Back on top form.
I know I haven’t reviewed this series in a while I like this series it’s not the best series on the shelves but it’s not the worst it would be better if not for the fact that it spent issues 9-18 (apart from issue 17) as AVX tie ins they were good at first and added so much needed depth to the event but issue 12 onwards it got a bit boring and issue 16 served no real purpose at all but I decided to stick around especially with issues 18 heart breaking ending.
Plot
Kitty Pryde and Deathlok are looking for candidates for new teachers and after many candidates appear she in the end chooses Storm. The Jean Grey school kids are helping out people who are affected by the Phoenix force and have lost their home worlds. Wolverine and Rachel Grey are searching for the person who shot Broo and Beast is trying to heal him.
Review
The best part of this series was issues 4-7 they were a lot of fun and are some of my most prized comics in my collection especially issue 4. This issue has the same sort of feel to issue 4 lots going on lots of jokes and fun and features a lot of drama while this issue is similar in tone and structure the stuff that happens is different and still tones of fun and while Nick Bradshaw’s art isn’t everyone’s favourite I think he is very well suited to an issue like this. Also with some much happening it might becoming confusing but it’s well laid out throughout this issue and very easy to understand.
By far the best part of this issue is Kitty Pryde’s attempt at getting a new teacher in; we get all kinds of characters from Blade to Daimon Hellstrom. This is one of the funniest scenes I have ever read in a comic some of these characters only appear for a panel or two but every part of it is funny and totally fits with the characters personality. Some of the best parts of this scene is Kitty Pryde’s reaction and her reaction to some of the characters and what they say some of it is just because of it’s ridiculous what the teacher’s offer is ridiculous but for some characters like Fire Star it just strikes a chord with her as she says that she has a thing for Iceman the reaction is hilarious. The best of these all though is Deadpool he just keeps coming and always funny in every panel. I also liked to see that Spider-man came along trying to see if it was true that Wolverine actually taught here it was nice and very funny. But the outcome was really nice Kitty picking Storm they have had a relations ship for a while and it was nice to see Kitty pick her.
I also liked seeing the Jean Grey School kids help out the Aliens who have been affected by the Phoenix Force what gave this scene a nice feel to it was how Idie brought it back to what happened to Broo. I love Broo he is a great character and I really feel for him but what Idie talked about Broo to Iceman was really nice and gave the scene a bit of Drama to after the light hearted conversation between Quentin Quire and Genesis.
We get a small scene with the Hellfire club in this issue and it is nowhere near as interesting as the rest of this issue the characters themselves have never interested me from their first time they appeared in Schism I could never take them seriously I mean Kids taking down the X-men come on also apart from the opening story arc I never liked the stories they appeared in issue 16 centred on Kade Kilgore and while that issue was well written I didn’t think it was needed and the character didn’t interest me. I realize this is a story about a kids school but kid villains as well that can take them on come on it seems a bit farfetched. The scene with them in detracts from the issue while what they do is interesting I still can’t take them seriously.
Poor Broo Spoilers like I said earlier I love Broo at first I thought he was just a generally cute and adorable character but after the events of issue 7 I really feel for him he can’t escape the fact that he is a carnivorous alien but after issue 18 I nearly cried that final panel was so heart breaking I couldn’t wait to see the next part. I like the fact that we don’t get the question answered in this issue we are left we a few clues as to what’s going to happen but not the whole idea I also loved that final image with him in it was so sad to see.
One of the things that I was surprised by with this series was the relation between Toad and Husk I was never a fan of either character but I like the relation they have developed in this series Toad was always a fairly stupid character but I like him in this their relation is nice and I like to see them both in a relationship I didn’t expect it to happen but thinking about it makes sense.
I also liked the fairly silly scene with Angel in we get some development with his company the scene is very funny and it was good to see Matt Murdock in this scene since it’s always nice to have a guest star appear in a book and I liked what Angel says to Matt since it’s pretty funny. The outcome is very funny and I love to see this decision and the comment by Anole is priceless.
The ending I’m not sure how I feel about it according to Jason Aaron this circus story is inspired by the Classic Chris Claremont John Byrne story (which I actually own the original issues of because I inherited them from my dad) it just seems a bit random to put it in and while this series is light hearted I’d like to see a classic X-villain and not Frankenstein I hope it’s better than it looks.
The art a lot of people don’t like Nick Bradshaw and I can see because of the way he draws faces but he fits an issue like this very well since he knows how to draw facial expressions and he fits the light hearted tone very well also Laura Martin’s colours go very well with the art and some of the panels look very pretty with where the light is coming from especially in the scene with Husk and Toad. I know a few of the panels people have puffy cheeks but only in a few and he fits the books so well and the detail he puts in to the panels it doesn’t bother me so much.
Verdict
This is a huge improvement for the series and this issue is a lot like issue 4 very light-hearted and a lot of fun while this issue is not perfect it would be perfect if not for the Hellfire club scene which was the worst part of the issue this series would be a lot better if not for the Hellfire club I am glad to see this series back on top form and hope it keeps up this quality.
4.5 stars.