Review: Wolverine and the X-Men #25
Posted By Ian Menard on February 18, 2013
Wolverine and the X-Men #25 continues an X-Men tradition as long and illustrious as their baseball games: a trip to the Savage Land. This time however, rather than responding to an emergency, the trip serves as a team-building exercise for the school’s at-risk students: Quentin Quire, Glob Herman, Genesis, Idie, Broo, and the new recruits. The issue is book-ended by Wolverine’s time-travelling brother, Dog, returning to wreak havoc Logan and his young students.
Issue #25 also returns to one of the previous plot-lines left dangling after Professor X’s murder – the student council election. After Wolverine casts the deciding vote in Quentin Quire’s favor, he challenges Quire to be the leader Xavier saw in him. While Quire initially rebels, he ultimately makes the big rallying speech to his teammates, inspiring them to work together and save the day. Except that this is the first issue of an arc, so clearly that doesn’t happen. Instead, the kids go their separate ways, allowing the reader a deeper view of what drives each of them.
Overall, the Savage Land is a brilliant way to introduce readers to the new characters. It provides an exciting, fun backdrop (complete with dinosaurs) to challenge the newbies and explore their motivations. The added complication with Dog keeps things dangerous, as Wolverine will no-doubt be too busy now to save the kids if they get into trouble. He’s also a relatively unknown quantity, allowing Jason Aaron a great amount of leeway in his portrayal.
Ramon Perez does a great job with the art, as does Laura Martin – though it is decidedly different from her work on Astonishing X-Men or Uncanny Avengers. That being said, the dinosaurs and exotic prehistoric jungle are gorgeous. The facial work is typically fantastic, conveying wide ranges of emotions (these are teenagers after all).
Ultimately, this issue is a great deal of fun. Plots such as Broo’s shooting, Idie’s moral descent, and Quentin’s potential redemption are all explored, as is Genesis’ quest to prove himself. There’s time travelling, dinosaurs, telekinetic shot guns, and feral aliens. There are shadowy threats, teen hormones, and school politics. And of course the school class list in the back is hilarious.
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