Wolverine and the X-Men 27, Ultimate Wolverine 2

Wolverine and the X-Men 27
Aaron (w) and Perez (a) and L. Martin and Milla (c)

After being defeated and tied up by his brother Dog in the last issue, Wolverine spends most of this issue trying to free himself (pretty unsuccessfully) from his constraints. Meanwhile, Dog has unleashed cavemen, cowboys, and robots on the at-risk Jean Grey School students in the Savage Land. The kids all have different causes to think back on things Wolverine told them on the plane ride over; for Evan (Genesis), it's the strength in knowing that you can overcome your upbringing our your destiny. For Sprite, the newly named rocky-skinned, flying student, it's that you don't have to take everything so seriously to be serious. For Shark-Girl, it's that having people to count on doesn't weaken you, it strengthens you. The lessons seem a little trite but it's not so much the lesson that's important, it's the idea of Wolverine giving it. Coming into this arc, he wasn't exactly prime teacher material. He already knew that and all the kids (save maybe Evan) brought on the trip were beginning to believe it too. Now, as they all are able to look back on the advice he gave as they attempt to fight their way through these obstacles, it'll give them a reason to think again. I would expect next issue to see the advice he dispensed to Glob Herman and Eye-Boy, as I think we've already seen his talks with everyone else.
It's a nice bit of character development for everyone. It's particularly necessary to see development from the students who are varied and largely newer student, but it's nice to see the development in Wolverine (however small it may be, given that we already know a fair amount about Wolverine) in the way he handles the students. That's the key to this arc, as demonstrated by Dog's insistence on being the better man and teacher than Wolverine, and the way it's wrapped up will show whether or not the arc worked.  The issue ends with the cavemen, cowboys, and robots deciding to team up against the kids and Dog and Quentin throwing Dog under the bus as he figures out Dog's intent and the fact that it was Dog who displaced everyone from time to bring them here. Quentin starts belittling Dog's plan and Dog, showing his own feral side, snaps and punches Quentin out as the issue concludes. Leaves us in a possibly interesting place going into the next book.

Ultimate Wolverine 2
Bunn (w) and Messina and Erskine (a) and Tartaglia (c)

Jimmy and Black Box make their way to Florida (where one of the research facilities indicated by Wolverine's message lies) and Jimmy makes a quick stop to check in on his parents, the Hudsons. It's a nice little moment as we see the parents actually actively missing Jimmy. He doesn't interact with them or make his presence known and they move on to the facility, which is being watched by Wild Child and a group of security waiting to see if anyone makes a move on the place. Black Box and Jimmy break in and Black Box accesses enough files to understand what Mothervine is. It's essentially a program developed to try to weaponize mutation. This is a plot point that comes up pretty frequently with X-Men books (as it probably would in real life) and maybe even more so in the Ultimate Universe, where it's been discovered that the government created mutants in the first place. Wild Child and his cronies attack, knock out Jimmy, and begin to take Black Box for questioning. Suddenly, everyone in the group (save our heroes) are instantaneously skinned alive. Quicksilver shows up and introduces himself as Jimmy's brother. We get a quick flashback to Wolverine's days trying to take down Mothervine where he runs into (and subsequently makes out with) Magda, Pietro's mother.
I think there are some interesting ideas here and overall the book continues to be solid enough to carry a four book mini-series. Again, I get the distinct sense that it would be overstepping its bounds if it went longer than that so good call by Bunn and Marvel. I did have some trouble with the way both Magda and the sole female member of Wild Child's hit squad were portrayed; Magda appears in a very tight and pretty open outfit with massive breasts and the female security member is the only one on the team who has skin showing. Personal peeve of mine and, as I say in all my Savage Wolverine reviews, I'd prefer it if comics didn't make it so easy for people who find the medium juvenile to prove their points. Otherwise, pretty solid book with a good place to go for the second half of the series. I'll be interested to see what comes of the discovery of Mothervine's true intent and what difference any of it all makes in the long run.