role; in a lot of ways, I think she's the perfect complement to Logan and will keep him grounded a bit.

I'm not sure what to make of Kid Gladiator, but I do hope he's going to have a little more depth than was let on in this issue. I'm intrigued by the Bamfs running around and I can't wait to see what Aaron does with Iceman. I'm really interested to see what Aaron has planned for Kid Omega, as it'll probably be a major plot running through this book.

The art, in my opinion, was perfect. I've always loved Chris Bachalo's stuff, but this blew me away totally. I think the attention to detail is astounding and he draws the X-Men like no other. I love his depiction of Wolverine, always have. What really stood out to me with regard to the art was the architecture of the Mansion and the setting. The way the Mansion is drawn as an in-progress mash up of super modern and classic styling is so cool. It just makes sense in a way that keeps the styling of the X-Mansion, but making the Jean Grey School really have it's own distinct look.

The setting and background art are extremely important to me. It's one of the reasons why I can't really enjoy older comics like I enjoy modern ones, because there wasn't much attention to backgrounds back then. For me, certain books and characters are all about the setting(s) that they operate in. The obvious one is Batman and Gotham City, but the X-Men are the same to me. I had a lot of trouble digesting the move away from the mansion and I had even more trouble reading them as West Coast heroes. To me, in the same way that Denny O'Neil said that Gotham City is always a rainy night in the middle of November, the mansion is in Westchester, NY, set in the fall or winter. Maybe it has to do with the fact that I associate those times of year with being in school or some other subconscious reason, I don't know. Either way, Bachalo really plays to that setting. Interestingly, he colored his own work in this book, and it really fits with what he was trying to convey. The colors of the sky throughout the book are those of a cold New York early winter, and even the ice (that I'm assuming is Bobby's doing) that's crowning one of the wings of the mansion gives that same sense of season.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book (as you can probably tell by now). Aaron and Bachalo proved here that they are ready to craft a classic-feeling X-Men story, and that's all I've been wanting from the X-books for the past three years. As a side note, I also picked up Aaron's Hulk, and it was equally amazing. Aaron has single-handedly brought me back to Marvel on a monthly basis.