Wolverine and the X-men

     This blog is back! Clawing back from near death just like Wolverine himself. Here's a few basic guidelines I'll try to adhere to while comic ranting.

• Keep it positive. There's enough negativity on the internet. It's almost to easy to hate things. This is about the love of comics.
• Comics. While I might mention a movie or t.v. show, this is all about comic books. 
• Jumping on points. While every comic should be a great starting point, there's often story arcs and crossovers that might make for an awkward start. 

     That being said, this blog was born from a very dark place. X-men Origins: Wolverine. Filled with rage, I did what any American would, went to the internet. I created a blog, and would rant about how terrible these interpretations of comics were. After some web browsing I realized that there was plenty of that already out there. So why not talk about the good parts and share that enjoyment. So there won't really be much smashing, just an incredible amount of geek.

    Wolverine has come and gone from my pull list many times. Jason Aaron pulled me back in with a very gritty interpretation of the character. Aaron was then writing Scalped for Vertigo, an awesomely violent book for fans of crime comics. Aaron's style brought out a Wolverine we hadn't seen in the many team books he appeared in at the time. This led to the biggest surprise with Wolverine and the X-men.
 
Wolverine and the X-men (WatX) was born from Schism, an event where Wolverine stands up to Cyclops on how they should be protecting, not training, young mutants. This leads to Wolvie starting his own school where Xavier's original school once stood. The Jean Grey School for Higher Learning, a new class of mutants taught by the many generations of X-men.

The Wolverine in this book wasn't gritty. He was the exact opposite of what Aaron was writing in Wolverine, and it was awesome. Aaron didn't redeliver what he was already writing. His cast of kids from Schism also brought a unique feel to the book.

Oya or Idie Okonkwo was the student stuck in the middle of Wolverine and Cyclop's squabble. When her powers manifested she unintentionally incinerated her village. Believing herself to be a monster, she wants nothing to do with her powers.

Quentin Quire or Kid Omega is the troublesome youth of the school. Wolverine keeps him at the school to keep a close eye on him.

Kade Killgore is the ongoing antagonist of the series. Genius youth whose father invented the Sentinels. During the events of Schism he manipulates Quire into creating a scene at a politcal summit. Which leads to the young brat becoming the new Black King of the Hellfire Club. Seriously, just go out and read Schism already.

Jason Aaron credits 20 other characters as being main to the title as well. The book is littered with classic X-men like Beast and Iceman as well as fan favorites Kitty Pride and Doop and even unexpected staff members Deathlok and Frog. This large cast leads to lots of character development. Even the staff has learned a lot over these 31 issues. Many characters weave in and out of the other X-men series.

If you're looking to jump onto this title, I'd recommend starting with issue #29. We get a fun glimpse at a possible future of the Jean Grey school while the events of the Hellfire Saga begin. You'll want to jump on there, because the Hellfire Academy is a treasure to read. It's a school of villains! Killgore has gathered most of the villains from this series, and a few others to start training future mutant disasters.

So go out and read Wolverine and the X-men. Jason Aaron is also writing the Thanos Rising mini series and the ongoing Thor, both amazing books worth your attention. Stay tuned for some All New, Superior blogging!

-Smash.