Wolverine & the X-Men #15

I’m sort of upset that I passed on Jason Aaron’s X-Men run for so long. This is a really strong title. There is a Claremontian-level of subplots going on here, including some relationship between Husk and Toad (gross!), this weird Brood kid, and Angel being a student and de-aged. What? I haven’t felt this lost in an X-book in years! That’s not even mentioning that Iceman and Shadowcat are going to go on a date? Huh?

I just started reading this title for AvX, so I’m admittedly way behind. But Aaron has some nice plots for us too. This new Warbird is one of my favorite new characters, and after Gladiator dismisses her here, I assume she’ll be sticking around the book full-time? She’ll be a nice addition. I also love Kid Gladiator, so I have to hope he’ll be back too. (Unless he’s going to factor in Bendis’ new Guardians title or something).

I love the merging of the two kid teams too, with Generation Hope enrolling in the Jean Grey Academy. It makes sense to put all these kids in one place again. I don’t know the Generation Hope folks at all (just checked out the trade, though) so any exposure has got to help.

And the high point of the book, picking up on Wolverine’s task for Iceman at the end of Schism. Wolvie wanted someone around to tell him when he was acting like a jerk, and it sure looks like Iceman is excelling in the role.

The art is a tad uneven. Some characters look great (Wolverine, Iceman), but others look a tad strange and off-model (Hope, Rachel Grey). In fact, upon close inspection, I think Jorge Molina is struggling with his female characters. Their heads are too rounded and they all look too young. Not awful, just a tad odd.

Good