20 years ago, I’m sure that nobody would have wanted Wolverine to be the leader of an Xmen school. He’s better as a loner right? Well, he may be the Principal at the school, but he’s still a bit of a loner as well. For the most part, he’s not with the school until the end, but on his own hunting for the Hellfire Club.

After Broo was defeated in the last issue, Wolverine has decided to track down his assailant, no matter what the cost. Unfortunately, the kids have psychically shielded themselves and can erase their scents thanks to nano machines. In another plot, Beast is talking to several geniuses about how they can help Broo. Reed Richards and Tony Stark offer solutions, but Beast is always one step ahead of them. I think the author may be overestimating his intellect, or underestimating Stark and Richard’s. It was an interesting subplot, but I always wince when they have to resort to asking someone else. Between Stark and Richard’s, they should know just about everything.

In another plot, Angel decides to go and find some mutants. The first one on the list is Shark Girl. Mystique and Silver Samurai 2 randomly show up and decide to fight. Angel has some new abilities so he does pretty well and Shark Girl has the upper hand against Mystique. For once, things are looking good for the heroes. Finally, in another subplot, Shadow Cat is trying to hire a new teacher, but it becomes difficult when Deadpool and Spiderman appear to shake things up.

Later on, the Xmen get mind controlled by a witch and she forces them to perform circus stunts. I have to say that I don’t agree with this at all. Wolverine has plenty of mental blocks in his head and Rachel Summers is an incredibly powerful telepath. There’s no way that the Witch could overpower that. It was definitely sad for the Xmen and they had to wait for the Xkids to come to their rescue.

Meanwhile Frankenstein’s monster is also on the loose. He’s after the last of the Frankenstein lineage, but can he defeat the kid? The kid has his pet robots, but they aren’t very powerful. The kid must team up with one of the Xmen (Oya) to take him down. Will it prove to be too much for them?

Well, a lot happened in this collection and we learned that you should never trust the Circus. Some characters weren’t handled so well like Mystique and Silver Samurai 2. I usually like the new Silver Samurai, but I couldn’t stand him in this one. His character personality seemed pretty weird and he was very weak. Mystique also seemed to lose most of her intellect and started a battle that she shouldn’t have. She usually has a plan to fall back on, but not this time.

Wolverine is decently good for the beginning, but seeing him get brainwashed was pretty sad. I still don’t buy it. Wolverine tries to stay strong and even resists the beer, (With help) but the ending was pretty rushed. The romance with Storm at the end wasn’t really needed and wrecked both characters. What happened to professionalism? Storm also wasn’t that good in this comic.

So who was a good character? Deadpool and Spiderman were pretty epic, but they were guest stars so I guess they wouldn’t really count. Blade also had a (Very out of character) cameo, which was pretty intense. I have to say that Angel may have been the best character. In this comic, he finally set a goal for himself and he’s using his new powers to their full potential. Now, he doesn’t need to just keep dodging until the opponent gets tired, but counter attack and win with raw power.

I still can’t say that I like the Hellfire Club. None of the kids are very interesting and while they all talk really tough, (Get ready for two kids threatening each other, over and over and over..) I can’t take them seriously. Frankenstein’s Monster isn’t a really interesting villain either.

The art in the comic was decently good. This artist is a “splasher” so when someone gets punched, he’ll immediately have little webs of blood on him. I never fully understood the concept, but the art is still pretty solid for the most part. Not the greatest art, but still a bit higher than average.

Overall, this is a pretty good Xmen comic. It may not be extremely high on action, but you’ll at least get references to AVX and past comics. Angel gets a fight and I’m sure that more fights are around the corner. Contrary to what the cover may suggest, Frankenstein’s monster doesn’t do so well against Wolverine. The character cast may not have been my favorite, but you don’t need to enjoy the characters to like the comic right? Thanks to the art and the fast pacing of the story, you’ll find yourself reading through until the end.

Overall 7/10