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.

Wolverine and the X-Men #35 – Review

by Jason Aaron (writer) and Nick Bradshaw (artist)

The Story: And so the Hellfire Saga finally comes to an end: not with a bang, but with a jovial, well-spoken mutant.

The Review: Much as the members of the Hellfire Club feared, the siege of Hellfire Academy is over, and now it’s the last chance for both sides to find a way to escape alive. It’s always fun to see where a villain’s loyalties lie and this issue is chock full of that simple sinister pleasure.

Indeed this is a rather reactive issue for our heroes, who merely need to hold onto their victory until the various ne’er-do-wells run out of last resorts.  It would be nice to see Wolverine or Storm really taking charge, but the story plays out in its own way.

This final issue of the arc brings many of the series’ twisting plot threads to satisfactory conclusions, however they’re more than a little bit frayed in some cases. Several stories are resolved but lack explanations for how they came to work themselves out. It’s no sin to set up new questions for a series going forward, but some of these come so out of nowhere that it’s hard to find them satisfying. I personally found I’m gonna take a moment to discuss some of these so, just in case my spoiler tags don’t catch your attention, I’d recommend that you skip the next paragraph if you want to experience the issue fresh.

SPOILERS – One of the most notable of these forsaken plots is the ballad of Toad and Husk. While Paige comes around in the end, it’s unclear how or why removing a number of her skin layers apparently resets her to back before she started dating Toad or how the long-suffering janitor knew that this would work. Similarly, though Kade ended last issue with promises that he’s already won, we don’t find out much about his masterstroke, save that he’s “changed the X-Men forever. They just don’t know it yet.” That’s cool, but it would be nice if we, the readers, knew it, as it makes a significant difference to the tone of the issue whether Kade is right or just cracking under the pressure. – END SPOILERS

Wolverine and the X-Men #34 – Review

By: Jason Aaron (writer), Nick Bradshaw (pencils), Walden Wong (inks), Laura Martin (colorist)

The Story: Who doesn’t love a good villainous breakdown?

The Review: Though the story continues to crawl along at a snail’s pace, each issue of Jason Aaron’s Hellfire Saga has been more engaging than the last. This penultimate issue is no exception and longtime readers of the odd-ball series will be happy to see that a seemingly satisfying end is in sight for this chapter in the tale.

This issue isn’t as cohesive as the last, amounting to little more than a series of brief snapshots from the siege of Hellfire Academy, but Aaron’s character work keeps it from suffering too much for it.

The action is big and impressive, but not fully realized. If you’ve ever dreamed of seeing Krakoa and a giant ice-Voltron fight off an army of living volcanos, you’ll see it here, however, the experience is distinctly two-dimensional. With so many battles to jump to and characters to revisit, there’s not time to give us more than single moments of combat.

The saving grace of this issue is Kade Kilgore. While the  Black King of the new Hellfire Club has been a polarizing figure, I think that most will agree that ignoble defeat suits him better than smug threats and easy victories. Kilgore’s been built up into such a loathsome schemer that it’s great fun to watch the house that he built come tumbling down. But, then again, there is one more issue and I’m pretty excited to see it, having read the end of this one.

Wolverine and the X-Men #33 – Review

By: Jason Aaron (writer); Nick Bradshaw (pencils); Marc Deering, Walden Wong (Inks) Laura Martin (colorist) 

The Story: The Hellfire Club finds itself betrayed as its leader makes Oya a dangerous offer.

The Review: Over thirty issues in, it’s starting to feel like Jason Aaron has finally managed to get back in touch with what made me so excited about this series in the first place.

Jason Aaron’s lush imagination is at play again this month, building the Hellfire Club’s arsenal and sparking intrigue within the fold. The humor you know is still here, but most of the gags have a bittersweet quality. The whole run feels like it’s been leading to this, and there is a certain epic appeal to seeing the first rumbles of the turning tide.

Aaron’s handle on his characters is also much clearer this month. Nowhere is this clearer than in the case of Idie Okonkwo. Though some of this issue’s narration could have been trimmed down, it does a fine job of showing just how horrifically effective Hellfire Academy can be. I think that’s crucial, since it was played for laughs for a whole issue last month.

Idie’s relationship with Kilgore becomes a battle for her very soul. After a year and a half of acting out of guilt or on behalf of others, we finally get a sense of what Idie wants. And while I’ve been critical of Toad’s regression under Aaron’s pen, it’s always satisfying to see such put upon characters have their moment of glory, so despite the artificiality of it all, I found it rather satisfying.

Wolverine and the X-Men #14

By: Jason Aaron (story), Jorge Molina (pencils), Norman Lee (inks), Morry Hollowell (colors), Chris Elipoulo (letters)

The Story: Colossus/Juggernaut/Phoenix tries to win back the heart of Kitty Pryde as  only Colossus/Juggernaut/Phoenix can…a seafood buffet!

The Good: Almost everything. Seriously, Jason Aaron serves us an incredible issue that is full of great humor and fun. From the opening of Colossus parting the sea for his date with Kitty to the remaining staff at the Jean Grey School attempting to run the school with only a fraction of the staff available, we get to see more sides to Kitty Pryde than we have since Whedon handled her. It’s very much her issue…in fact, for a title called Wolverine and the X-Men, is it strange that I don’t remember the last time Wolverine was present?