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Wolverine and the X-Men (2011)
Wolverine and the X-Men, Vol. 3
Avengers vs. X-Men - but where do Wolverine's loyalties lie? The war between the Avengers and the X-Men has arrived at the doorstep of the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning. The school's headmaster, Wolverine, seeks to keep the students in his charge out of the fight at all costs. But as both an Avenger and an X-Man, it's difficult for him to remain neutral. As his fellow teachers join the fight, and the Jean Grey School draws the attention of some very powerful intergalactic threats, can
Wolverine do what's right for both the school and the Earth? Or will he risk it all by finally choosing a side in the war that's tearing the Marvel Universe apart?
COLLECTING: Wolverine & The X-Men 9-13
Wolverine do what's right for both the school and the Earth? Or will he risk it all by finally choosing a side in the war that's tearing the Marvel Universe apart?
COLLECTING: Wolverine & The X-Men 9-13
112 pages, Paperback
First published October 10, 2012
About the author
Jason Aaron
2,356 books1,707 followersJason Aaron grew up in a small town in Alabama. His cousin, Gustav Hasford, who wrote the semi-autobiographical novel The Short-Timers, on which the feature film Full Metal Jacket was based, was a large influence on Aaron. Aaron decided he wanted to write comics as a child, and though his father was skeptical when Aaron informed him of this aspiration, his mother took Aaron to drug stores, where he would purchase books from spinner racks, some of which he still owns today.
Aaron's career in comics began in 2001 when he won a Marvel Comics talent search contest with an eight-page Wolverine back-up story script. The story, which was published in Wolverine #175 (June 2002), gave him the opportunity to pitch subsequent ideas to editors.
In 2006, Aaron made a blind submission to DC/Vertigo, who published his first major work, the Vietnam War story The Other Side which was nominated for an Eisner Award for Best Miniseries, and which Aaron regards as the "second time" he broke into the industry.
Following this, Vertigo asked him to pitch other ideas, which led to the series Scalped, a creator-owned series set on the fictional Prairie Rose Indian Reservation and published by DC/Vertigo.
In 2007, Aaron wrote Ripclaw: Pilot Season for Top Cow Productions. Later that year, Marvel editor Axel Alonso, who was impressed by The Other Side and Scalped, hired Aaron to write issues of Wolverine, Black Panther and eventually, an extended run on Ghost Rider that began in April 2008. His continued work on Black Panther also included a tie-in to the company-wide crossover storyline along with a "Secret Invasion" with David Lapham in 2009.
In January 2008, he signed an exclusive contract with Marvel, though it would not affect his work on Scalped. Later that July, he wrote the Penguin issue of The Joker's Asylum.
After a 4-issue stint on Wolverine in 2007, Aaron returned to the character with the ongoing series Wolverine: Weapon X, launched to coincide with the feature film X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Aaron commented, "With Wolverine: Weapon X we'll be trying to mix things up like that from arc to arc, so the first arc is a typical sort of black ops story but the second arc will jump right into the middle of a completely different genre," In 2010, the series was relaunched once again as simply Wolverine. He followed this with his current run on Thor: God of Thunder.
Aaron's career in comics began in 2001 when he won a Marvel Comics talent search contest with an eight-page Wolverine back-up story script. The story, which was published in Wolverine #175 (June 2002), gave him the opportunity to pitch subsequent ideas to editors.
In 2006, Aaron made a blind submission to DC/Vertigo, who published his first major work, the Vietnam War story The Other Side which was nominated for an Eisner Award for Best Miniseries, and which Aaron regards as the "second time" he broke into the industry.
Following this, Vertigo asked him to pitch other ideas, which led to the series Scalped, a creator-owned series set on the fictional Prairie Rose Indian Reservation and published by DC/Vertigo.
In 2007, Aaron wrote Ripclaw: Pilot Season for Top Cow Productions. Later that year, Marvel editor Axel Alonso, who was impressed by The Other Side and Scalped, hired Aaron to write issues of Wolverine, Black Panther and eventually, an extended run on Ghost Rider that began in April 2008. His continued work on Black Panther also included a tie-in to the company-wide crossover storyline along with a "Secret Invasion" with David Lapham in 2009.
In January 2008, he signed an exclusive contract with Marvel, though it would not affect his work on Scalped. Later that July, he wrote the Penguin issue of The Joker's Asylum.
After a 4-issue stint on Wolverine in 2007, Aaron returned to the character with the ongoing series Wolverine: Weapon X, launched to coincide with the feature film X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Aaron commented, "With Wolverine: Weapon X we'll be trying to mix things up like that from arc to arc, so the first arc is a typical sort of black ops story but the second arc will jump right into the middle of a completely different genre," In 2010, the series was relaunched once again as simply Wolverine. He followed this with his current run on Thor: God of Thunder.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 111 reviews
June 30, 2015
3.5 stars
Well, it's rare that my friends an I all agree on anything about comics, but the AvX event brought us all together!
It was hideous.
And it was everywhere for a while. Wolverine and the X-men was, unfortunately, no exception. But you've gotta give Arron props for not letting it totally ruin this volume. Sure, there's a lot of bloated crap between the X-men & the Avengers, but this title managed not to make me heave the entire contents of my stomach into the nearest toilet.
Aaron somehow manages to retain some of the humor of the usually lighthearted title, while still pressing forward with this craptastic event.
If you've read any of the other AvX tie-ins, you know what it's about. If not, then the easiest way to describe it is by saying it's just another poor excuse to have mash-ups between all the characters in the Marvel universe.
For example: Iceman vs Red Hulk!
Aaron also manages to show the inner struggle Wolverine is having by being (basically) the go-to guy to put an end to Hope if she goes rogue.
However, the choppiness towards the end (due to crossover madness) makes this one a bit hard to follow.
2 stars for AvX.
5 stars for Aaron's formidable effort not to write crap.
I think 3.5 stars is a fair rating for this volume.
Well, it's rare that my friends an I all agree on anything about comics, but the AvX event brought us all together!
It was hideous.
And it was everywhere for a while. Wolverine and the X-men was, unfortunately, no exception. But you've gotta give Arron props for not letting it totally ruin this volume. Sure, there's a lot of bloated crap between the X-men & the Avengers, but this title managed not to make me heave the entire contents of my stomach into the nearest toilet.
Aaron somehow manages to retain some of the humor of the usually lighthearted title, while still pressing forward with this craptastic event.
If you've read any of the other AvX tie-ins, you know what it's about. If not, then the easiest way to describe it is by saying it's just another poor excuse to have mash-ups between all the characters in the Marvel universe.
For example: Iceman vs Red Hulk!
Aaron also manages to show the inner struggle Wolverine is having by being (basically) the go-to guy to put an end to Hope if she goes rogue.
However, the choppiness towards the end (due to crossover madness) makes this one a bit hard to follow.
2 stars for AvX.
5 stars for Aaron's formidable effort not to write crap.
I think 3.5 stars is a fair rating for this volume.
June 4, 2014
When I was younger, a local TV station would air movies in the afternoon, which was fine, but they cut the movie down to an hour in order to fit it into the allotted time frame. As a result, you had characters who came out of nowhere, plot lines that just died, and dialogue that made no sense whatsoever. This was my training ground for reading big Marvel crossover events.
This volume is part of the AvX mega-storyline in which the Avengers go toe-to-toe with the X-men for control of Hope, a mutant, who will soon bond with the fast approaching Phoenix Force. The Avengers want to prevent the Phoenix Force from reaching Earth, but certain X-men welcome it, as it would usher in a new golden age for mutants. Wolverine is caught in the middle. Throw in the Shi’ar Death Commandos, who want to kill the Phoenix host and Warbird, who likes to draw pretty pictures with crayons and you have the gist of it. Was that so hard?
Trying to piece this puzzle together based on a single volume is difficult. You have jumps in continuity (Weren’t we taking a trip to the moon). Fights that take place in one panel (This is just cruel). Some of the X-men suddenly are using red colored dialogue and they now have glowing eyes (Did the pollen index go up?) It wasn’t until I started the next volume in this series that the latter was explained.
Damn these crossover events!
Stuff I couldn’t fit into the main body of the review because I’m lazy Department:
Doop, (he’s green and looks like a booger with eyes) is now the receptionist at the X-School. Why? His dialogue, which most people can’t understand, is about as indecipherable as the Rosetta Stone.
Creepy Toad is now the school janitor.
Wolverine (“You have five minutes, Slim”) and Cyclops have a heated debate which stretches over pages. Just what this comic needs.
This volume is part of the AvX mega-storyline in which the Avengers go toe-to-toe with the X-men for control of Hope, a mutant, who will soon bond with the fast approaching Phoenix Force. The Avengers want to prevent the Phoenix Force from reaching Earth, but certain X-men welcome it, as it would usher in a new golden age for mutants. Wolverine is caught in the middle. Throw in the Shi’ar Death Commandos, who want to kill the Phoenix host and Warbird, who likes to draw pretty pictures with crayons and you have the gist of it. Was that so hard?
Trying to piece this puzzle together based on a single volume is difficult. You have jumps in continuity (Weren’t we taking a trip to the moon). Fights that take place in one panel (This is just cruel). Some of the X-men suddenly are using red colored dialogue and they now have glowing eyes (Did the pollen index go up?) It wasn’t until I started the next volume in this series that the latter was explained.
Damn these crossover events!
Stuff I couldn’t fit into the main body of the review because I’m lazy Department:
Doop, (he’s green and looks like a booger with eyes) is now the receptionist at the X-School. Why? His dialogue, which most people can’t understand, is about as indecipherable as the Rosetta Stone.
Creepy Toad is now the school janitor.
Wolverine (“You have five minutes, Slim”) and Cyclops have a heated debate which stretches over pages. Just what this comic needs.
December 20, 2012
Goddammit, I hate “Avengers Vs. X-Men” so much! Like a black hole of shit, it’s managed to suck in one of the Marvel U’s brightest stars and cover it in its crap. That means this once charming series now has that awful “AVX” logo on it and the funny, creative stories are replaced with the soulless tedium of superheroes beating on each other. It’s soooooo horrendously boring.
Most of the book is taken up with both side’s leaders, Captain America and Cyclops, approaching Wolverine to join their ranks. Phoenix is on its way (again) and the last time it appeared, Logan had to kill it so they’re expecting it to play out the same way again. Having read “Avengers Vs. X-Men”, the main story arc, I know Logan doesn’t play nearly as big a role as its made out in this book so reading this with Cyclops/Cap both stating their boring cases, page after page, was immensely dull. Then there’s some arbitrary fighting, and that’s basically the book for 4 of the 5 issues.
The final issue unexpectedly and brilliantly delves into the backstory of a character who’s remained on the periphery of this series – Warbird, Kid Gladiator’s Shi’Ar Elite body guard. She’s an unlikely choice to be the focus in the midst of a group made up of colourful personalities but Jason Aaron does a fine job giving her a personality, an intriguing backstory, and detail on the Shi’Ar homeworld. Beautifully drawn by Nick Bradshaw who is quickly becoming the best artist in this series, outshining Chis Bachalo’s freewheeling kinetic style.
In keeping with the series’ tone, this book has moments of levity and humour in between the overly serious, incredibly overbearing (overboring?) AVX storyline. But the event manages to derail the series’ playful and interesting story threads to the side so Aaron and co. are forced to address it constantly. Some nice moments and a decent final issue aside, “Vol 3” is an unfortunate victim of Marvel’s latest godawful event. Here’s hoping normal service resumes soon.
Most of the book is taken up with both side’s leaders, Captain America and Cyclops, approaching Wolverine to join their ranks. Phoenix is on its way (again) and the last time it appeared, Logan had to kill it so they’re expecting it to play out the same way again. Having read “Avengers Vs. X-Men”, the main story arc, I know Logan doesn’t play nearly as big a role as its made out in this book so reading this with Cyclops/Cap both stating their boring cases, page after page, was immensely dull. Then there’s some arbitrary fighting, and that’s basically the book for 4 of the 5 issues.
The final issue unexpectedly and brilliantly delves into the backstory of a character who’s remained on the periphery of this series – Warbird, Kid Gladiator’s Shi’Ar Elite body guard. She’s an unlikely choice to be the focus in the midst of a group made up of colourful personalities but Jason Aaron does a fine job giving her a personality, an intriguing backstory, and detail on the Shi’Ar homeworld. Beautifully drawn by Nick Bradshaw who is quickly becoming the best artist in this series, outshining Chis Bachalo’s freewheeling kinetic style.
In keeping with the series’ tone, this book has moments of levity and humour in between the overly serious, incredibly overbearing (overboring?) AVX storyline. But the event manages to derail the series’ playful and interesting story threads to the side so Aaron and co. are forced to address it constantly. Some nice moments and a decent final issue aside, “Vol 3” is an unfortunate victim of Marvel’s latest godawful event. Here’s hoping normal service resumes soon.
March 20, 2019
Normally, Wolverine and the X-Men is a solid Jason Aaron series from the time when he was still putting in the effort into writing his Marvel books. This particular volume, however, is not a good example of that, because midway through the story it gets hijacked by the abysmal Avengers vs X-Men crossover. It's not Aaron's fault, but he had to tie his series into that senseless, meaningless beat-em-up mess, and the result is not great. Granted, Aaron still tried to squeeze as much out of a bad situation as possible by giving certain characters some genuine moments, but the overall story was still a disjointed mess. It also didn't help that Chris Bachalo's artwork was at his absolute worst here, completely unintelligible and near-impossible to follow. On the other hand, Nick Bradshaw's art on two out of five issues collected here was gorgeous as always, and was a breath of fresh air after Bachalo's muddy scribbles. Overall, a disappointing volume.
August 29, 2014
God, I hate AvX. It's a shame that Wolverine and the X-Men had to get tangled up in it, but there was really no way around that. This series in particular is very tied up in the events of the main AvX series, which makes this really hard to follow unless you've read the main series recently. I read it recently enough that I was basically able to follow along, but it's a major weakness. That said, Aaron does his best with what he has to work with. And believe it or not, the various positions actually make a bit more sense here than they did in AvX itself. I still wonder why Cap didn't think it was important to talk to Rachel, former Phoenix host, though.
December 8, 2021
This was a fun volume and is pretty much tie-ing into AvX.
Cyclops has gone lethal and the X-Men have to deal with it and we see how that looks like and well honestly its fun like with shifting allegiances in the beginning with Bobby and Rachel and them on the hunt for hope but Logan is not gonna let them have her and it becomes a big tussle and back and forth and I love how Gladiator gets involved looking for his son and then some emphasis on warbird and that last page was a shocker and changes so many things for good!
Its a dark turn for sure but then again I like how the consequences of an event like that are being played out here and not forgotten. Also the art was a big weird throughout and one might even say uneven and that becomes a bit distracting but regardless an one time okayish read.
Cyclops has gone lethal and the X-Men have to deal with it and we see how that looks like and well honestly its fun like with shifting allegiances in the beginning with Bobby and Rachel and them on the hunt for hope but Logan is not gonna let them have her and it becomes a big tussle and back and forth and I love how Gladiator gets involved looking for his son and then some emphasis on warbird and that last page was a shocker and changes so many things for good!
Its a dark turn for sure but then again I like how the consequences of an event like that are being played out here and not forgotten. Also the art was a big weird throughout and one might even say uneven and that becomes a bit distracting but regardless an one time okayish read.
March 12, 2022
Another boring Marvel tie-in. I already have my problems with the Avengers vs X-Men storyline and the portrayal of many of my favourite characters, and this suffers from the same issues. Fight scenes for the sake of 'epic superpower beatdowns', bad characterisations, and a plot that serves to waste your time with bloated filler. I can't wait to get to the part where Aaron isn't chained down by Marvel crossover continuity and for this series to be fun again.
January 9, 2013
My review will be spotty as I'm reading this interleaved with the rest of the Avengers vs. X-Men event books.
Glad to see Aaron doesn't lose his touch on this book - still with the comedic touches, and softening up some of the characters who could use a little softening. The confrontation between Scott and Logan reads much more heartfelt than the mainline story - still a bit posture-y, but not terribly obvious or repetitive. Aaron seems to get Scott and Logan's motivations better than most, and does a good job of illustrating them both with this outreach buy Scott - each trying hard to show they understand each other. It's also interesting to see Aaron is the only writer so far who has asked an all-too-important question: if the Phoenix just destroys worlds, why hasn't it just done so with Earth on all the previous occasions?
The fighting is a little pedestrian, but it's better than that in much of the rest of the event by virtue of the art and Aaron's touches of humour. Rachel Summers' internal struggle is well thought out, and Warbird's horror at what she used to be (and how it affected her upbringing) is fascinating. Frankly though, one of the funniest moments is Kid Gladiator trying to pick up Thor's hammer.
So is this book better without the AvX storyline? Probably. OTOH, Aaron does the second-best job (next to Kieron Gillen) at handling the forced premise and making it work for his book and characters. I'm less frustrated with the event in reading Aaron's contributions here.
Good solid writing and great art.
Glad to see Aaron doesn't lose his touch on this book - still with the comedic touches, and softening up some of the characters who could use a little softening. The confrontation between Scott and Logan reads much more heartfelt than the mainline story - still a bit posture-y, but not terribly obvious or repetitive. Aaron seems to get Scott and Logan's motivations better than most, and does a good job of illustrating them both with this outreach buy Scott - each trying hard to show they understand each other. It's also interesting to see Aaron is the only writer so far who has asked an all-too-important question: if the Phoenix just destroys worlds, why hasn't it just done so with Earth on all the previous occasions?
The fighting is a little pedestrian, but it's better than that in much of the rest of the event by virtue of the art and Aaron's touches of humour. Rachel Summers' internal struggle is well thought out, and Warbird's horror at what she used to be (and how it affected her upbringing) is fascinating. Frankly though, one of the funniest moments is Kid Gladiator trying to pick up Thor's hammer.
So is this book better without the AvX storyline? Probably. OTOH, Aaron does the second-best job (next to Kieron Gillen) at handling the forced premise and making it work for his book and characters. I'm less frustrated with the event in reading Aaron's contributions here.
Good solid writing and great art.
January 10, 2017
When it was being published monthly, Wolverine and the X-Men was one of the best books out there, almost side by side with Rick Remender's Uncanny X-Force for this reader. Part of it success could be attributed to the strong writing and deft handling of teen characters by writer Jason Aaron, and the rotating art team of Chris Bachalo and Nick Bradshaw. Now those artist couldn't be more different, veteran Bachalo utilized a thicker line and made for more expressive figures, while the relative newcomer Bradshaw had a finer line and crisper details to his. Bachalo handled the first arc and Bradshaw the second. Now, the first arc was one of the best drawn Aaron stories, but Bradshaw made his arc his breakthrough work and place himself into the consciousness of X-fans everywhere.
This third volume is essentially a Bachalo arc in the time of war (AvX), but the lone Bradshaw chapter made this reader wish that there was more of it in this collection. This volume ties into AvX and that hijacked the direction of this book, which was a shame. Still there are a few gems and that one that shines the brightest is the solo secret Warbird origin story illustrated by Bradshaw. That chapter alone rated five stars for this reader.
This third volume is essentially a Bachalo arc in the time of war (AvX), but the lone Bradshaw chapter made this reader wish that there was more of it in this collection. This volume ties into AvX and that hijacked the direction of this book, which was a shame. Still there are a few gems and that one that shines the brightest is the solo secret Warbird origin story illustrated by Bradshaw. That chapter alone rated five stars for this reader.
October 5, 2018
I felt like the overall story jumps around too much. The artwork by Bachalo is still very good and suits the story however, too many characters and too many plotlines which dont have the greatest linear direction.
August 8, 2013
This 3rd Volume of the new series is heavily involved with the Avengers vs. X-Men storyline. Since Wolverine is a member of both teams, kinda puts him in a very tough spot. The philosophical arguments between Cyclops and he, and then he and Cap are interesting, and give the story some serious gravitas. Oh and there's a LOT of fighting...interesting for sure, but you can tell this is meant to fit into the bigger event than to stand alone as it's own part of this series.
Funny how in this one, Cyclops seems like the nutjob, and Wolverine seems like more of a voice of reason than anyone else in the battle for Hope and to keep the Dark Phoenix at bay.
Always cool to see other characters cross over.
Funny how in this one, Cyclops seems like the nutjob, and Wolverine seems like more of a voice of reason than anyone else in the battle for Hope and to keep the Dark Phoenix at bay.
Always cool to see other characters cross over.
January 26, 2015
This review originally appeared on my blog, Shared Universe Reviews.
One of the big problems with modern superhero comics is that titles are often interrupted, almost on an annual basis, with the latest crossover event. For the uninitiated, crossovers are the summer blockbusters of comic books. The stories are often the product of a company’s top writer, top artists, top colourist, top everything else and it’s usually a pretty addition to any of the contributor’s body of work. Crossovers often involve a company’s most famous and beloved characters fighting one other and to be quite honest, few of them even work as a sustained narrative and even less of those are any good. One exemplary exception to this is Final Crisis but that’s a blog post for another time. The biggest problem I have with crossovers is that they take far too much space for what they’re worth. For stories that are one dimensional, they sure find a way to seep into every other comic on the stands making those comics, even the very good ones, nothing but a dreary mess.
This is relevant to Jason Aaron’s tenure on Wolverine and the X-men because after the first 8 issues that introduced us to the school and the casts, Marvel editors deemed it necessary to give us ten tie-in issues to their Avengers vs. X-men crossover. That’s ridiculous! It’s even more ridiculous when you consider that the crossover itself is only twelve issues long. I’ve read Avengers vs. X-men and I can’t say it’s a comic I’d like to read more of if I didn’t have to so when it’s invading the very same comic that brought me so much joy, I start to worry.
Who's fighting who and for what
reason? Find out in another comic!
As expected the third and fourth volumes of Wolverine and the X-men wasn’t as good as the first two. Not only did I have to suffer somebody else’s story invading the great little comic Aaron’s given us, but it’s not even given to me in a coherent way. The crossover is mostly just one on one fights between a member of the Avengers and someone of the X-men. Most of the AVX pages in Wolverine and the X-men are composed of static images of different fight scenes. There’s nearly no narrative element other than the caption boxes Aaron inserts to try and give it some weight and meaning. What saves these issues is that Aaron keeps the story rolling by intercutting these mandatory AVX scenes with what’s happening at the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning. The momentum is cut by half but things are still happening. The fact remains that in order to fully understand and enjoy the AVX portions (if that’s even possible), you would have to read both titles concurrently or, at the very least, read AVX first.
Aaron and his team of artists actually make some worthwhile comics. The art is good all around but it’s not as great a quality as it was in the earlier volumes. Bachalo’s art looks rushed in some parts of volume 3 and Bradshaw doesn’t contribute any issues to volume 4. Jorge Molina steps in on art duties and he gets the job done. Hi style is nowhere as detailed or energetic as Bachalo or Bradshaw but the characters are all recognizable. I’m not a big fan of his style though and his characters often look stiff. It was nice to have at least one issue drawn by one of the regular artists on the title. Issue #17 is drawn by Mike Allred and that’s always a treat especially because the issue featured Doop, a character he co-created with Peter Milligan in the pages of X-force.
Despite the fact that Avengers vs. X-men got in the way, volumes 3 and 4 of Wolverine and the X-men are good comics. Some long time questions are answered (what does Doop do, exactly?) and Aaron gives us a good look at the challenges of being a teacher a school for mutants (quasi mental breakdowns and all). We also get some nice character development for the villains he introduced in X-men: Schism, the new Hellfire Club. Warbird, an alien bodyguard from the Shi’ar Empire, also gets to have a spotlight issue amidst the superhero fights scenes of AVX. I have to admit, the fact that Aaron is able to juggle his shared universe responsibilities by featuring bits of the storyline from AVX as well as continuing to write the most entertaining superhero books on the stand is an impressive feat. It’s too bad he had to write about AVX at all. Here’s hoping the next volume tightens up the focus on the Jean Grey school and captures the magic of the first eight issues.
One of the big problems with modern superhero comics is that titles are often interrupted, almost on an annual basis, with the latest crossover event. For the uninitiated, crossovers are the summer blockbusters of comic books. The stories are often the product of a company’s top writer, top artists, top colourist, top everything else and it’s usually a pretty addition to any of the contributor’s body of work. Crossovers often involve a company’s most famous and beloved characters fighting one other and to be quite honest, few of them even work as a sustained narrative and even less of those are any good. One exemplary exception to this is Final Crisis but that’s a blog post for another time. The biggest problem I have with crossovers is that they take far too much space for what they’re worth. For stories that are one dimensional, they sure find a way to seep into every other comic on the stands making those comics, even the very good ones, nothing but a dreary mess.
This is relevant to Jason Aaron’s tenure on Wolverine and the X-men because after the first 8 issues that introduced us to the school and the casts, Marvel editors deemed it necessary to give us ten tie-in issues to their Avengers vs. X-men crossover. That’s ridiculous! It’s even more ridiculous when you consider that the crossover itself is only twelve issues long. I’ve read Avengers vs. X-men and I can’t say it’s a comic I’d like to read more of if I didn’t have to so when it’s invading the very same comic that brought me so much joy, I start to worry.
Who's fighting who and for what
reason? Find out in another comic!
As expected the third and fourth volumes of Wolverine and the X-men wasn’t as good as the first two. Not only did I have to suffer somebody else’s story invading the great little comic Aaron’s given us, but it’s not even given to me in a coherent way. The crossover is mostly just one on one fights between a member of the Avengers and someone of the X-men. Most of the AVX pages in Wolverine and the X-men are composed of static images of different fight scenes. There’s nearly no narrative element other than the caption boxes Aaron inserts to try and give it some weight and meaning. What saves these issues is that Aaron keeps the story rolling by intercutting these mandatory AVX scenes with what’s happening at the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning. The momentum is cut by half but things are still happening. The fact remains that in order to fully understand and enjoy the AVX portions (if that’s even possible), you would have to read both titles concurrently or, at the very least, read AVX first.
Aaron and his team of artists actually make some worthwhile comics. The art is good all around but it’s not as great a quality as it was in the earlier volumes. Bachalo’s art looks rushed in some parts of volume 3 and Bradshaw doesn’t contribute any issues to volume 4. Jorge Molina steps in on art duties and he gets the job done. Hi style is nowhere as detailed or energetic as Bachalo or Bradshaw but the characters are all recognizable. I’m not a big fan of his style though and his characters often look stiff. It was nice to have at least one issue drawn by one of the regular artists on the title. Issue #17 is drawn by Mike Allred and that’s always a treat especially because the issue featured Doop, a character he co-created with Peter Milligan in the pages of X-force.
Despite the fact that Avengers vs. X-men got in the way, volumes 3 and 4 of Wolverine and the X-men are good comics. Some long time questions are answered (what does Doop do, exactly?) and Aaron gives us a good look at the challenges of being a teacher a school for mutants (quasi mental breakdowns and all). We also get some nice character development for the villains he introduced in X-men: Schism, the new Hellfire Club. Warbird, an alien bodyguard from the Shi’ar Empire, also gets to have a spotlight issue amidst the superhero fights scenes of AVX. I have to admit, the fact that Aaron is able to juggle his shared universe responsibilities by featuring bits of the storyline from AVX as well as continuing to write the most entertaining superhero books on the stand is an impressive feat. It’s too bad he had to write about AVX at all. Here’s hoping the next volume tightens up the focus on the Jean Grey school and captures the magic of the first eight issues.
March 17, 2014
I'm sure this book would have been just as great as the last if it hadn't been forced into the AVX crossover bullshit. A few milliseconds of character development/power evolution aside, it was just a drawn out chase and replaying of the exact same ethical dilemma I've already read in other books with the same characters. I.e., should hosts of the Phoenix be killed before they're allowed to wipe out worlds? But isn't this the exact same problem X-Force just faced when they decided to let Genesis (potential Apocalypse) live and go to the Jean Grey School? Anyway, this might have earned 2 stars, but I dropped it to one because I hate when the big bosses at the Big Two fuck up good things with overhyped events.
January 9, 2018
Gee, thank you for that confusing art, Bachalo. The more dynamic the scene, the more the angle is skewed to make everything as muddled as possible. I wish there were no fights in this arc, but it's X-Men, so...
The Phoenix Force has returned and is destroying one world after another on its way to Earth. The Avengers and the X-Men believe that Hope is going to be its next host and the two teams don't agree on how to handle this. The Shi'Ar also have protocols to deal with this event and they won't shy away from killing the potential host to save the universe from the Phoenix Force. The chase is on.
The Phoenix Force has returned and is destroying one world after another on its way to Earth. The Avengers and the X-Men believe that Hope is going to be its next host and the two teams don't agree on how to handle this. The Shi'Ar also have protocols to deal with this event and they won't shy away from killing the potential host to save the universe from the Phoenix Force. The chase is on.
December 5, 2012
As an X-baby from the 80's, the last 10 years or so of these books has made me extremely miserable. I think that with each year, and with each crisis, the writers and architects behind them justify the action less an less with story and make it glaringly obvious that they want to lead the sales for the next 6 months or so. When Schism came to pass, I thought we would have some issues settled and each of the teams could flesh itself out for a bit and find a footing. I was wrong.
But Aaron's WATXM was the book out of Schism that I thought had enormous potential and that I felt really good about. There's even Bachalo on art chores to make it even more like the original Generation-X book. And I really loved the first 5 issues. The second volume floundered and now here we are at what is inevitably the tie-ins to the completely unnecessary Avengers vs X-Men 12 issue (12?! Really?!) crossover and although we get two heartfelt issues in this volume, the rest just becomes a muddled montage of unnecessary super fights. What can you really get out of a 2 page fight between Red Hulk and Iceman? Nothing. It just fills the time. That's what the tie-ins to AVX are, filler. Disappointing at best.
Aaron- I know they're running you ragged. But there's too much gold here for you to mine to just gloss over everything and leave out all the substance. If you can't get to the heart of the book, hand it off to someone else.
Grade: C
But Aaron's WATXM was the book out of Schism that I thought had enormous potential and that I felt really good about. There's even Bachalo on art chores to make it even more like the original Generation-X book. And I really loved the first 5 issues. The second volume floundered and now here we are at what is inevitably the tie-ins to the completely unnecessary Avengers vs X-Men 12 issue (12?! Really?!) crossover and although we get two heartfelt issues in this volume, the rest just becomes a muddled montage of unnecessary super fights. What can you really get out of a 2 page fight between Red Hulk and Iceman? Nothing. It just fills the time. That's what the tie-ins to AVX are, filler. Disappointing at best.
Aaron- I know they're running you ragged. But there's too much gold here for you to mine to just gloss over everything and leave out all the substance. If you can't get to the heart of the book, hand it off to someone else.
Grade: C
August 2, 2013
Not much I can write that other people haven't. The biggest flaw is that within those middle chapters where the story is hindered by A vs. X, the stories just sort of jump around through time and become randomly episodic. The big travesty is that those pretty Bradshaw issues are impacted most. He is so much better at illustrating and telling a story than Bachalo. Now I have to wade through another rotation of artists until Bradshaw draws a couple more issues. Hopefully they will be written better. Could these issues have been done without the crossover? Would it still make sense if they skipped it?
April 7, 2014
AvX.
Soooooooo boring.
While I enjoyed the main AvX series (mostly), I am over the big hyped crossover events. Cash grabs and they mostly just annoy the hell outta me. I wish the big marvel events would just stick to their own series instead of forcing me to read titles that I am not normally a part of.
Anyways...
Nothing to see here, move along.
October 20, 2012
In Aaron We Trust.
May 10, 2013
First issue is great. Artwork continues to hold up and you see how Logan has to split his time between his teams and his past and present. You can tell this is ramping up to be intense and Logan is ready for it. One particularly great moment happens between Idie and Logan, something we haven't gotten for a while. They're a great duo and it's one of those rare moments when Logan is totally humanized where you see that he's a good guy wanting to make it a better world for these kids. Motives set, action can commence.
From there, it's really all side story and not quite as active as the main AvX storyline. It's all solid, and Bachalo's art really makes this book stand out above the rest. The stories are average, but it gives some nice little spotlights to some other characters. Again, it's amazing seeing Wolverine going through the steps to become this generation's Charles Xavier.
That said, there are some less than perfect moments. For example, the issue with Logan and Hope was solid and had some high points, but the fact that the two of them took out the entire team hunting Hope in just a few panels really fell flat for me. On one hand, I get that it's supposed to reflect just how powerful Hope is, but on the other it seemed like a bunch of hype in the other issues for something without much payoff. Still, a solid read and the Jean Grey School will keep this book in my top 5 for quite awhile (until Bachalo switches books...I'm not looking forward to this new artist after AvX is over...).
From there, it's really all side story and not quite as active as the main AvX storyline. It's all solid, and Bachalo's art really makes this book stand out above the rest. The stories are average, but it gives some nice little spotlights to some other characters. Again, it's amazing seeing Wolverine going through the steps to become this generation's Charles Xavier.
That said, there are some less than perfect moments. For example, the issue with Logan and Hope was solid and had some high points, but the fact that the two of them took out the entire team hunting Hope in just a few panels really fell flat for me. On one hand, I get that it's supposed to reflect just how powerful Hope is, but on the other it seemed like a bunch of hype in the other issues for something without much payoff. Still, a solid read and the Jean Grey School will keep this book in my top 5 for quite awhile (until Bachalo switches books...I'm not looking forward to this new artist after AvX is over...).
May 30, 2013
It was kind of a hot mess, artistically and plot wise, until the last two issues where Aaron finally amped up the emotion and made me care about the characters--as opposed to the "AvX" crossover. And if there's one thing I learned, it's that when Jason Aaron wants you to care about a character you WILL care about said character. Unfortunately,though, he was too busy balancing the mess that was the "AvX" crossover and didn't hit his emotional stride until the last two issues of the collection.
Also, Chris Bachalo's art produces instant anxiety. My zoloft intake shoots through the roof with his anime esq, read everything diagonally story-telling. It's not my taste--anxiety, that is. Thankfully, Nick Bradshaw shows up and brings me back to the 90's with his simple, yet engrossing, storytelling. There's just something about his art that reminds me of the classic "X-Men Adventures" cartoon that I can't resist.
Nostalgia: The Opium of the Masses
Overall, a decent volume, if only for the last two issues and Bradshaw's artwork.
Also, Chris Bachalo's art produces instant anxiety. My zoloft intake shoots through the roof with his anime esq, read everything diagonally story-telling. It's not my taste--anxiety, that is. Thankfully, Nick Bradshaw shows up and brings me back to the 90's with his simple, yet engrossing, storytelling. There's just something about his art that reminds me of the classic "X-Men Adventures" cartoon that I can't resist.
Nostalgia: The Opium of the Masses
Overall, a decent volume, if only for the last two issues and Bradshaw's artwork.
November 12, 2012
This is the problem with reading a title that's part of an "event" (Avengers vs. X-Men, in this case) without having access to the main "event" book - all of the sudden there are multiple (5?) Phoenixes and I have no idea what happened to cause that. It's like having a favorite character that died several years ago, and now you're reading a comic book and suddenly that character is just there, no explanation as to how he's back or what's going on. I actually gave this book 5 stars to begin with, but that "suddenly 5 Phoenixes" thing really got to me and I had to mark it off for that. Otherwise a really good book that deals with the whole Schism issue on a huge scale.
August 27, 2014
The good thing about this Avengers vs X-Men is that Aaron is terrifically writing a conflicted Wolverine, who hates Cyclops, doesn't want to fight in front of the students, and doesn't want a repeat of Jean's death, among other feeling a and issues.
That plus aside, the best part of this volume is the Warbird-centric issue at the end. The students, for the most part, aren't as three-dimensional as the teachers in this series, but this issue does a great service to this newer minor character by shining the spotlight on her.
That plus aside, the best part of this volume is the Warbird-centric issue at the end. The students, for the most part, aren't as three-dimensional as the teachers in this series, but this issue does a great service to this newer minor character by shining the spotlight on her.
July 31, 2017
This one was all over the map. It is basically part of the set up to the latest time the Phoenix was coming to Earth. Luckily it didn't include a reprint of all the silly X-Men versus Avengers pointless battle crap. It did have some small tidbits that were pretty good - Logan with Hank, Logan with Scott, Logan with Hope, Angel figuring out who he was. But in the end there really wasn't much substance to this one. And still too much Avengers on X-Men and X-Men on X-Men pointless and uninteresting violence.
April 3, 2013
This volume starts off as great as what came before it, with some terrific single issues highlighting the place of Wolverine’s school in the AvX crossover. Issues #11-12 weaken a bit, as they end up depending too much on AvX, but then the last issue is great against, thanks to its focus on Warbird, one of many peoples that Aaron introduced to the school.
Overall, a pretty great book despite the over-crossover-itis (but not quite as good as the last volumes because of it).
Overall, a pretty great book despite the over-crossover-itis (but not quite as good as the last volumes because of it).
May 10, 2013
I realize my to-be-read pile is out of control what with my recent vacation and me placing all my (then unread) library books at the top of the pile, but it's very odd how volume 2 and 3 release only some 3 weeks apart.
This wasn't as great as I'd hoped because it's a tie in to a big, epic event of which I could care less. Artists Chris Bachalo and Nick Bradshaw trade off drawing duties every other issue.
This wasn't as great as I'd hoped because it's a tie in to a big, epic event of which I could care less. Artists Chris Bachalo and Nick Bradshaw trade off drawing duties every other issue.
February 24, 2015
One of those stories that you can pick up and, even though the arc is well formed, you can jump right in. Without missing a beat, you realise which characters are doing what, who is who in the zoo and understand the different motivations behind certain decisions. A fun adventure, with some serious (for the characters at least) implications.
May 21, 2015
At least the crossover fights didn't last too long. If there was ever a good case for executive editing, the AvX would have been a good choice.
Otherwise, I focused all my attention on the school, and all was right in the world. Quentin is getting cool. Who knew? I'm also loving the others. Poor hank is so overworked.
Otherwise, I focused all my attention on the school, and all was right in the world. Quentin is getting cool. Who knew? I'm also loving the others. Poor hank is so overworked.
May 14, 2021
I never get the superheroes fighting thing, but this at least touches on the complexity of the issue they're facing and demonstrates (most) everyone's reluctance, so that makes me feel better about the whole thing.
But honestly, it's the last story in this from Warbird's POV that is getting five stars because yowza, that was some great storytelling.
But honestly, it's the last story in this from Warbird's POV that is getting five stars because yowza, that was some great storytelling.
August 20, 2014
Impressive. Jason Aaron manages to put his goofy take on the X-universe through the requisite mega-crossover grinder, and he never breaks the tone of his series once. That's an achievement. kudos.
March 13, 2015
Pretty good just a little hard to follow sometimes just like all comics
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