Wolverine and the X-Men #6

By: Jason Aaron (writer); Nick Bradshaw (pencils): Walden Wong, Jay Leisten, Norman Lee and Cam Smith (inks); Justin Posner and Matthew Wilson (colors)

The Story: Wolverine and Kid Omega reenact Rain Man while Kitty acts as the Thunder Dome.

What’s Good: Man, this series is solid. What can I say now that I haven’t said before? Jason Aaron continues to deliver spectacle, drama, comedy, compelling characters and witty dialogue. Nick Bradshaw delivers truly staggeringly rich and detailed pencils. Justin Posner and Mathew Wilson color this issue in exactly the kinds of lively and vibrant colors you want in a book about a school for mutants.

In this issue, we find Logan’s plan to keep the school in the red is to take Quentin Quire to a space casino and cheat the system by counting cards. Not exactly the best way to instill that moral fiber Quire pretty desperately needs, but it’s cool to see Wolverine putting the kid to use rather than treating him like a perpetual time bomb. And while Quire whines enough early in the issue, he acclimates to the gambler’s life quickly, and it’s actually really fun to watch him have so much fun.

The other part of our story deals with the assassination attempt at the school, as the would-be killers go on a rampage both inside and outside Kitty Pryde’s body. The art is really the star of this part of the story, managing the pacing deftly and keeping the storytelling straightforward without pulling off any gimmicks. Kitty manages to be vulnerable, capable, and formidable all at the same time, and her insides make for a fantastic coliseum for the forces of good and evil to do battle.

What’s Not Quite As Good: I know that’s more qualifiers than we normally use, but there’s nothing about this issue that’s truly “not good.” With that said, the inks on this issue are weaker than they’ve ever been. If you look up the credits, you’ll see that four inkers worked on this issue, which could typically lead to some really inconsistent-looking pages, but the team manages to make this issue look surprisingly uniform. The only downside is that the way they seem to have managed this uniformity is by apply minimal inking throughout. This isn’t really much of a downside though, since the strength of Bradshaw’s pencils is enough to carry the art, but it does cause this issue to be oddly flat when compared to other issues of the book.

Other problems are truly minor. I really enjoyed the Planet Sin pages, but I would have liked to see a little more creativity at play. This issue is introducing the very concept of a casino planet; it could have been anything! But instead it’s just Las Vegas, with aliens. There’s nothing wrong with that, exactly, and there’s a cheesy enjoyment to be had in it. But I would have hoped aliens had more interesting games than blackjack and craps.

Conclusion: This series is so consistently good, I’m actually considering dropping it from my review list. How many times can I say, “Wow, this is soooo good!” before it gets boring? Maybe I’ll start looking around for another, more inconsistent book so there’s more to talk about. Regardless, this is a fantastic book, and if you’re not following it, you’re missing out.

Jumping on point: No, but I wouldn’t let that stop you from picking up this issue anyway. This series is great, and there’s enough to like here to keep you from getting worked up about some confusion over the plot.

Grade: A-