The Good
Wolverine and the students at the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning have gone through a lot in the previous volume. With the series ending and starting over under the All-New Marvel NOW! banner, there's always the fear that some of the stories and developments will be pushed aside or swept under the rug. Thankfully, that isn't the case.
One of the big developments touched on a couple times was the future of some of the students. With the knowledge of what's supposed to happen, the big question is, is there any way to change that future or is already pre-destined to happen? This is something that deeply affects one of the former students. Getting to see how it can shape a person such as Quentin Quire, who is determined not to let others see how it affects him, can be an interesting plot thread.
What's different this time is some of the faculty seems to be absent. This allows for more of a focus on Quentin and some others. Wolverine is off on his own mission, for the school of course, and Storm is left holding (or attempting to to hold) the reigns. There is also a different feel as, in the previous volume, the humor sometimes got to be a bit too much. This could be both good and bad but there is more of a serious tone, especially when it comes to Quentin's new role.
Mahmud Asrar's art looks great here. There's quite the variety in settings and the number of students present. He captures them all and keeps the action moving along at a nice pace. The balance between the down times and action scenes is something I'll be looking forward to.
The Bad
As mentioned above, there appears to be less humor involved here. That could change with this being just the first issue and new status quo's are being established. Of course with the lack of faculty present, that could open the door to more "funny" moments.
Quentin's dilemma could be a touchy subject for the character's development. He's always been pretty headstrong and to see him struggle is a bit of a change. Fans of the character will be keeping a close eye to see what more develops.
You just have to wonder how it is that Wolverine can still be considered the headmaster when he's off doing what he feels needs to be done without checking in with anyone else.
The Verdict
We may have seen the end of the previous volume and some of the students graduating but the story's not over just yet. Jason LaTour takes over and while changes the vibe of the series a little, is still retaining the overall feel. Addressing some of the plot lines created before makes for a smooth transition as well. Mahmud Asrar's art fits nicely with the tone of the book. He dives right in and puts his mark on the characters and settings. There will be some interesting explorations with some of the characters so you'll want to enroll for another semester (or volume) of this series.
WOLVERINE & THE X-MEN #1 goes on sale Wednesday, March 5.
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