Today is a sad day, everyone.
According to solicits from Newsarama for Marvel’s February releases, “Wolverine and the X-Men” is coming to an issue with two last issues, #41 and #42. Here’s the solicit:
WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN #41 & 42
JASON AARON (W) • NICK BRADSHAW & PEPE LARRAZ (A)
Cpver by NICK BRADSHAW
SCHOOL’S OUT FOREVER! FINAL ISSUES!
• It’s the end of the year for the Jean Grey school – but where do our graduates go from here? And who will have survived the experience?!
• Jason Aaron, Pepe Larraz & Nick Bradshaw bring the story of the Jean Grey school to a close!
32 PGS. (EACH)/Rated T …$3.99 (EACH)
While it’s possible – even likely – that this series will just get relaunched as a #1 because that sort of seems like Marvel’s deal right now, if not, it’s a great loss for fans of good comics. Jason Aaron and friends (Chris Bachalo, Nick Bradshaw, Ramon Perez, etc.) have managed to craft an X-Men comic that wasn’t so self serious and hearkened back to a day when they were known as “the strangest super-heroes of all!” It was brilliant young adult fiction, adults struggling with new roles, and many, many goofy situations. Get rich quick schemes at intergalactic casinos, murder circuses, Kraokas acting as the yard of the school, you name it – this book played with continuity and these characters and made it something special and something fun each and every month.
I’m really bummed to hear this book is coming to an end, but I’m certain this won’t be the last time we’re dealing with characters like Broo, Idie, Quentin Quire and more. I mean come on, those are three of the five future X-Men! They have big destinies to fill!
Update: Jason Aaron commented on the end of his run on the book (note that he said the end of HIS run, which could mean it’s coming back with a different writer, which is sucky but maybe okay?):
As seen in the Marvel solicits for February, issue #42 will be the end of my run on WOLVERINE & THE X-MEN. The original plan was for me to write both WatXM and AMAZING X-MEN as sister titles. One dealing with the school, the other with the X-Men from that school going on adventures out in the world. But unfortunately my schedule just didn’t allow that. So I’ve been writing the post-Battle of the Atom arc of WatXM as my goodbye to that series and to the Jean Grey School. Believe me, it wasn’t easy for me to step away from this book. I’ve loved building that school and writing those characters, both the students and the teachers, as much as I’ve loved anything I’ve done in comics. But the school itself isn’t going anywhere. And I’ll still be writing a lot of those same characters over in AMAZING. And I’ve got lots of other stuff coming up that demanded my time, like THOR and SOUTHERN BASTARDS and some new things I can’t tell you about just yet.
So I’ll save all my tearful goodbyes until we get to the end, but for now, just let me say THANK YOU once again to everybody who’s bought this book along the way. Thank you for embracing such an offbeat X-series. 42 issues of Bamfs and Doop and sentient lawns? I love you all for helping make that happen.
JGS forever.
