Writer: Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir
Artists: Carlo Barberi (p), Wayne Faucher and Juan Vlasco (i)
Publisher: Marvel Comics
The Plot:
As a rampaging Avalanche is brought down by a mysterious figure, we see when the X-Men arrive they recognize this mysterious motorcycle riding rebel. As we jump back to the X-Academy we learn the mystery hero is Rahne Sinclair (aka. Wolfsbane), and her look and personality have undergone a drastic change. We then see the young cast members are encouraged by Rahne to leave the grounds to look for the young mutant who accidentally attacked a person who worked at a local coffee shop.
The Good:
I still find the younger cast of this book to be a bit dull, as nothing about them really jumps out as all that interesting, but I will say a good first step is to get them away from the school where there's a better chance of them of involving them in an adventure. I mean I'm not reading this comic for its exploration of teenage angst, as frankly Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir seem to be of the mind that they are exploring unexplored terrain as they offer up plot dynamics that been in play since the advertisers became aware teenagers have a wealth of disposable income, and the television networks responded by creating dramas with teenage casts. Yes we have the old chestnuts like the girl with a crush on a boy who has eyes for someone else, the young girl who feels unloved by her parents and the rivals who become friends when they realize they have a common enemy in the form of the school's bullies. Now I would mention the introduction of drugs in the final pages but it does look like they have decided to do something interesting with the idea as the final comments by the electricity generating mutant managed to catch my attention. While I'm not happy with the new Rahne, I do like the fact that she does appear to be a means to get the younger cast members off the Academy grounds. I also have to say I did enjoy the opening action sequence, though do I have to wonder why Avalanche decided to go on a seemingly pointless rampage in the middle of a city with a ridiculously high super-hero population.
Carlo Barberi turned in some wonderful work over on "Impulse" so I'm glad to see he's found a new home as this book's new regular artist (at least until the Reloaded creative changes hit the X-Titles), and I have to say his art makes for a solid match with this book's young cast. The characters are nice and expressive. The panel where we see Laurie is clearly not paying attention in class nicely captures where her attention is really centered, and I have to say I loved her big smile when Josh agrees to go to lunch with her. As for Rahne's new look I will say the art does a pretty good job of visually selling the character's new attitude, as our first look at the character is more than enough to tell us this isn't the old Rahne, who was deeply conflicted when she was called upon to wear a party dress. The art also does a nice job of filling the backgrounds with fun visuals, with the scene outside being a particularly fun example as we see the sky is full of mutants blasting around. The final panel of this issue also does a nice job selling the idea that this young mutant has no control over her power.
The Bad:
This issue brings Rahne Sinclair (aka. Wolfsbane) back into the cast, and I was left wondering why they didn't simply bring in a new character to play the role of the book's cool teacher. I mean essentially the book has dropped her personality, her powers and her appearance has changed so much that she's practically unrecognizable. Even the connection between Dani and Rahne has been dropped so in essence we've been given a completely new character, and we're being asked to accept her as the old Rahne. Now I'd be prepared to do so if the book hadn't been so dismissive of all the elements that would've earned her original fanbase, as the quickest way to sour me on the changes you're making to a character is to disrespect the work that had been done by previous writers who had worked on the character. I mean this book doesn't explain how she lost her powers, except to say that they simply faded away, and when it comes to explaining her wholesale personality change, we're supposed to be happy with a simple "I've changed". In my book if you're going to change a character to such a drastic degree you owe it to readers to offer up a better explanation. They also don't help their case by resorting to such obvious clichés when it comes to the new personality aspects they've decided to graft on the character as it's almost like they went opened up the big book of obvious character traits, and looked under the heading red hair.
You Catholic Girls Start Much Too Late:
The book opens with a fun bit of action as we see Avalanche (who I must confess I had thought had been ripped apart by Lady Deathstrike), goes on a rampage though the middle of Manhattan, before he's taken down in grand action movie fashion by our mystery hero. The book also manages to hold its cards pretty close to the vest, as I have to say I'd never have guessed it was Rahne, but than again I have to admit I didn't know who the character was until the dialogue actually identified her. In any event the book does manage to get our younger cast members away from the school, and on the trail of a fairly interesting young mutant whose attack on a young woman is sure to make things difficult if our heroes decide to bring her back to the school, and include her as a member of their group. On the other side of the equation though I don't imagine many fans of Wolfsbane will be pleased with this issue as she is nothing like her previous portrayals, even when one takes into consideration the character growth the character under went in the 1990s as a member of X-Factor. Still, perhaps the book will offer up some more insight on her new personality in future issues.
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