Written by Jason Aaron
Illustrated by Nick BradshawWolverine & Kid Omega go to an intergalactic casino to win enough money to keep the Jean Grey School going!
Space.
Casino.
Do I need to say more? Okay, I guess I do. Follow the cut!
I’m conflicted when it comes to Wolverine and the X-Men. In a time when the superhero genre seems to be far too obsessed with taking itself seriously, it aims to be an exciting book that doesn’t rely on too much melodrama – though, of course, you can’t write an X-Men book without at least a little bit of that. At the same time, I do agree with fellow reviewer Patrick Tobin when he claims that the book’s driving concept seems to be “”stuff happens, because stuff is cool.” To put it simply, Wolverine and the X-Men comes off as a slightly more grown-up Saturday morning cartoon, aiming to entertain primarily through wacky events and action, but with the occasional bit of character-driven drama. It’s a matter of style over substance, but not necessarily in a negative way.
If Jason Aaron does just want us to alternate between chuckling and gasping, he’s doing a good job of it. Very few of the jokes in this issue fall flat, unlike a couple earlier issues – except for anything uttered by Kid Gladiator, who only needed six issues to become the most annoying and unfunny character in the entire X-Men franchise. The idea of Wolverine and Quentin Quire pulling a number on an outer space casino looks great on paper, and Aaron makes it just as fun as it sounds. The dialogue is snappy and the characterization solid, and even though the plan goes just as well as one would expect (spoiler: not at all), it’s still fun to watch the madness unfold. The more “serious” segment of the story, set in the Jean Grey school and in Kitty’s belly, isn’t quite as entertaining, but it is hardly boring. Kitty’s chase scene is intense and exciting, especially compared to the comparatively dull action sequences occurring within her.
As much as I love Chris Bachalo, I am convinced that Nick Bradshaw fits the previously-mentioned feel of a grown-up Saturday morning cartoon that this series has. I don’t mean to degrade Bradshaw’s work in any way by calling it “cutesy” or anything patronizing like that, but even though both he and Bachalo have stylized artistic styles, Bradshaw’s work just has a light tone to it that Bachalo has to work to achieve – not that Bachalo can’t do lighthearted, just that it isn’t the natural state of his art. I have heard a few people complain about the way that Bradshaw draws Wolverine, saying that he isn’t gruff or gritty enough, but even though this book is also written by Aaron, it’s not like this is the solo Wolverine title. One might argue that Bradshaw’s Logan should just be a tad more intimidating, but that’s hardly a reason to knock his work in general – his characters and backgrounds are detailed (especially when he gets to let loose with the alien planet of Sin), and his sequential storytelling is top-notch. I swear, comic fans get hung up over the silliest things sometimes.
To use one of those reviewer’s terms that get thrown about so much that they hardly mean anything at this point, this is a fun series, and this issue is even more fun than those preceding it. As fun as it is, though, that’s about all this series has going for it. So far, it’s about as deep as a kiddie pool – which, I need to insist, isn’t a bad thing! Not every story needs to probe the difficult aspects of human nature; all that is really necessary is that the characters and events remain interesting. The danger with a straight “fun” comic, though, is that more pressure is put on the creators to make sure that they don’t falter in either of those departments. If they don’t, their “fun” comic will quickly just become stupid… or, worse, boring.
I wonder how things would be if Brian Wood was writing the main ongoing seriously and Jason Aaron was writing a fun and silly companion miniseries. Hmm…
Final Verdict: 7.3 – Buy it, but it isn’t a priority.
