Wolverine and the X-men vol. 8 review (Unread 006)

This is it. This is the volume of Wolverine and the X-men I was waiting for. Volume 8 collects Wolverine and the X-men Annual #1 and issues #38-42. This is the last volume of the series before it got rebooted and it’s the best volume of the series since the first two volumes. With this final volume the Jason Aaron and the artists demonstrate once again what the series is about. It’s also nice to be able to look at the series as a whole. After concluding my reading of Wolverine and the X-men it is clear to me that the series is yet another example of how the modern climate of superhero comics negatively affected the quality of this and other comics.

Wolverine and the X-men has been disrupted by event storylines on three occasions. Several issues where spent telling tie-in issues to Avengers vs. X-men, two issues completed wasted as part of the X-men: Battle of the Atom event, and finally the annual issue was linked to the events of Infinity. Thankfully for two of these events (Avengers vs. X-men and Infinity) Aaron was able to tell engaging stories despite editorial requirements to make his story work in tandem with the larger story of the Marvel Universe. The downside is that it completely undermines any momentum the series had built at the time the event storylines intruded.

Wolverine and the X-men vol. 7 review (Unread 005)

I’ve mentioned before how I really like Jason Aaron and that makes it all the more disappointing that the volume 7 of Wolverine and the X-men is probably the lowest point of the entire series. It’s a shame because for a while Wolverine and the X-men was the best X-men title at Marvel. With X-men: Schism in 2011 Aaron was spearheading the line and thanks in part to his efforts and the efforts of many other writers it was an exciting time to be reading X-men comics. That was true for almost a year. By the time the Avengers vs. X-men comic around, Wolverine and the X-men along with all the other X-men titles were pulled into a companywide event. The stories radically shifted focus but Aaron was still able to write interesting stories, despite the Marvel Universe’s new direction.

It wasn’t all bad though. Since the series written by Aaron wasn’t the only one affected it still remained the most enjoyable and consistent X-men comic. When I reviewed volumes 5 and 6, my enjoyment was based on the return to form following the interruptions Avengers fighting X-men and nobody being really satisfied with the event. The downside to those volumes is that you could easily sense that Aaron and his team of artist were working hard to rebuild the momentum the series had lost during the event. It’s great that they were doing so but it also made those volumes feel like they were laying the ground work and everybody was holding back a little. At the time I hypothesized that the series was building towards a big storyline which was meant to pay-off on all the subplots that were building since the first issue.

Wolverine and the X-men vol. 5 & 6 review

The fifth volume of Wolverine and the X-men is a transitional volume. It’s not breaking new ground but it’s not retreading any of the previous stories. Since the very first issue Jason Aaron has shown an interest in doing things differently as far as X-men comics of the last ten years go. Because of that, the series has had some tonal shifts. The first two volumes set the tone. The tone of the third and fourth volumes was different due to the influence of a story outside of the title. Volume five seems to be establishing a new, revised, tone of the series.

Now that Jason Aaron and his rotating group of artists are done telling their obligatory Avengers vs. X-men crossover tie-on issues and the focus is back on the Jean Grey School. A new (but also old) teacher comes to the school and a few new students are introduced. Aaron is setting up his pieces on the board and is preparing for his next big storyline. It’s a big of a shame that all the momentum he and artists Chris Bachalo and Nick Bradshaw in the first ten or so issues has nearly all been wiped out by Avengers vs. X-men which was a pretty lame crossover. Aaron now has the opportunity to steer the book in ad different direction but that also means he has to rebuild some of the momentum he lost. That’s why this volume feels like he’s introducing characters and plot lines to be explored further in the issues yet to come.

It’s somewhat unfortunate that Aaron is focusing so much on what’s still to come. He’s not really paying attention to what came before. The new Hellfire Club is barely present and for the few scenes they do show up they’re also in a transitional phase. They’re planning and scheming how they’ll bring destruction and ruin to the Jean Grey School. The bulk of this volume is comprised of a three part story that, sadly, feels like a bad B-movie. The purpose of the story isn’t to be a good story on its own, instead it’s to place the characters in the right emotional setting for a story that is still on the way. I didn’t expect to find such a bland story on this title. I’m pretty disappointed that the quality in the stories didn’t improve after the distractions that were the Avengers vs. X-men stories. The first and last stories collected in the volume were a cut above the three part circus story but I’m hoping this will be the only disappointing volume in the series.

This title needs less grease paint . . .

The sixth volume is a distinct improvement on the fifth. It’s just a tad less enjoyable than the first two volumes. The issues in this volume are part of the new beginning for the title that the fifth volume was preparing for. The catch is that we’re not quite. This is a new beginning, that’s certain and Aaron’s writing seems more confident than it was in the last few issues. The new characters introduced in the previous stories get a chance to shine. Aaron’s taking the time to get to know the new characters and how they interact and what makes them tick. Even though the series has been filled with new characters, Aaron hasn’t taken the chance to focus on them completely and it’s nice to see him do that with this volume.

and more beards.

The story consists of Wolverine taking some of his more troublesome students as well as three new students to the Savage Land to teach them about survival. Of course, once they get there the whole things turns into a mess and despite Wolverine’s feelings of ineptitude, the students actually learn something. In the midst of all the chaotic superhero action, Aaron finds the time to continue planting seeds for his next big story. I thought for sure volume 6 was going to be the story he’s preparing for but it turns out it’s not. It’s still set up but man, it’s much more enjoyable set up than that weird circus story.

The last issue collected in this volume is pure teaser but it makes for an excellent single issue story. That’s what makes it work, actually. It’s a teaser in narrative form with some time travel mixed it. Very good stuff and it also contributes to the advancement of one of Aaron’s goals a writer for Marvel: giving every male character in the Marvel universe a beard. Wolverine and several Bamfs get a beard in this last story and Wolverine’s beard is full and white like he’s getting ready to move to the North Pole. I loved it.

Ramon Pérez did all of the pencil art for the sixth volume. His style is more cartoonish than previous artists who have worked on Wolverine and the X-men, even more so than Nick Bradshaw. Bradshaw’s art is cartoony but it has a slight stiffness to it. Pérez art is very fluid and expressive. I’d rather have read a comic with more art by Chris Bachalo or Nick Bradshaw but Pérez does a good job filling in. His style was well suited to the energetic action sequences of the Savage Land.

The best thing about volume 6 is that it got me excited about the next volume. Aaron is planning a big story, with issue #29 he’s telling the reader flat out that he’s planning a big story, but he’s not quite ready yet. In the meantime though, enjoy these good X-men stories. I’m sure he’s sorry about the circus story but it did serve its purpose (it help Aaron and Bradshaw pay the bills) and it really could have been worse. Thankfully, Aaron replaced clowns with dinosaurs for the follow up story. Hopefully the next storyline bring the focus back to the Jean Grey School because that’s where all the real crazy stuff happens. I’m looking forward to it.

Random Thoughts on Wolverine and the X-men

W&Xm #1

-Hey, it’s Doop!

-Toad as the janitor, nice.

-The Brood Child from one of the post-Ellis Astonishing storylines; also nice.

-The Danger Room was incorporated in the whole school? That’s foreboding.

-“I’m a political prisoner!” Oh Quentin!

-Gladiator has a son?! He sent his son to attend Jean Grey Academy?! Oh Jason Aaron!!

-What’s with all the mini-Nightcrawlers?

-Giant teeth? Is that Krakoa?

-Man, this is a dense first issue (which is a darn good thing; first issues should always be oversized and packed). Yeah there some spreads but there is also at least one 12 panel page. Good job making it all look damn pretty, Bachalo.

W&Xm #2

-Nobody draws Iceman quite like Bachalo. He’s a mad genius. Random thought: Paul Pope should do an X-men book.

-Kilgore is the descendent of Frankenstein? Neat!

-Hank: “Oh dear, I do hope this wasn’t my doing. Did I leave a pot of Frankensteins on the stove?”

-Love and first sight for Idie and Broo? Yes. Jason Aaron! Jason Aaron! Jason Aaron!

-Who the hell calls Iceman a joke? The dude is an omega level mutant!

-Nooooo! No! No, I disprove of Iceman kissing Kitty! Nuh-uh!

-The girl in the new Hellfire Club is hilarious.

-A-ha! It totally is Krakoa. Well, Krakoa’s grandson.

-I like that Quentin has buttons on his jacket. I also like how it seems his t-shirt will have a new message on it every issue (or regularly).

W&Xm #3

-According to the credits (and the art) it seems Bachalo is having a difficult time keeping up to the schedule. No wonder considering the shit Aaron has him draw. I’m curious as to Bradshaw’s art next issue.

-Ha! “Professor Snikt”.

-Oh that two page spread is a keeper.

-I’m really enjoying the key use of red by Bachalo. Very Laura Martin yet more restrained and more effective.

-Poor Toad has to clean it all up.

-Lawsuit? Nice. You can’t forget that Wolverine is very old, which makes him wise and classy. Legal Lawsuit kind of classy.

-“Send more Sentinels”, haha.

W&Xm #4

-I don’t like Bradshaw’s Beast or his Kitty.

-Doop raking the lawn is awesome.

-The briefing scene demonstrates that Aaron is more than capable of writing the constantly-overstressed-and-underappreciated group of x-men.

-Bradshaw makes Wolverine to nice and cute looking. Make him gruff, unkempt, squat and king of ugly!

-“Wake me when the humans are DEAD”. Heart Quentin Quire.

-Genesis is totally the young apocalypse boy from Uncanny X-Force (recommended reading).

-Broo is charming.

-Sweet, Deathlok from Aaron’s Wolverine run (it’s a particular Dealthlok unit).

-Ouch. Aaron is giving us a future where Idie and Quentin are dating. Poor Broo, you never stood a chance, buddy.

-Why do I get the feeling Kitty is pregnant with a Brood baby?

W&Xm #5

-HA! Quentin Quire drawing and writing on whoever’s insides is hilarious.

-Bradshaw draws a very good Broo.

-Also, no wonder they’re burning through their funds. I don’t think shrinking a whole class of mutants is cheap.

-Why does Bradshaw draw Idie’s hair all straight? And the colorist is also doing a poor job. She looks Eurasian or something as opposed to a black teen.

-Ew, the stomach! Are they inside Toad? Poor guy.

-Bahahahaha, the kids are deciphering Doop’s dialogue.

-Haha, one of the Bamfs is running around with Wolverine’s mask on.

-People keep referencing Gambit yet we never see him. That’s fine by me!

-THE BROOOOOOOOOOOD!

-Doop is the security monitor! Of course! Translation: Hey, no Bamps allowed.

-Who’s the big grey guy?

W&Xm #6

-“Bah! Running is for horses and Homo Sapiens.”

-Lurg the Living Casino. Jason Aaron is crazy!

-I’m disappointed Bachalo isn’t on art duties for this one. I imagine he would draw some pretty darn cool aliens.

-I’m liking Kid Gladiator more and more each issue. “Kid Gladiator is lord of the heart!”

-Sweet defence system. Way to go Krakoa.

-Kid Gladiator brood? Oh no!

-If Kitty’s belly is huge and pregnant-like, shouldn’t the brood inside her be concentrated in one area and not all over the freakin’ place? Unless there is something special reserved in her belly that Aaron’s saving for a future issue? Just a little weird I think.

W&Xm #7

-Bradshaw has been doing good covers but I’m sad Bachalo does not do the covers for the interior art Bradshaw issues.

-Extreme Zoologist? Strange concept but I think I like it.

-To answer my question from last issue: the Egg Sack; gross.

-Oh wow, I didn’t even notice the Bamfs weren’t present last issue. Nice.

-“Anyone not willing to murder for the sake of science is no scientist at all.” Whoa, radical!

-PSYCHIC SHOTGUN!!

-Not Bamfs, eh? It was a masterstroke by Aaron for introducing these little buggers into the comic.

-Kid Gladiator’s body guard hitting on Bobby? Nice.

-I love that Aaron keeps Broo’s Broodness. He’s from a vicious race therefore he’s a vicious little bastard.

-Gniah! What the hell is going on in Kitty’s head?

-Gross Wolverine!

W&Xm #8

-Bachalo back on art! And because nobody draws him better, Sabertooth is also back!

-Man, Aaron is writing some pretty dense issues. It’s a good thing.

-Sabertooth attacking SWORD? He’s one mean bastard!

-Oh goodie, Idie’s hair is normal again.

-Where is Elixir? Is he on Utopia with Scott? Because he could probably heal Wolverine’s legs. Oh well, even if he is there’s the same problem as with Magneto.

-There are going to be repercussions for attacking the Living Casino.

-Aw Hank, you’re the sweetest.

W&Xm #9

-I hope Avengers VS X-men doesn’t ruin the momentum this series has been building.

-Taking bets on which planet the Phoenix is going to destroy is just one of those cool ideas. It’s difficult to have cool ideas about the Phoenix because it’s such a bad, bad storytelling device.

-I wish Wolverine’s legs had been messed up for longer. I’ve got a feeling AvX had something to do with that.

-Pretty cool that the school has a jungle room. I want a jungle room.

-Captain America gets his grade: B minus! :O

-Toad and Husk? I’m down for that X-couple.

-Oh hey, Rogue and Gambit are actually seen in this issue.

-The little to and fro between Beast and Wolverine clearly demonstrates they’re old chums.

-Sweet, Gladiator will be showing up in future issues.

W&Xm #10

-Avengers VS X-men tie-in. Snore. I know that Jason Aaron in pretty darn involved in the whole thing but it stinks of Marvel Architects by which I mean it stinks of Bendis. He’s the only architect I don’t like. Fraction and Hickman have both done better work elsewhere and Aaron is a superstar. Bendis? A big ol’ stinker!

-Doop has a choir? Nice.

-Why would Quentin cheat in his studies? He’s an effing genius. He doesn’t have to cheat.

-I like the character moments with Genesis and Warren. I also like that Iceman is so worried about Warren. It makes sense. They were both part of the original five and they’re the only two of the five at Jean Grey academy.

-Krakoa is all over the place man. I like how he’s got an eye ball popping up in the rock garden.

"No Bamfs allowed."

-Summers is a big jerk even if he’s an optimistic jerk. Well, optimistic about the phoenix force anyway.

-It bothers me quite a bit that he’s arguing that Wolverine can and should primarily be and “x-man”. It’s frustrating that he’s arguing that people as a whole, but Wolverine specifically in this context, should or do have one main “identity factor”. Wolverine can be many things all at the same time: avenger, x-man, friend, father, without them being prioritize in any way other that what Wolverine himself dictates. Do you get what I’m trying to say? I don’t think I’ve explained it very well.

-Kitty Pryde saying how she wants to carve off earrings from Emma is funny.

-Quentin is so smooth with the ladies.

-That’s the difference between Scott and Logan. Scott is a bit of a bully and Logan accepts the decision of this teaching staff, and friends, to help Scott out. He understands that sometimes you’ve got to do what feels right.

-Idie asking Wolverine not to kill Hope hits hard. He’s probably going to have to do just that. Incidentally, if you haven’t read Kieron Gillen’s Generation Hope issues you should go do that. They’re pretty good.

-I love that the Death Commandos arrive (they were sent out last issues). It’s logical that something like the Phoenix entity would catch the attention of more than just the people of Earth. It always seemed weird to me that the Phoenix was at the base of the AvsX crossover. What else could it have been though? The last time they were in conflict was with Wanda during the whole Disassembled and House of M stuff. Whatever, Aaron’s issues will most likely be enjoyable.

Wolverine and the X-men vol. 1 & 2 review

Bachalo and Bradshaw draw some pretty
great covers for the first few issues.

Wolverine and the X-men is a great example of superhero comics done right. More importantly (to me anyway), it’s a great example of an X-men comic done right. There have been many, many different takes on the X-men and there have been quite a handful of very positively reviewed and fondly remembered creative runs on various x-titles. For every New X-men or Astonishing X-men, there has been an X-men Forever or Uncanny X-men by Chuck Austen. What makes Jason Aaron’s first eight issues of Wolverine and the X-men so good is the quantity of story and the surprising depth for what seems to be a humour and action comic on the surface.

Two of the things that make these issues memorable are two of the now often ignored elements of X-men comics: 1) A school for mutants, 2) being a mutant means something and 3) uses the x-men’s expansive history to his advantage but also contributes embellishments to it. Mutants are often confused by writers and fans as being a type of superhero. Although that is often the case, mutants are forever separated from the Avengers, Spider-man and the Fantastic Four because being a mutant makes them different. For Aaron, a mutant is an allegorical device for the awkward years of teenagers. By writing a comic about mutants, Aaron is actually writing a comic about learning to get to know yourself and others. Many of these characters are put in situations where they have to reflect on the type of person they are be it Broo who discovers his dark and violent self or Kitty Pryde who realizes she’s afraid of growing up or maybe even Wolverine who leads a not so secret double life as Headmaster by day and mutant assassin by night or, yet another example of Genesis having to (eventually) deal with the past of the mutant he was cloned from.

There's so much going on inside this
issue, Bradshaw haw to draw a
split screen cover! How great is that?

Aaron also has a healthy respect and admiration for some of the better X-men comics of yesteryear. He regularly references or alludes to past stories and characters arcs but he does so without copying them. Sure, he creates a new school for mutants but his story is contextualized within the x-universe and the characters are as aware of the forthcoming destruction of the school grounds as the readers are. Aaron also finds a way to capture the frenetic day to day life of a school for teenaged mutants run by mutant superheroes. It’s craaaazy! Interdimentional demons teleporting all over and creating mayhem, supervillains attacking the school, young mutants taking out their angst and frustrations on the world by using their powers, and so much more.

I’m having a difficult time focusing my thoughts on this comic because there’s just so much about it that I think is great! Like the art. I’m a fan of Chris Bachalo’s art on X-men titles in general. He brings a nice chaotic beauty to x-characters and it suits X-men comics more than quite a few other artists. His art on the three opening issues match the writing so well it’s nearly impossible to think of a better collaboration between artist and writer. Then comes issues #4 to 6 where Nick Bradshaw takes over on pencils. His style is radically different from Bachalo’s but he brings a detail heavy quality that somehow contributes to the frenetic tone established in the first three issues. His lines are clearly defined and there’s cleanliness to it all that’s absent from Bachalo’s art but it works. I found myself liking one artist over the other with each issue I read until I realized, it doesn’t matter. They’re both good and they each have their own strengths and weaknesses. For example, Bachalo exchanges clarity for energy but that doesn’t mean his action scenes are unreadable. It’s all there for us to see but compared to Bradshaw, things do look a little messy in Bachalo’s issues.

I’m not sure how to conclude my review. I just feel like gushing. There’s so much about Wolverine and the X-men volume 1 and 2 that I liked and quite a bit that I loved. I got so excited while reading the comic. It’s just great superhero comics. It’s so fun, it has plenty of action and it’s also very, very funny. Aaron demonstrated he can right funny comics during the several years he wrote solo Wolverine series and mini-series but he takes it to a new level in Wolverine and the X-men. More important than anything else, this comic has heart. Aaron and the rest of the creative team pack a lot of story, character development and more into these 20 pages issues. It’s a comic that I liked while reading but it’s also a comic that I could think about and enjoy after the fact. My one complaint is that the writer and artists don’t give the comic a lot of room to breathe. Ah, who am I kidding, I’ll take a breath once I’m done rereading these issues.

Krakoa, Kid Gladiator, Warbird, Iceman, Kitty Pryde, Husk, Quentin Quire, Idie, Broo, Rachel, Beast, Doop, Wolverine and Toad. What a great cast! Notice how many of these characters were introduced by Aaron in the first three issues.