Wolverine and the X-Men #1 by
Jason Aaron &
Chris BachaloI've long been an X-Men fan but always struggled to get into the comics, but a post-Big Event relaunch -- including renumbering flagship title
Uncanny X-Men for the first time -- seemed a good jumping on point.
But, leading out of such a Big Event, is it actually new-reader friendly (which, really, a #1 issue should always be, I think)?
Pretty much, yes. There are references to the past and it's building out of previous events, so there's some reading between the lines / online research / just accepting it for a new reader to do, but the fact it's
such a Fresh New Start for the characters makes it more accessible.
As a story, it's an interesting one. It's essentially one long establishing sequence, introducing the new school, a raft of characters and their current relationships. Still, there's a new villain to contend with at the end. The artwork is very cartoony, which suits the narrative tone perfectly -- I guess we'll see how it fits with good ol' fashioned superheroics in future issues.
CBR gave this issue 4.5 stars, which feels more or less right -- it doesn't really go anywhere, but it's a lot of fun.
Uncanny X-Men #1 by
Kieron Gillen &
Carlos PachecoHere's the other half of the new X-Men universe, then, featuring a team of Grown-Ups led by Cyclops (whereas Wolverine is headmaster of a school in the classic X-Men mould -- quite where Professor Xavier fits into all this I don't know. I'd assume he was dead or something, as that's The Kind Of Thing They Do In Comics, but he turns up in
Wolverine and the X-Men so...)
This is more of a standard superhero book than
Wolverine and the X-Men (unfortunately the existence of a solo
Wolverine title, as well as a straight
X-Men title, makes handy abbreviation impossible), with the group fighting a big battle against a big enemy with traditional realistic art. It may be less distinctive therefore, but it's more than solid -- this time
CBR's review is 4 stars, which also feels right.
In conclusion, I'll be keeping both of these books on for the time being -- like I said, I like the X-Men and I want to see where this is going. The references to the past also intrigue me, so I'm considering digging into recent X history too. But knowing comics, the handful of references probably cover complex storylines stretching back over the last decade, so we'll see about that one.
