by Jason Aaron (writer) and Nick Bradshaw (artist)
The Story: And so the Hellfire Saga finally comes to an end: not with a bang, but with a jovial, well-spoken mutant.
The Review: Much as the members of the Hellfire Club feared, the siege of Hellfire Academy is over, and now it’s the last chance for both sides to find a way to escape alive. It’s always fun to see where a villain’s loyalties lie and this issue is chock full of that simple sinister pleasure.
Indeed this is a rather reactive issue for our heroes, who merely need to hold onto their victory until the various ne’er-do-wells run out of last resorts. It would be nice to see Wolverine or Storm really taking charge, but the story plays out in its own way.
This final issue of the arc brings many of the series’ twisting plot threads to satisfactory conclusions, however they’re more than a little bit frayed in some cases. Several stories are resolved but lack explanations for how they came to work themselves out. It’s no sin to set up new questions for a series going forward, but some of these come so out of nowhere that it’s hard to find them satisfying. I personally found I’m gonna take a moment to discuss some of these so, just in case my spoiler tags don’t catch your attention, I’d recommend that you skip the next paragraph if you want to experience the issue fresh.
SPOILERS – One of the most notable of these forsaken plots is the ballad of Toad and Husk. While Paige comes around in the end, it’s unclear how or why removing a number of her skin layers apparently resets her to back before she started dating Toad or how the long-suffering janitor knew that this would work. Similarly, though Kade ended last issue with promises that he’s already won, we don’t find out much about his masterstroke, save that he’s “changed the X-Men forever. They just don’t know it yet.” That’s cool, but it would be nice if we, the readers, knew it, as it makes a significant difference to the tone of the issue whether Kade is right or just cracking under the pressure. – END SPOILERS
Nick Bradshaw does an admirable job with the art, this week, but it’s probably fairly familiar to those who’ve followed his work on the title. Quentin Quire and Kade Kilgore are especially well rendered, the struggle and humanity in them shining through their teenaged bravado.
Characters tend to lose a lot of detail as the get smaller, with Rachel Grey probably faring the worst, and, despite being well represented as a whole, Broo’s neck is still monstrously huge.
This issue features an impressive five colorists, but somehow manages to hold onto its visual cohesion. There is one page in the Jean Grey School that’s decidedly weaker than the rest of the issue and it’s really the only page that’s clearly the work of a different colorist. Strangely enough, the linework looks less polished as well. I wonder how much of that is the result of coloring choices.
The Conclusion: Wolverine and the X-Men #35 is a fine conclusion to these past three score issues of this series. Nick Bradshaw and Jason Aaron bring all the skill you’ve come to expect from the series but, unfortunately, the choices made in regards to lingering mysteries don’t sit well, and some characters don’t get the time they deserve.
The hints at what come next are fascinating, and there are plenty of wonderful endings in place but, overall, it doesn’t quite live up to the expectations that last issue instilled in me. WatXM #35 and The Hellfire Saga are solid reads, especially if you’re invested in these characters, but at the end of the day it’s a decent, middle of the road arc that bit off more than it could chew when it compared itself to The Dark Phoenix Saga.
Grade: C
-Noah Sharma