Wolverine Just Can't Catch a Break
So all us X-fans know that Wolverine took a bunch of mutants back East with him to the Jean Grey school. Some amount of time has passed and the school is up and running. However, to actually count as a school, they need the approval of the Board of Regents. So we got one of the best X-Men stories of 2011 - a comedic issue in which every single thing that can go wrong goes wrong for Wolverine and Kitty as they try to walk the inspectors around. It almost makes me wish that every issue of Wolverine and the X-Men could be this hilarious. It seems as though 2011 has been way too serious a yaer for the X-Men and my favorite issues (from when I was a kid until today) have always been the lighter ones. It was also great to see the school and everyone interacting there. I really hope Aaron can keep a god mix of humor/time at the school and drama/time away from the school. Depending on where things go from here, this could be the one X-book I hang on to if I have to cut back on my comic book budget.
Aaron has also rolled in some canon from the recently ended Astonishing X-Men story arc. The young Brood that the X-Men saved aboard the SWORD ship is attending the school. I think this could be a great new perspective on the mission of the school. We also have a Shi'ar dude, but he arrives near the end and doesn't do anything but act like a jerk, so we don't know what his role will be yet.
The only annoying thing is a reminder of why Schism happened when the little Hellfire Jr kid shows up. I really hope Sebastian Shaw can take back the Hellfire Club really soon and end this kiddie nonsense. If nothing else, it's annoying to have kids as enemies because none of the adults can touch them without it getting weird. Although, that does open things up for a breakout character from the kids.
Speaking of breakout kids - where's Armor? Did I miss her in the background somewhere? Given her relationship to Wolverine you'd expect her to be here. Of course, I don't think she's been seen outside of Astonishing X-Me, but it'd be nice to see her here.
Finally, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the art. Bachalo killed it! I really, really hope he stays on as the artist. The art had a great style - a fusion of American and Japanese manga. The heaviest manga influence seemed to be how the characters got kinda SD when they were in the background. But the style also just worked so perfectly with the characters and making Wolverine seem so likeable. My only complaint was that Professor X looked a bit like the dude from the Six Flags commercials or a Mr Jeeves. I think he's a top notch artist and I really do hope we get to see more of him.
So if you like the X-Men - go buy this book now!
