Wolverine and the X-Men #41 – Review

By: Jason Aaron (writer), Pepe Larraz & Todd Nauck (artists), Matt Milla (color artist)

The Story: “You can’t tell by looking at a frog how high he will jump.” – American proverb

The Review: I will be honest and admit that I have not been a huge fan of how Jason Aaron has treated the Toadf since he arrived at the Jean Grey School. The character had been slowly growing as a person ever since he appeared in X-Men (2000), but Wolverine and the X-Men cast him as comic relief, making him uglier and simpler than ever. All things considered, it’s about time that Toad got another moment in the sun and, thankfully, with just two issues left, Aaron provides him one.

Unfortunately it’s nearly impossible to craft an appropriate ending to Toad’s time at the Jean Grey School without referencing some of the weaker elements of the series, namely the unsteady beginning to “The Hellfire Saga” and Mortimer’s relationship with Paige Guthrie. Ten issues later, Aaron has finally deigned to explain just what was going on with her and, whether it’s due to the lateness or not, it reeks of convenience.

In a turn that’s admittedly far more similar to the actual treatment of mental conditions than any comic book madness, Paige is trying to sort out her life now that she has a diagnosis and, with touchingly vapid sincerity, she attempts to figure out Toad’s place in it. What results is a simple, effective story that is very much the logical conclusion of Toad’s lot in this series. While there are several ways the story could go, the way it chooses is nothing revolutionary. Aaron opts to focus on tone and the struggle that Toad is going through rather than complexity of plot.