Wolverine & the X-Men #3 – Review

By: Jason Aaron (writer); Chris Bachalo, Duncan Rouleau and Matteo Scalera (pencils); Tim Townsend, Jaime Medoza, Al Vey, Mark Irwin, Victor Olazaba, Duncan Rouleau and Matteo Scalera (inkers); Chris Bachalo and Jason Keith (colors)

The Story: The Jean Grey School for Higher Learning gets a new mascot.

The Review: And so ends Wolverine’s first day as a headmaster. Jason Aaron really threw the kitchen sink at him: rowdy students, disgruntled employees, the NYS Board of Regents, interdimensional gremlins, the new Hellfire club, and his very first enemy (publication-wise), Krakoa. It’s fitting that he face both new problems and old foes, as this book is simultaneously going back to the franchise’s roots and breaking new ground. It’s also incredibly fun.

Aaron has been turning out solid work, fitting in a tremendous number of characters and details without anything feeling lost, and this issue is no exception. The dialogue continues to bubble with enthusiasm, the ensemble has great chemistry, and the characters continue to develop and surprise. The pace of the storytelling has smoothed out after a somewhat slow first issue and an entirely frantic sophomore showing. The resolution to the main conflict between the mutants and Krakoa feels a tad bit rushed, but it matches the insanity at the heart of the book. The hasty resolution also allows for a truly fantastic double spread revealing Krakoa’s fate, and I doubt there’s a single reader who won’t smile while reading it.

As you may have noted above, the art team got pretty big for this issue. I expected it would be a mess when I saw the names of eight different artists on the credits page. But while this issue intentionally portrays a huge mess, and maintains a kinetic and anxious aesthetic, the style still looks pretty tight and uniform. The zany, hyper-exaggerated style is completely in sync with the tone of the book, and allows for some really fantastic character moments. And did I mention that awesome double spread? I did? Well, whatever, it deserves to be mentioned twice. It’s awesome.