WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN #2 (UNLETTERED)



STORY BY
Jason Aaron
ART BY
Chris Bachalo
COVER BY
Chris Bachalo

[spoiler=preview pages]
It’s official, Wolverine & The X-Men is a hit and to celebrate the book’s critical acclaim, Marvel is pleased to present your first look at Wolverine & The X-Men #2! Following the catastrophic disruption to the Jean Grey School of Higher Learning, superstar creative team Jason Aaron and Chris Bachalo are putting Wolverine and his new school to the test! With the all-new Hellfire Club causing all sorts of headaches for the new students, Logan must rally the troops and face the return of a classic X-Villain!






[/spoiler]

wolverine and the x-men #1 review (no spoilers)

Though the philosophical differences that drove "Schism" ultimately did not compel me, I still remained interested in what the after effects would bring in the form of a splintered X-Men on opposite coasts. The first offering comes this week in the first issue of Jason Aaron and Chris Bachalo's "Wolverine & The X-Men." Though the book's name leaves much to be desired (does Wolverine really have to be splashed across everything?), everything else here is pretty damn interesting.

This is a hefty first issue, with 28 pages of story and three pages of really fun bonus material, plus three more pages of "what's coming up" -- and yet, all that really happens is a tour of the school for Xavier and then the New York Department of Education. But it's one hell of a tour.

Jason Aaron has a lot of fun playing with Logan in his new position of headmaster. It's an ill-fitting role in a rather delicious way. The dynamic between Logan and Kitty is natural and works nicely as the base on which to build a whole lot of chaos, which it's clear Aaron intends to pile on from here. While it's difficult to tell which characters Aaron is going to focus on beyond Logan and Kitty at this point -- there are a ton of students, but we spend very little time with any of them -- it's clear that wherever he goes with this, it will be in a balls to the wall and take no prisoners fashion, in the best of ways.

Chris Bachalo, coloring his own pencils and being inked by a small army, is at his bold best, playing on all his strengths and vacillating between gorgeously detailed double-page spreads and intimate nine-panel grids with equal skill. Bachalo draws the best Wolverine I've ever seen as Logan hustles around the school, equal parts excited and worried to death. Bachalo's Wolverine is the same height as Kitty but twice as wide, which is exactly how it should be. Bachalo's work with expression and body language is only matched by his insane attention to detail, all of it combining into a kinetic, freewheeling insanity just controlled enough to make perfect sense. Bachalo's risky, unbridled style isn't for everyone, but for those of us that love it, it's a religion.

The pairing of Aaron and Bachalo is rather inspired, and they prove to be a great match, each creator bold and seemingly unafraid to take risks and go new places. The result is something that feels like a modern and fresh blend of Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely's "New X-Men" and Scott Lobdell and Bachalo's "Generation X," which is not a bad thing. This books feels like it's going to be a little weird, and that is definitely not a bad thing.

If I have to offer up any criticism, it's that the book doesn't seem like it actually knows where it's going. However, with creators like Aaron and Bachalo at the helm, I find myself oddly unconcerned. It's nice to feel taken by the hand and led into a world you already know intimately only to find it has been given a serious upgrade that could very well drive it most excellently into the future. I'm in.

good review, random. i didn't want to get this title, just cos of wolverine's name infront of the title like that.

but who could resist aaron and bachelo. i'm sold. :8-@:

so are we expecting the other book to be titled 'cyclops and the x-men'? :mellow:

nope the other book is just Uncanny still

kind of unfair to cyke, dontcha think? [thinking]

i'm surprised at how bachelo used to draw logan ...

You're one of us? :mellow:

er ... I meant ...


You're one of us? ;hug;

But I'm probably going to get it too if it makes it to the newstands :P