Wolverine and the X-Men #1 is a good comic. It is in many ways close to the verge of being a great comic. But it isn’t great.
What works about the comic? The school as fantastical setting: the Jean Grey School For Higher Learning (a nice touch on the name, incidentally) is very plainly the Marvel Universe’ equivalent of Hogwarts in a way that the X-Men’s various schools have never really been: Jason Aaron really plays up the crazy nature of the place as he takes the Obsequious Norms (not their real name, but it might as well be) on a Logan-and-Kitty-guided-tour of the school grounds, and it is purely entertaining and light in a way that the X-books rarely are. In terms of voice, Aaron nails all of the X-characters (not unexpected). His new tweaks (like Kid Gladiator) are largely welcome.
What doesn’t work? Well, the Obsequious Norms, who are of course the human fuddy-duddies who are sort of bigoted towards mutants and all scowly and you know that after one or two issues of being frightened out of their wits that they’re just gonna come around or there will be some sort of plot twist. It’s like, after coming up with this fantastic setting, Aaron decided to go with something as conventional as was possible. Seriously, this was like something out of a bad sitcom. (“Starring Tim Allen as Wolverine!”)
What kind of works? Chris Bachalo’s art. Bachalo sells the fantastic setting and the fantastic characters, and his draftsmanship just keeps getting better (I swear I see more and more George Herriman in his pencils with each passing year). But he’s not good in this book at going small, at selling the small, conversational moments in the comic. (And he has done this well before, so it’s not something Bachalo can’t do.) Kitty Pryde – who spends the issue trying to convince the Obseqious Norms that really this is not a nuthouse on par with The Muppet Show – doesn’t look right at any point during the issue. Oya’s scene – which should be at least a little devastating, from the dialogue – comes across as purely comedic instead of dramedic because Oya spends the entire page with a Stepford grin on her face. And the final confrontation between Kade Kilgore and Wolverine loses much of its dramatic impact because Kilgore spends all of it striking silly, overdramatic facial expressions instead of just standing there and being a cool bastard like he’s been shown to be previously.
Don’t get me wrong: the good vastly outweighs the bad here, and the bad is mostly a matter of personal taste more than anything else. But it’s enough that I can’t say outright that it’s a great book. It’s good, and for now that’s enough.
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Very good issue, but not perfect. Certainly makes me wish I had a time machine so I could send this to DC Comics a few months ago, so they could see how first issues should work.
No comment on the Bamfs? Or the fact that Gambit is teaching sex educaion (most useful class ever). I loved this issue.
Would it be appropriate to say the first issue is promising?
To be honest, I felt their “fantastical” came off a lot closer to “wacky”, which is why I think your Muppet Show mention is really close to what I felt about the comic. It’s silly and fun, which works for it some of the time and doesn’t at others. I didn’t mind the normies; while they were rather cliche, the whole comic does feel a little sitcomish.
I think the problem is that the overall tone of the comic clashed with a few of the more important scenes. You basically put it under Bachalo’s art, but I think that Bacholo’s art fits the comic perfectly for the tone and those scenes just didn’t fit well with the comic in general. I mean, it’s difficult not to make Wolverine driving away from Kade in a golf cart not look a little humorous.
As a guy who is getting into the X-Men through Schism, I enjoyed it. It’s not great, but it’s solid and does it’s job.
So I assume House of M is undone and we have mutant kids again?
Personally I didn’t like the art at all(as one person on SD put it Kitty ends up looking Japanese/Hispanic in some of the scenes)
Kilgore should not exist period and the writer who created him should be fired
And Kid Gladiator is a terrible character. Gladiator would never let his kid grow up like that. And anyway Gladiator wasn’t royalty until recently so this kid should not be acting like some spoiled prince.
It’s a good comic but it’s just an okay X-Men comic. It felt more “zany-driven” than character-driven Weirdly enough, it really does feel like all of the characters are in denial about their global situation and just playing make-believe.
I though that Regenesis was better than Schism and I think Uncanny will be better than this. Gillen is the very best at mixing traditional feel with super strong characterization with big, forward-moving ideas.
Wow, Jason. Harsh.
I don’t love the art either. BUT:
Aaron’s a good writer. He created Kilgore. Do you REALLY want him fired? REALLY?
Kid Gladiator’s shown up in what, 4 panels? You’re making a judgement on him already? Plus even before Gladiator was royalty, he was a very high ranking officer in the Sh’iar military. Plus who knows, maybe his kid’s mom is royalty.
@Jason Barnett
Gladiator’s powers are confidence based, so it makes sense for his Kid to be extremely arrogant.
Anyway we don’t actually know much about Kid Gladiator, Gladiator may have only discovered him after becoming Emperior of the Shiar. He may have been raised that way and perhaps Gladiator wants him to gain some humility with the X-men or keep him out of trouble, or both.
Yeah, Kid Gladiator wasn’t raised as a prince. A prince would have been taught tact and good manners, so he could engage in international diplomacy. Kid Gladiator has presumably been raised as an arrogance-powered killing machine, because that’s what the post of Gladiator is. And then, after years of being told that he’s an unstoppable badass who’s better than everyone, he’s also been told that he’s a prince.
No wonder his daddy has sent him to school on the planet where he got his arse kicked.
This felt like the first real X-Men comic in veritabel ages. And by “real”, I mean Claremontian when he was at 100%.
The whole turn of the Marvel Universe to being grim and gritty, where even Captain America kills often and without much regret, was a huge, huge mistake. I hope this comic can keep the more lighthearted tone and will not descend into grimdark territory. It would be a welcome relief from the other stories Marvel gives us nowadays.
Reading old Claremont X-Men comics, something that struck me about Kitty Pride.
She is really, really quick to start calling Black people an inappropriate racial term at the slightest provocation.
Jean Grey School For Higher Learning = University of Phoenix?
@Pantsless Pete: Bullshit.
Now, say that while putting on your sunglasses.
No. Really. She says it in response to being called a mutie by some black guy to draw some sort of bizarre parallel at least twice.
Once in God Loves/Man Kills and once is the proper x-men comic to some black guy with a jerri curl at college.
Kitty Pryde, for all her magical Mary Sueish prowess(in that she’s adorable but computer savvy, a ninja AND a ballet dancer, that no one can possibly hate) is also a big drama queen. N-word here, bickering out of nowhere over there. Personally, I think it grounds her a bit from being Mrs. Perfect all the time.
Well, actually, in God Loves/Man Kills, IIRC the scene was her dance instructor (who is black) telling Kitty not to let the idiots calling her “mutie” to get to her. And then she basically says, “Well, what if they were calling you a N#####?” and storms off.
Not exactly the same thing as calling a black person a N-bomb right out of the blue, man. Context matters.
More to the point… um, she’s 15 (at the time, anyway). You mean to tell me that no one here did stupid shit when you were 15? 🙂
All for mutants as a civil right allegory, but a n***** can’t reach into your chest and pull out your heart without breaking the skin.
*Sorry that read more racist than it was in my head, my point is fearing mutants (and superhumans) is pretty rational.
What malakim said. The context matters. A lot. Yeah, it was crass, but it was the right way to demonstrate to Stevie Hunter how Kitty felt about the whole “mutie” thing.
The whole civil rights allegory was pushed very hard for a lot of years and it was and is an appropiate comparison.
And I seriously doubt that the second instance of Kitty saying the n-word is much different than from what happened in God loves, Man kills.
Also, the “bullshit” from me came at the way Pete was phrasing his assertion, that Kitty would call someone the n-word at the slightest provocation. That is complete and utter nonsense.
Expected to hate this because of Schism but enjoyed it because it was highly inappropriate. Still hate the new Heckfire Club. Has any iteration of that team ever succeeded going in direct opposition to the X-Nation? If they really wanted to do something new, and maybe win for a change, they’d set up goals that also worked in concert to the mutants’ agenda…
@Wolfthomas – It might be rational, but that doesn’t make it right. Or any less hurtful to a young mutant who tries to defend the rest of humanity, most of whom have no qualms about calling her a “dirty mutie.”
@ Jeremy: is it any wonder the only time I Lik…tolerated her in comics was when Wisdom was giving her the crac_crac ?
So … WHoreverine & Douchelops are the kings now? Hypocrisy, hypocrisy, how sad it was…
I may be one of the few guys that hated schism (or the core books from Davis’s run & on…)
This is what I thought when reading Schism:
C” & Jean never loved you!She was afraid of you…”
W” suuuure, like she’d love the guy who macked on Paris Hilton when she wasn’t even cold…”
C” Well at least my son is not an unstable whackjob with a mohawk!”
W ” Still aiming low Bub? okay. I try to help him whenever I can & You ? You let Cable die instead of you. You must be in competition for father of the year too”
C ” It was for the good of the reich…errr I mean mutantkind. & You agreed to be on my side for the greater good!& seeing your liking for Jailbaits , you’re not exactly a guy someone would trust with his kids!”
W ” You implying I’m a pedo?”
C ” Oh no… Necropedophiliac is more like it! You’d even rape a vacuum cleaner with a red wig on it.”
W” NOW IT’S ON YOU SON OF A BITCH!”
The other mutants contemplate the scene with consternation.
Jubilee ” errr…we’re supposed to follow one of these guys? ”
Rogue ” Ah don’t think so shugah….”
Gambit”I’ll side with One-eye…”
The Others (& the readers)”WHAAAAt ???”
G ” what? you’ve ever seen his ferrari? I could sell de pieces 3 mils each . De guy has the cavern of Ali Baba in his mansion, How’d you think he paid for his island?& isn’t it easier to rob him at his side”
” I too shall side with my father!”
” WTF,! Stryfe? what are you doing here? you want to be an x-men too now?”
S ” oh come now! you let the red bucket head man, Sabretooth, Mystique & Omega punk join you with no questions asked. Why would I not?”
” Well you’re a villain …”
S ” I only unleashed a deadly plague at one time & raped my brother’s wife! Magneto, here launched an EMP on the earth which killed millions & is IN , sabretooth has a higher body count than Dahmer & Mystique in my future is the equivalent of Judas! Besides my father , the Ceasar of mutants, deserves his own Brutus at his side!”
G ” Don’t off him before I get him to sign dis will though .”
” & what’s next? Sinister will be the science teacher? Selene will guard the kindergartens?”
S” As a matter of fact, the good Dr Essex wanted me to hand his CV to my father , & Selene sent this letter to know if a place was available…”
Meanwhile , Douchelops & Whoreverine are still at it.
On top of the Utopia Island, Apocalypse is facepalming at the sheer stupidity of the sight.
” And these will be the x-men leaders? My choice would be the weather goddess, even though I do wonder where she is?… Alright, saving these 2 will be like reattaching gangrenuous purulent limbs to a healthy body, SHIP!”
“yes master…”
” Lauch the H-bomb , my faithful vessel & let us wipe this insulting embarassement out of memories. If anyone mentions it again , I the Rock of the eternal shore, shall handle their tongues personally…”
One Utopia island devastated later… ” Now to go find Peter Milligan & give him the sweetest evisceration since Aid El Edhha, I, Apocalypse, shall depart!”
If you think what I wrote is ridiculous, please remember: OMD WAS WRITTEN!