This is it. Jason Aaron’s last issue of “Amazing X-Men”. The man who teased us with the return of Nightcrawler since his days of writing “Wolverine” and has shaped the course of Wolverine and his X-Men for years steps away with this last story. And, boy, is it a doozy.
Written by Jason Aaron
Illustrated by Cameron Stewart
• Nightcrawler is back at the Jean Grey School!
• But when Mystique comes calling, he may be returning to the afterlife very soon.
The return of Nightcrawler is one of those things that, I think, everyone secretly wanted, but when it came down to the actual announcement that it was happening, there was a certain hesitation. At least, that’s how I felt. However, with Jason Aaron writing that return after literally years of teasing it on and off in both “Wolverine” and “Wolverine And The X-Men”, it seems like it has been a resounding success. Hell, it even paved the way for Chris Claremont’s mostly triumphant return to the character. With “Amazing X-Men” #6, though, it’s time for Jason Aaron to say goodbye to Nightcrawler and Wolverine and the X-Men and he’s brought in Cameron Stewart to great one hell of a farewell issue.
Well, maybe farewell isn’t the best term for this issue. Sure, it is sad that Aaron is having to step away from a title he helped create and a story he built for years, there’s a sense that his work here is done and he’s leaving the characters to go one to bigger and better things. It’s not a sad note that he leaves the book on, but a high one as some sense of normality has now returned to the X-Books as Nightcrawler brings back that infectious sense of hope that he always had. This issue is built around a party welcoming Nightcrawler back to the land of the living and the characters (well, mostly Wolverine and Nightcrawler) spend much of it looking to a brighter new future and that’s exactly what this issue needed to be. It reminds me of “Wolverine” #5.1 with Wolverine’s birthday party in how Jason Aaron can combined the normality of life with the craziness of the Marvel Universe in such a great way.
That’s actually what makes this issue so good. From Aaron’s writing to Cameron Stewart’s artwork, there is a clear sense of combining mundane ideas with the larger than life characters of the X-Men to create such a fun story. Only in the X-Men could a family reunion involve Mystique ramping off an upturned van on motorcycle while firing at her son and his father who both recently returned from the afterlife and both Aaron and Stewart know exactly how fun that should be on the page. These are two creators entirely in sync with the tone of this issue and how it should feel and it feels fun and it feels lively. You know, despite the behind the scenes sadness that Jason Aaron is leaving.
Cameron Stewart was a very inspired choice to provide the artwork for this issue. His art style is a far cry away from Ed McGuinness’, who has defined the art of this series so far, and it really works. Stewart’s heavily inked style feels more grounded in a sense of storytelling realism that allows moments of genuine emotion in the character writing to play out without the reader overthinking the fact that both characters are blue. He’s exactly what this issue needed to balance the fun and lively action with the more tender emotional beats as Nightcrawler reunites with his family, both biological and the one he loves. Best yet, it feels clear that Stewart was having the time of his life playing the teleporting powers of both Nightcrawler and Azazel when the action kicks in later in the issue. It’s hard not to have fun watching Stewart play with the teleportation from panel to panel as Mystique rides through each on the back of a motorcycle. Stewart seems perfectly in sync with Jason Aaron’s writing and deftly dances between fun and emotional and it’s truly sad that this creative team is only reuniting for this issue.
Overall, you couldn’t have hoped for a better issue from Jason Aaron’s farewell. Instead of wallowing in having to leave, Aaron creates a point which closes out the story he’s been telling for years now and leaves the characters in positions to go on to newer stories from different writers. Having Wolverine and Nightcrawler walk off into the sunset is exactly the closing page this saga needed and both Aaron and Stewart hit the emotionality of it exactly right. This is, from first page to last, the kind of pure fun issue that “Amazing X-Men” has promised and Aaron and Stewart have left the title in a position to be one of the best X-Books out there as long as the next creative team can capitalise on that.
Final Verdict: 8.2 – It’s not exactly a jumping on point, but if you’ve been following Aaron’s X-Men work there’s no reason for you to have not picked this up.
