Wolverine and the X-Men by Jason Aaron—Volume 1

Comic Info

Wolverine and the X-Men #2 Variant

Reprints Wolverine and the X-Men (1) #1-4 (December 2011-March 2012).  Wolverine has decided to carry on Xavier’s legacy and open Jean Grey School for Higher Learning.  With Kitty helping him, Wolverine is out to teach a new generation of mutants…but a new Hellfire Club could have something to say about Wolverine’s new plans and the school could face closing before it even opens.  Plus, something is up with Angel and the arrival of Genesis raises questions for the students.

Written by Jason Aaron, Wolverine and the X-Men by Jason Aaron—Volume 1 is a spin-off of the X-Men crossover series Schism (dubbed “Regenesis”).  Featuring art by Chris Bachalo, Nick Bradshaw, Duncan Rouleau, and Matteo Scalera, The issues in the volume were also collected in Wolverine and the X-Men by Jason Aaron Omnibus.

I have a little bit of fear of this title.  I liked some of what Jason Aaron had done up to this point and I liked old Chris Bachalo art.  I like the characters involved but the whole concept behind this storyline (and Schism for that matter) left a bad taste in my mouth…it just doesn’t feel like the X-Men I know and love.

Wolverine and the X-Men (1) #3

While I like a lot of the characters in this volume, I don’t love the characterization.  Wolverine has always been shown to have a soft side (and a rather creepy tendency to hang out with the youngest of the X-Men like Kitty and Jubilee), but he’s never had the temperament to be a teacher…and I realize that the facing off against Cyclops (who always did have the teacher mentality) was kind of the point behind making the series, but it doesn’t mean that it makes for great reading.

Like I mentioned, Chris Bachalo’s art also raises problems.  While I loved things like his Death:  The High Cost of Living, I always felt he started to go downhill with Generation X.  Like later issues of Generation X by Bachalo, I find the art too heavily inked and kind of hard to follow.  I actually preferred the must more typical comic book art of Nick Bradshaw for Wolverine and the X-Men #4.

Wolverine and the X-Men has potential, but I kind of just want the X-Men back.  The “no more mutants”, Utopia, and other big events have left the characters battered and bruised, and they don’t feel like they are evolving as much as just having their personalities changed almost arbitrarily.  I know that they are trying to demonstrate growth, but it doesn’t always feel realistic in the context of what came before.  Wolverine and the X-Men by Jason Aaron—Volume 1 was followed by Wolverine and the X-Men by Jason Aaron—Volume 2.

Related Links:

Wolverine and the X-Men by Jason Aaron—Volume 2

Wolverine and the X-Men by Jason Aaron—Volume 3

Wolverine and the X-Men by Jason Aaron—Volume 4

X-Men:  Schism