Wolverine and the X-Men 11
Well…that was disappointing.
Wolverine and the X-Men has been thoroughly enjoyable so far. Despite the extinction that mutant kind faces, this book manages to feel lighthearted and fun. Often, it’s even hilarious. This issue is more serious than previous issues, although that’s not a bad thing. The problem is that this AVX tie in feels both unfocused and late.
The main story is about Wolverine and Hope on their way to the moon. It tries to justify Wolverine’s actions in Avengers vs. X-Men 4 and does a fairly decent job. In the main event however, everyone reached the moon two weeks ago and the next issue releases next week. That’s not the main problem with this issue though.
The rest of this issue just feels unfocused. The advertised fight between Iceman and Red Hulk lasted a whopping two pages with no real conclusion. Kid gladiator gets a few pages at the start and randomly shows up at the Iceman Hulk fight at the end. Gladiator shows up on the final page, and there are a couple distracting pages that take place at the school.
It’s fine that this book isn’t focusing on the school since X-Men Legacy is doing that, but try to narrow your book to one or two plots per issue at the most. Especially when it’s a tie-in for an event, too many side-plots are distracting. They’re supposed to show a specific part of an event and insight into characters’ actions, not show us a bit of everything. Maybe the Gladiator/Kid Gladiator pages are setting up for the next issue where Kid Gladiator fights all the Avengers, but in this issue it feels unnecessary.
The artwork is good and fits the comic well, but it’s not enough for me to recommend this issue. Unless you want to see how Jason Aaron justifies Wolverine’s actions, this issue isn’t worth it. It’s still better than the main event has been so far.
X-Men Legacy 267
Like I said in the last review, X-Men Legacy is primarily focusing on the Jean Grey School and how Avengers vs. X-Men affects it. This issue is an all-out brawl between the school staff and a group of Avengers characters. This issue also brings back classic Rogue as she takes them all out.
Legacy is easily the best X-Men book of the week (that I’ve read), if only to see Rogue use her powers like they used to work. The other fights in the issue are pretty good as well – Gambit nearly beating Iron Man and holding his own against Moon Knight. The team doesn’t really work as a team however, and that’s a problem with this book. The art is fairly good as well. Apart from the bland and oddly coloured backgrounds, characters and objects in the environment are well detailed and the action flows nicely.
The next issue promises to showcase Frenzy, and after this awesome slugfest I’m looking forward to that. Rogue is at her best here and most of the other X-Men are good enough to back her up. Sure, the Avengers besides Iron Man were taken down easily, but that’s how Rogue’s powers work. This issue is an easy recommendation if you like Rogue, whether you’re reading AVX or not. It’s not without problems, but it’s still better than WATXM 11.
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