X-Men: The (fan fic) Series

So, Wolverine is the teacher Jean Grey’s deserves… Dog Logan is the teacher Jean Grey’s needs?

To be honest, I stopped paying attention.

WatX is normally a rather fun comic, or at least intense in some way, however, this issue is pretty much just all of Dog Logan’s backstory to let the reader know who this guy is… and it’s dull. Not only is it way too much background dump, but it’s as cliché and tropey as they come. I guess we’re supposed to feel sorry for or at least empathize with Dog but there isn’t anything to grab hold of. It’s literally ‘the sob story you’ve heard a thousand times over’.

As for Dog’s motivations? I’m not real sure I care.

Well, all hell has broken loose thanks to Dog and we’ll see how that is dealt with in the next issue… which will hopefully be a lot more interesting. Personally, I can’t wait to see Dog and Quire meet… that should be… interesting…

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Wolverine and the X-Men #24
Possibly the most awkwardly drawn kiss… ever.

Review: Wolverine and the X-Men #24

This was quite possibly the most meta issue of an X-Men comic… ever.

I really don’t know where to begin. There are several couples getting together, either on actual dates, just to talk, or your basic hookup. There isn’t anything wasted in this comic. Not only do we have the visual and written humor we’ve come to love from this title, but each conversation is poignant in its own right for vastly different reasons.

At the crux is the fact that the X-Men are not normal people, this has never been ignored in the comics but it is nicely highlighted here through self-aware dialogue that could have been groan-worthy but was instead thoughtful and introspective (and in a few cases hilarious).

Yes, the Bobby/Kitty date was cliché but the honesty in which it was written forgives it. Quentin’s thoughts on Jean Grey are spot on for a boy his age and Jean’s reaction was equally appropriate. Broo and Idie couldn’t have been any more touching. And if Sabretooth is telling you that you need to get a girlfriend… that should tell you something.

This kind of issue could have gone very, very wrong, and in the beginning it nearly did as the relationship between Storm and Black Panther has been treated poorly since its inception. But once that is out of the way, Storm is able to reassert her individuality in a great segway into the non-adjective X-Men title that will be releasing later this year.

After the poor showing in the last three WatX issues, this issue more than makes up for it.

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Wolverine & the X-Men #23

Review: Wolverine & the X-Men #23

Okay, major question here, just how in the world did they get all the costumes back on if they a) never left the circus and b) have been in a constant fight? Yeah, yeah, I know, it’s a comic book.

We wrap up the Murder Circus and Frankenstein plots for the most part, but again, as both the monster and Kid Frankenstein are kind of a random addition to the story, and they focus on their origins without us having any time to get to know them, esp the kid, his sudden acceptance of ‘who he really is’,  just falls flat.

Granted, this is good background for later, but for now it was basically filler for a lot of fun images and one-liners.

Forget your pathetic teenage hormones for one second!
Focus on killing Zombie Clowns!

I heart you Warbird. Never Change.

The one really good saving point is Idie, just what is going on with that girl? Quire is not stupid, he sees something is up. Question is, what is he gonna do about it?

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Wolverine and the X-Men #22

Review: Wolverine and the X-Men #22

This is a little late, to be honest I ran out of time and then forgot to add it. I forgot likely because while this issue was better than #21, it still wasn’t quite up to par with some earlier WatX issues.

It was good to see that at least a couple of the adults were able to work through the mind control and it’s not, in typical kid’s show fashion, left to the kids alone to save the day. Kitty’s reaction to throwing a kid through a window was kinda priceless.

I’m not really happy with the sheer amount of death that seems to be all over this comic, both of adults and kids. Course, that’s an issue I have with a lot of the comics right now so not really going to go into it right now.

The Frankenstein story which came out of nowhere last issue still isn’t all that engaging, especially as we know very little about the Hellfire Club member who apparently is the last descendent of ‘The’ Doctor Frankenstein. Granted, we’re learning about him now but having previously very little contact with him makes this sudden thrust of his ‘origin story’ a bit random and we have nothing to reconcile it with.

It is fun to see the characters act OTT but still something in character, some good one liners and all that, but so far this all just fills like, well, filler.

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Wolverine and the X-Men #21

Review: Wolverine and the X-Men #21

From the cover of this issue I did have to wonder if some funny business was going on… was the school doing a fundraiser of some sort? Nope, the X-Men are simply under mind-control.

Awesome.

I do love how they made Storm an escape artist (she doesn’t do enough thieving if you ask me) and Logan as a clown that gets the crap beat out of him? Yeah, I’m with Kid Omega, this is freaking epic.

However, the Frankenstein sub-plot is kinda weak and definitely just a mechanism to get these characters were they are. There isn’t a lot of substance, so overall it falls kinda flat.

But like a typical Disney channel tv series (Disney, see what I did there?), it will be up to the kids to save the day.

Oh, and is just me, or is Storm wearing more clothes now that she’s in the circus? Isn’t that usually the other way around?

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Wolverine and the X-Men #19

Review: Wolverine and the X-Men #19

After #18 really annoyed me in its dark nature and shooting of a fun character I was really liking, I was glad to see that WatX was more rounded. It had a few dark bits, mostly to do with Kilgore and his band of sociopathic psychos, but the more fun elements were there.

I love all the little cameos by characters coming to try out for a teaching position at the school. Blade actually might have been a good one to hire, as long as you can keep him a bit more on the tamer side. As for Deadpool, I like how he didn’t even get half his name out before he’s rejected, not that he doesn’t try.

Good to see that Broo isn’t completely dead and has a chance at surviving. I really liked him! Him and Idie made a very interesting couple/non-couple and I hate how it left off in #18. Idie, on the other hand, is still suffering from some the psychological whammo that done to her, though yeah, it is kinda hard to tell where that and her original mental issues border, but still.

Lastly, Storm is back, yay! Since Uncanny had ended I didn’t know if she was going to stick with regular X-Men and that be her only title (I think that’s the only other one she’s been in?). Though it’s possible she could go into the background like Rogue and Gambit (which leads me to also wonder if those two will get any more face time, esp since Rogue is now only in Uncanny Avengers).

Overall, liking the upswing, let’s hope they keep this up.

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Review: Wolverine and the X-Men #18

Wolverine and the X-Men #18
aka good example of a cover that totally mis-represents the story

After last week’s WatX #17 had me in stitches, I was really looking forward to the next one because WatX has been a refreshingly fun comic which, and quote me on this, ‘brought the joy back to comics’.

However, I read #18 and the exact opposite holds true. Framed inside the story of AvX’s final fight (which was both fitting and redundant at the same time), we get a glimpse at… well… not too sure. Husk, who was already not exactly entirely stable, loses it and quits. Idie, who is totally not stable, gets manipulated (which is kinda cool from a psychological perspective). And Broo… what the hell?!

This issue is such a stark contrast, even with some funny elements like the idea of having an “end of the world” dance. It’s so heavy with its themes and dark in its plot points that I feel forlorn (and not in a good way) after reading it.

But again, taken in bits and pieces it’s got some good points… but together it’s just a mess that makes me sad.

Let’s hope once things ‘get back to normal’ at the school there will be a bit more of that joy I have come to love from this series.

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