FF 3, Gambit 8, Wolverine and the X-Men 24

FF 3
Fraction (w) and Allred (a)

I've never been a big Fantastic Four fan. I understand their history and the importance of their existence to the Marvel Universe and to comics as a whole. Doesn't change the fact I've never been a big fan. Sue was really the only member I regularly felt I couldn't really get anywhere else (science I can get from Spidey or Iron Man or Beast or even Ant-Man, quips and a hothead I can get from Spidey or Wolverine sometimes or Hawkeye or Quicksilver or anyone characterized as young, Thing I can get from...I dunno, other places but REALLY I never needed any), what with the quiet amount of absurd power and the mother aspect. Also in terms of the strained marital relationship and the head of the family business. Look, there are things to like about Sue (and often about Johnny but I didn't NEED to go to the book to find someone like him). What was always unique about this team was that they were a family. I like it in theory, but I've never actually loved it in practice. Even in Hickman's run, which I quite liked, I didn't find myself eagerly picking up each new book. I picked up each new book with a certain level of disdain and of impatience, regardless of how intriguing or well-written it might be.

Fraction's FF and Fantastic Four already feel different. FF, of course, does not focus on the Fantastic Four, rather four different people who are not related in any true way and all, minus Darla, have extensive history in their own way. So yes, that's invigorating right off the bat. But really, I think teamed with Michael Allred's art and Laura Allred's colors, this book feels fresh and new and fun. Right now, in this issue, the new team is dealing with an old Johnny Storm who has returned to Earth to tell the FF that a future/alternate reality Doom, Kang, and Annihilus have teamed up and killed the three other Fantastics and he only barely survived. But as I'm reading this issue and this rendering of the horrible deaths of the F4 (I found Sue trapped in a bubble with water filling it particularly horrifying), I'm still turning the page going "gee this is fun. Gee this is a good comic." So yes, there's plenty I could say here about why each character presents something new to look forward to and everyone has something to prove or atone for, but I'll save that for another day. For now, I'll say that this book is worth picking up (with relative ease, mind you) because it is fun. The stakes are still high, the dangers are still real and looming, the plot is still definitely thickening, but this book is a lot of fun and I don't know why you wouldn't want to read a book just based on that.

Gambit 8
Asmus (w) and Ferry (a)

I honestly don't have much to say about this book. When I finish reading a comic, my head is usually exploding with things I want to say, positive or negative. This one though just kind of existed. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad issue. If you're reading Gambit already you'll probably enjoy it. If you're not but looking to, this issue is a pretty easy way to jump in. It gives you the main feel of everything Gambit has been so far; thief, good guy, saving damsels, showing off abs, Cajun, etc. It's not a bad book. I just don't have much to add. Like I said, it gives the main feel of everything this book has been so far. Even though he's in a new locale and fighting previously unseen villains, nothing about this issue comes as a particular surprise. Gambit is charming, he's trying to rescue some people who no one else would help, he's thinking about the girl he saved before and thinks he should have helped her even more.

This issue, though it's obviously set apart from things he's done already, feels more like a stepping stone to another arc. It's more worrying because this is the first issue of an arc (I would guess a two-part arc, but it could go longer) and it feels already like this is just here to push us to the next arc. I could be wrong. Next issue could be absolutely jaw-dropping, he could take one of these weirdly evolved creatures and keep it as a pet and ride around on it forever and ever (jaw-dropping). But for now, despite the intrigue that could come from this place, it feels like we're meant to care more about what's coming next, which makes it really hard to care about what's happening now.

Wolverine and the X-Men 24
Aaron (w) and Lopez (a)

This is a weird series for me, when I actually sit back and think about it. There's a lot to it in terms of overall plot and dangers (ie the Hellfire Club and crazy Kade Kilgore, ever looming mutant hatred, the hardships of running a school for mutants, various other one-off problems) but most of them come of not feeling real. Even when an issue ended with Broo being shot in the head and lying comatose on a church floor, it didn't feel like a huge weight. I think I tend not to know the mood of the book. It wants to be a fun book, one where everyone has a rapport and hijinks ensue, but also needs to keep the dangerous air of what it is to be involved with the X-Men. When you're trying to have it both ways to too much of an extreme, it kind of falls flat. I couldn't understand the weight of Broo being shot paired with Doop with brass knuckles (no, they weren't EXACTLY paired, but it's the feel of the book overall I'm getting at). Do I think the school would actually run that sort of way, with goofiness and danger in equal parts? Yeah, maybe. That's the weirdest part to me about this series, I can't say it's wrong. I can only say that it doesn't feel right.

In this issue, it's teacher's night. Wolverine is left in charge of the school, which has never happened before, as the teacher's all go out for a night on the town. Kitty and Bobby go on a date, enjoy it, and learn something about, I don't know, having fun while ultimately deciding not to pursue a relationship further. Hank goes to SWORD to see his girlfriend, the always uncomfortable Abigail Brand, but uses the time just to look over records of Brood autopsy's to try to help Broo (still comatose). Quentin Quire has a chat with Jean Grey, though really Wolverine's prime responsibility at the school should be stopping those two from ever meeting. Wolverine and Ororo have a chat about how the school will progress, then he cuts her hair into the mohawk and they make out a bit, despite Black Panther's plea to live happily with anyone except him. Kade Kilgore is working with Sabretooth to learn how to be a better hunter (which is weird, I thought Kade was against all manner of mutant, not just X-Men). And finally, Idie is present while Broo finally wakes up, only to find that he's reverted to violent bloodlust Brood instead of nerd Brood. Like Gambit, this book kind of felt like a stepping stone for what's to come, a necessary issue where they cram a bunch of what would've been side-plots into one big side-plot issue. If you're casually keeping up with Wolverine and the X-Men, you could probably just look at the cover and tell what you need to know about this issue. You'd miss out on some small character moments and some really big eyes, but you'd get the gist.