Wolverine and the X-Men #30

    Idie “Oya” Okankwo has been one of my favorite new mutant characters that has been introduced over the past few years of lackluster mutant events.  Her defection in the previous issue, while hard to see, really got me interested in the direction this title is headed, especially with the upcoming “Hellfire Saga” event that issue 30 plays prologue to.  Seriously, I love this girl and I love her story arc.  From the decisions Cyclops may or may not have forced her into making during the events of Schism that lead to the deaths of several Hellfire henchmen to her further breakdown over her encounter with the Hellfire Club’s staged church, I love it all.  I can’t wait to see where this story takes her.

    Choices play a big role in this title.  The effects of the various choices the characters have made over the past few years since the Schism event fractured the X-Men and brought Wolverine into the role of headmaster as the Jean Grey School are beginning to come to light.  This issue works wonderfully as a prologue to the big event.  Several dangling plot threads are brought together, and just enough information is given to the reader to really whet one’s appetite for what’s to come.  

Of the choices I’m talking about, most center around the character of Quentin “Kid Omega” Quire.  Wolverine chose to give Quire his 32nd chance after the chaos he caused several years ago.  Quire has chosen to continue playing the heel in the Jean Grey School, despite his almost altruistic desire to save Idie.  Earlier in the series, there was a flash forward of sorts to show a grown Quire in a leadership role with the X-Men.  I really hope this is what comes to be, as I enjoy the character and want to see him redeem himself from his earlier characterization as a troublemaker with delusions of grandeur.  However, I hope those delusions don’t go away.  I love his hubris and think it works with the character.  Some other writers have handled it clunkily, but Jason Aaron handles it in stride.  I could write an entire article just on Quire and his actions in this issue, but that’s a topic for another time.

    Pasqual Ferry is a welcome addition the Wolverine and the X-Men family.  His pencils are great.  For what may be the first time in the series, I’m truly seeing the students as the kids they are.  It’s sometimes easy to forget when things get heavy, but these are a bunch of fourteen to sixteen year olds running around with these incredible powers and emotions.  

    Aaron is assembling an impressive roster of former villains that the Jean Grey School has faced throughout its existence, all under the banner of the Hellfire Academy.   I won’t spoil the surprises, but you see some familiar faces and meet the traitor that has been the Hellfire Club’s inside man at the Jean Grey School.  I’m really happen with the direction things are headed, as the past few months of installments in this series have been very mediocre.  There are a lot of good things to be said about this issue, but there are some drawbacks that I’d like to call out.

    The plotline with Broo is getting stale.  I understand its necessity, as his assault and changes really are part of the catalyst that is pushing Idie into making the decisions she is, but it seems like the only reason it is there is to further the plot.  X has to happen to Broo so Y and Z eventually happen.  It’s a tried and true formula, but I’d like to see something a little more original out of Aaron.  The Hellfire Club itself has my attention, but I’m really hoping they do something with it very soon.  They’ve been not-so-quietly in the background of events, manipulating and pushing the buttons of Wolverine, but I need more action.  Kade Kilgore’s assault on Broo was only a few issues ago, but it’s already becoming stale.  I’m hoping the Hellfire Saga starts off with a bang.  The future Wolverine in the previous issue teased some sort of upcoming siege regarding the Hellfire Academy, and I’m hoping it’s big.  I want to see big things out of this title.  The past two arcs with Frankenstein’s circus and Wolverine’s brother in the Savage Land were ok stories at best.  I want great, and I’m hoping that’s where we’re headed.