Written by Kathryn Immonen
Illustrated by Phil NotoSTRAIGHT OUT OF THE PAGES OF X-MEN AND RIGHT INTO THE JUGULAR! Jubilee is about as far away from the ideal X-Man as it is possible for a 17-year-old minty fresh vampire to be. While the X-Men try to find a way to give her as normal a life as is inhumanly feasible, her decidedly abnormal vampire cravings will not be denied. Between that and her newfound powers, she’s winning the fights but not the popularity contests among most of the other X-Kids. Most…but not all. And just when Jubilee starts to think that there is no place for her anywhere, a group of vampire women make her an offer she can’t refuse. It seems like the perfect solution…unless Wolverine has anything to say about it!
Victor Gischler’s X-Men book has certainly stood of it’s own merits, despite delivering a story initially received quite controversially amongst fans due to the over saturation of vampires in the market at the moment. One of the big effects that came out of the book, however, is that everyone’s favorite 90’s character Jubilee was now no longer a mutant and no longer a human, but now a vampire. With the end of the arc, we’re left with Jubilee in captivity amongst the care of the X-Men, and while Gischler moves on to his second arc, Marvel gives us this side mini to tell the story of what happens next.
So exactly what does happen next? How does the side story play out for the first issue? Find out after the cut.
Sometimes, but not always, stories of this nature aren’t received well. When a huge plot element is given and then ignored in the main title, it often times does not bode well for anything. Gischler certainly has his plans for the X-Men, and while the upcoming Spider-Man arc looks rather good, it’s undeniable that the lack of addressing being put towards Jubilee is a tad upsetting. For a character that is so huge amongst a generation of fans as a recognizable teenager in a world of wonder, the loss of her after M-Day was hit pretty hard. One could almost even fear that it was about to happen again, and that poor little vampire Jubilee would simply be left as an underdeveloped character/story just waiting to be a deus ex machina at a later point in time.
It is with that in mind that the following sentence can be completely understood: thank the comic Gods for Kathryn Immonen and Phil Noto. While that is not given to try and elicit any rampant acts of fanboy-ism, instead it is used to show how surprisingly great the first issue of this mini-series is. Picking up exactly where Jubilee was left at the end of issue #6 of X-Men, the story begins by not only offering a plausible (in comic book world, anyway) cure for Jubilee’s recent case of vampirism, but it also serves to legitimize the need for this mini. This isn’t just a story about the vampires of the Marvel U, this is a story devoted to character. One of the issue that a lot of mainstream comic titles have is that they’ve had a tendency to slouch into arc by arc storytelling (which, by all standards, it looks like Gischler’s X-Men might be). While they might tell entertaining stories, they fail to legitimately develop the characters. Jubilee is a character who has been neglected quite a bit since House of M, and now that she’s back as a relevant entity, someone needs to take the time to work with her – and that’s exactly what this comic does and will presumably do for it’s duration.
So with the first issue, what do we have? We have the reintroduction of the close friendship held between Wolverine and Jubilee, one that was incredibly important in the ’90s, especially in contrast with Wolverine’s other close friendships (which do seem to be falling apart rather quickly lately (sorry, Nightcrawler…)). We’re also given a rather great moment of Jubilee alone at a bar (despite admittedly being 17), reflecting on her old life as a mallrat, past life as a mutant superhero, and current life as a vampire as she’s approached by a mysterious new character who offers her a plausible solution. Jubilee is searching for her place in the world and while she might be a vampire, the story of the lost 17 year old is an all too familiar tale that rings rather true in this story. It’s easy to read Jubilee’s story and see it as a reflection of general angst that is identifiable in the real world, and given the issue’s strong emphasis on character development as opposed to simple plot pushing, it really bodes well for the future of the mini-series. In fact, as opposed to other minis as of late, this could be one of the most relevant stories looking forward in the X-Books, which certainly saves it from the dreaded “long box fodder” so many minis end up eventually taking.
Continued belowKathryn Immonen absolutely shines in this issue. She has quite often proven herself in the Marvel U to fans with an entertaining albeit short run on Runaways, as well as great little minis with Pixie Strikes Back and Heralds, and Wolverine & Jubilee is honestly no different. The issue has a great storytelling pace, putting Jubilee through a bit of an emotional ringer as everyone tries to diagnose her. We get scenes with the ever pessimistic Emma Frost, the ever excited Pixie, and even a good tough talk scene with Logan. Immonen manages to truly get at the heart of the characters and their emotions, really giving off an honest feel to the story. The story moves at a quickened pace, which is obvious due to the length of the mini, but it never feels rushed. Rather, the story and it’s end point feel quite natural in it’s flow, and the issue ends in a spot that really makes you excited for how the next issue will play out. Jubilee herself is in a brand new place in the Marvel U, and Immonen’s incredibly talented hands hold her story quite well as we move out of Gischler’s story – one that focuses on the plot as opposed to the characters – and into one with more emotional resonance.
Of course, half of this is due to who she’s paired up with in this mini – Phil Noto. Noto has a great artistic style that fills the pages up wonderfully, and his character renditions provide ample youth to the various young characters that make appearances, from Jubilee herself to both Armor, Pixie, and Rockslide. Noto has the same great sense of rounding out characters that Paco Medina uses (seen recently in – you guessed it – Gischler’s X-Men!) in a way that artistically outshines that quite wonderful Olivier Coipel cover of the book (see: image at the beginning of the article). Noto also provides all of the art details by himself: pencils, inks, and colors – and this further goes to show the time and effort put into making this book look great. Noto’s use of color especially sets a wonderful pacing for the issue, differentiating the scenes not only between times of day and setting, but also with moods. The darker scenes are filled with darker and colder colors, while other scenes that are more emotional are brighter in scale, even if the content is ultimately as dark as anything else (this is a vampire story after all, in a sense).
It’s not all perfect, as the vampire idea has still generally been worn thin, but that is not exactly Immonen’s “fault” per se. The book carries over some of the “love it or hate it” vibe Gischler’s X-Men book has, but while elements of the story might not seem overtly exciting, it’s eventually the subtext and the strong character development that make the title as enjoyable as it is. In fact, to put it rather simply, this is the first new mini-series of 2011 that honestly feels like it effectively matters (despite “mattering” being incredibly subjective) – and that includes the minis that began at the tail end of last year. Picking up right where X-Men #6 left off and dealing with a story that ultimately needs to be told sooner rather than later, Immonen and Noto have begun to craft a tale here that will assuredly resonate well to fans of Jubilee and/or the X-Men in general. Wolverine & Jubilee ends up succeeding in the same way that Osborn has, and that is by delivering a great character tale that helps fit our lost heroine into continuity and prevents her from being lost in the never ending tidal wave of new stories big franchise comics tell.
If you’ve ever been a fan of Jubilee, or even just a fan of younger/teen characters in comics due to the positive emotional resonance that comes from following the characters, you really need to grab yourself a copy of this issue.
Final Verdict: 9.0 – Buy
