Review: Wolverine First Class #4

One of the best comics going around at the moment is Wolverine First Class. It is a telling of how the close relationship that Kitty and Logan have evolved, from Kitty’s first days at the Xavier School. It’s funny, it’s cute, and above all, it gives you the insight in to their relationship it promises.

However the sales are not justifying its quality, with only 22,000 sold for issue 3. It’s a pity, because it is a book I want to continue reading.

Wolverine First Class #4
COVER BY: ALAN DAVIS, MARK FARMER, & PAUL MOUNTS
WRITER: FRED VAN LENTE
PENCILS: SALVADOR ESPIN
INKS: SALVADOR ESPIN
COLORED BY: GURU-EFX
LETTERED BY: SIMON BOWLAND

I will say though that, as much as I love the interplay between our two heroes, the last story they were placed in was a little bit weak! I’m not certain if talking animals is a historical part of the X-verse that I’m not aware of, but “The Last Knights of Wundagore” storyline was not the most inspired, in my opinion; despite its ability to put Kitty and Logan in a situation hitherto untold.

I would give you a rundown of the last issue, but the inside cover does that well enough for me. It’s in tone with the whole story being told; it’s quippy, quick, and quite nice.

The story, written by Fred van Lente, shows us Kitty, now transformed in to a cat creature (funnily enough), having to defend the people of Wundagore, animals who have been evolved to human intelligence, walking on two legs, and about to be overrun by some unhappy evolved animals. There is a great scene where she is being fitted with her armor, and just as the helmet is put on, her eyes tell the whole young-Kitty story; “Oh my gosh, what the HELL is happening!”

Wolverine has, for no apparent reason, run off. He believes it is because someone took the anger and rage out of him, but that isn’t true by the end of the book, so I’m not 100% certain why he ran. It is a thoroughly un-Logan thing to do, and worked only to allow Kitty the leading role for awhile.

There’s a great battle sequence, in which Kitty makes full use of her new highly evolved cat-like skills. We knew that Kitty – the older Kitty – had some mad skills and was pretty fearless in her own right, however now we get to see a measure of that evolving early on. As I said, this book is about telling the stories of two of our favorite characters, and it is doing so.

There’s another battle in which Kitty leads a bunch of “herbivores and scavengers” to victory, the loss of a new friend, and the return of angry but, surprisingly un-lethal, Logan. By the end, everything is back to normal, including Kitty’s humanity, and the book ends on another nice moment between the pair, Logan once again acting the put-out weird uncle.

The art in this book, drawn by Salva Espin, is … all I can say of it is it is cute. There are moments when you feel like your reading a My Little Pony story and others where it is the X-Men artwork you want for a book of this caliber. The definition of the characters, the movement, and the colors – done by Guru-EFX – are really something special.

Overall, this book gets 3 out of 5 for story and 4 out of 5 for artwork. I really do suggest you go out and pick this book up, especially if you are a Kitty and/or Logan fan. But even if you just like good, clean and fun comics, this is definitely one for you!