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Wolverine and the X-Men (2011)
Wolverine and the X-Men, Vol. 7
Students at the Jean Grey School are missing, and a furious Wolverine and Rachel Summers intensify their search for the all-new Hellfire Club. Meanwhile, Beast goes to the S.W.O.R.D. orbital HQ to ask an X-Villain for help with Broo's sad state - but nothing ever goes as easily as the X-Men hope. The storyline that's been building for over a year is finally, explosively here! The Hellfire Saga begins now!
Collecting: Wolverine and the X-Men 30-35
Collecting: Wolverine and the X-Men 30-35
136 pages, Paperback
First published November 12, 2013
About the author
Jason Aaron
2,351 books1,702 followersJason Aaron grew up in a small town in Alabama. His cousin, Gustav Hasford, who wrote the semi-autobiographical novel The Short-Timers, on which the feature film Full Metal Jacket was based, was a large influence on Aaron. Aaron decided he wanted to write comics as a child, and though his father was skeptical when Aaron informed him of this aspiration, his mother took Aaron to drug stores, where he would purchase books from spinner racks, some of which he still owns today.
Aaron's career in comics began in 2001 when he won a Marvel Comics talent search contest with an eight-page Wolverine back-up story script. The story, which was published in Wolverine #175 (June 2002), gave him the opportunity to pitch subsequent ideas to editors.
In 2006, Aaron made a blind submission to DC/Vertigo, who published his first major work, the Vietnam War story The Other Side which was nominated for an Eisner Award for Best Miniseries, and which Aaron regards as the "second time" he broke into the industry.
Following this, Vertigo asked him to pitch other ideas, which led to the series Scalped, a creator-owned series set on the fictional Prairie Rose Indian Reservation and published by DC/Vertigo.
In 2007, Aaron wrote Ripclaw: Pilot Season for Top Cow Productions. Later that year, Marvel editor Axel Alonso, who was impressed by The Other Side and Scalped, hired Aaron to write issues of Wolverine, Black Panther and eventually, an extended run on Ghost Rider that began in April 2008. His continued work on Black Panther also included a tie-in to the company-wide crossover storyline along with a "Secret Invasion" with David Lapham in 2009.
In January 2008, he signed an exclusive contract with Marvel, though it would not affect his work on Scalped. Later that July, he wrote the Penguin issue of The Joker's Asylum.
After a 4-issue stint on Wolverine in 2007, Aaron returned to the character with the ongoing series Wolverine: Weapon X, launched to coincide with the feature film X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Aaron commented, "With Wolverine: Weapon X we'll be trying to mix things up like that from arc to arc, so the first arc is a typical sort of black ops story but the second arc will jump right into the middle of a completely different genre," In 2010, the series was relaunched once again as simply Wolverine. He followed this with his current run on Thor: God of Thunder.
Aaron's career in comics began in 2001 when he won a Marvel Comics talent search contest with an eight-page Wolverine back-up story script. The story, which was published in Wolverine #175 (June 2002), gave him the opportunity to pitch subsequent ideas to editors.
In 2006, Aaron made a blind submission to DC/Vertigo, who published his first major work, the Vietnam War story The Other Side which was nominated for an Eisner Award for Best Miniseries, and which Aaron regards as the "second time" he broke into the industry.
Following this, Vertigo asked him to pitch other ideas, which led to the series Scalped, a creator-owned series set on the fictional Prairie Rose Indian Reservation and published by DC/Vertigo.
In 2007, Aaron wrote Ripclaw: Pilot Season for Top Cow Productions. Later that year, Marvel editor Axel Alonso, who was impressed by The Other Side and Scalped, hired Aaron to write issues of Wolverine, Black Panther and eventually, an extended run on Ghost Rider that began in April 2008. His continued work on Black Panther also included a tie-in to the company-wide crossover storyline along with a "Secret Invasion" with David Lapham in 2009.
In January 2008, he signed an exclusive contract with Marvel, though it would not affect his work on Scalped. Later that July, he wrote the Penguin issue of The Joker's Asylum.
After a 4-issue stint on Wolverine in 2007, Aaron returned to the character with the ongoing series Wolverine: Weapon X, launched to coincide with the feature film X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Aaron commented, "With Wolverine: Weapon X we'll be trying to mix things up like that from arc to arc, so the first arc is a typical sort of black ops story but the second arc will jump right into the middle of a completely different genre," In 2010, the series was relaunched once again as simply Wolverine. He followed this with his current run on Thor: God of Thunder.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 84 reviews
August 26, 2023
A Hellfire Club run by a 12 year old! Jokes with grade school humour! Mystique, Sabretooth, Sauron etc. working for a 12-year old! Had Marvel lost it's mind? 3 out of 12, Two Stars just for Idie (Nigerian mutant), Quentin, Husk and Toad's journeys.
2018
2018
June 3, 2016
“Mommy, I had too much cotton candy and I’m feeling sick. Can I get off the donkey now?”
Jason Aaron stayed on the donkey that is Wolverine and the X-Men one too many trips around the petting zoo. From Frankenstein’s Big Top Circus to Dog Logan and now this, The Hellfire Academy.
This volume seemed to go on for an eternity; spinning its plot wheels over and over again, with Aaron’s sense of humor the only thing keeping me turning the pages.
The kiddie Hellfire Club has been an ongoing plot line in this series since Stan Lee was in diapers (the baby kind). They’ve now opened the Hellfire Academy to rival the Jean Grey School, attracting mutant kids who are bent on world domination. In every school, the faculty mirrors the curriculum.
Idie and Quentin Quire (nobody really cares too much about Glob Herman) end up in the school (for reasons) and it’s up to Wolverine and assorted X-Men to rescue them.
A meditation on Snot
Back in the giddy and halcyon 1990’s, Marvel had to sell the movie rights to most of its characters to a variety of film studios in order to stay in business. Today, Marvel has the rights to most of their characters but Fox has the X-Men/mutants and they are still churning out movies of variable quality and raking in the dough. If the comics division creates any new mutant characters, it’s fodder to appear in a Fox film. I’m speculating here, but it seems that Aaron and Marvel created Snot, a character with a truly nauseating ability, in order to dare the greedy folks at Fox to create a cinema version - Snot sneezes, his mucus incapacitates the now booger-ridden foe. Rinse off and repeat.
Fox, get Snot in the next X-Men movie. Get your marketing divison to do some sort of tie-in with the folks at Kleenex. Snot can appear on tissue boxes – the ones that include Aloe and are gentle on the nose.
Do it! Put Snot in a movie!
Double dog dare you Fox!
Bottom line: This title stopped being recommended reading years ago. Aaron is amusing but what kind of masochist wants to slog through pages of X-crap for the jokes?
Hey, it’s a refrigerator joke foryou Green Lantern fans Anne.
Jason Aaron stayed on the donkey that is Wolverine and the X-Men one too many trips around the petting zoo. From Frankenstein’s Big Top Circus to Dog Logan and now this, The Hellfire Academy.
This volume seemed to go on for an eternity; spinning its plot wheels over and over again, with Aaron’s sense of humor the only thing keeping me turning the pages.
The kiddie Hellfire Club has been an ongoing plot line in this series since Stan Lee was in diapers (the baby kind). They’ve now opened the Hellfire Academy to rival the Jean Grey School, attracting mutant kids who are bent on world domination. In every school, the faculty mirrors the curriculum.
Idie and Quentin Quire (nobody really cares too much about Glob Herman) end up in the school (for reasons) and it’s up to Wolverine and assorted X-Men to rescue them.
A meditation on Snot
Back in the giddy and halcyon 1990’s, Marvel had to sell the movie rights to most of its characters to a variety of film studios in order to stay in business. Today, Marvel has the rights to most of their characters but Fox has the X-Men/mutants and they are still churning out movies of variable quality and raking in the dough. If the comics division creates any new mutant characters, it’s fodder to appear in a Fox film. I’m speculating here, but it seems that Aaron and Marvel created Snot, a character with a truly nauseating ability, in order to dare the greedy folks at Fox to create a cinema version - Snot sneezes, his mucus incapacitates the now booger-ridden foe. Rinse off and repeat.
Fox, get Snot in the next X-Men movie. Get your marketing divison to do some sort of tie-in with the folks at Kleenex. Snot can appear on tissue boxes – the ones that include Aloe and are gentle on the nose.
Do it! Put Snot in a movie!
Double dog dare you Fox!
Bottom line: This title stopped being recommended reading years ago. Aaron is amusing but what kind of masochist wants to slog through pages of X-crap for the jokes?
Hey, it’s a refrigerator joke for
September 21, 2015
3.5 stars
A big improvement over the last volume, so I'm feeling a bit better about this title again. Dog Logan makes a cameo, but his particular brand of crazy doesn't hijack the plot this time around. He's a professor at the Hellfire Academy along with several other villains, which makes this volume feel like a reverse of the (volume 5, I think?) one where Kitty was interviewing teachers.
Well, now we get introduced to the Bad Guy's version of what a mutant academy should be like.
Anyway, the main gist of it is that Idie has taken off to infiltrate the Hellfire Club in order to find out who shot Broo...and then kill 'em.
Quentin Quire (in lurve with Idie) takes off after her.
They're both undercover, but while Idie makes her way to the top of the class, Quentin ends up in detention.
Meanwhile, Wolverine and the rest of the teachers are busy trying to track down the location of the elusive Hellfire Academy so they can rescue the kids. Or at least, rescue Idie...cuz everyone pretty much figured it was only a matter of time before Quire went rogue.
Lots of fighting, a few introspective moments, and a Big Battle at the end.
We get some resolution on the Broo storyline, and someone shows up for a cameo at the end that marks the start of a new title.
This was a pretty decent story, and such a step up from that last stinker. I'm still interested in seeing how all of this pans out in the end, so here's hoping the next volume gets everything back on track.
A big improvement over the last volume, so I'm feeling a bit better about this title again. Dog Logan makes a cameo, but his particular brand of crazy doesn't hijack the plot this time around. He's a professor at the Hellfire Academy along with several other villains, which makes this volume feel like a reverse of the (volume 5, I think?) one where Kitty was interviewing teachers.
Well, now we get introduced to the Bad Guy's version of what a mutant academy should be like.
Anyway, the main gist of it is that Idie has taken off to infiltrate the Hellfire Club in order to find out who shot Broo...and then kill 'em.
Quentin Quire (in lurve with Idie) takes off after her.
They're both undercover, but while Idie makes her way to the top of the class, Quentin ends up in detention.
Meanwhile, Wolverine and the rest of the teachers are busy trying to track down the location of the elusive Hellfire Academy so they can rescue the kids. Or at least, rescue Idie...cuz everyone pretty much figured it was only a matter of time before Quire went rogue.
Lots of fighting, a few introspective moments, and a Big Battle at the end.
We get some resolution on the Broo storyline, and someone shows up for a cameo at the end that marks the start of a new title.
This was a pretty decent story, and such a step up from that last stinker. I'm still interested in seeing how all of this pans out in the end, so here's hoping the next volume gets everything back on track.
November 2, 2014
The most dull book in the series to date. The Hellfire school is just so, so expected. It's exactly what you would expect to see in a school openly designed to turn teenagers into evil cannon fodder, and not one clever idea more. Half of the scenes with the villainous teachers could have been rewritten with any one of a dozen minor villains, with not a single line of dialog needing to be changed. This could have been better, could have been more original, could have been more clever, could have been more fun. It wasn't.
And to make matters worse, there's the astoundingly bad decision to put a 14 year old character in lingerie for a large chunk of the book. Yes, Aaron dressed Idie in Jean's old Black Queen costume. And it's really, really, super creepy. And nobody, at any point, acknowledges that, wow, that's kind of not cool. It was, for me, a major stumbling point in a book that I was already struggling with staying engaged with.
I'm going to go ahead and read the next (and, I think, last) volume of Wolverine and the X-Men. Because I got this far, right? And maybe the last volume will be better than this one? I kind of feel like I owe it to the first few (wonderful) volumes to give it a shot.
And to make matters worse, there's the astoundingly bad decision to put a 14 year old character in lingerie for a large chunk of the book. Yes, Aaron dressed Idie in Jean's old Black Queen costume. And it's really, really, super creepy. And nobody, at any point, acknowledges that, wow, that's kind of not cool. It was, for me, a major stumbling point in a book that I was already struggling with staying engaged with.
I'm going to go ahead and read the next (and, I think, last) volume of Wolverine and the X-Men. Because I got this far, right? And maybe the last volume will be better than this one? I kind of feel like I owe it to the first few (wonderful) volumes to give it a shot.
October 4, 2014
Wolverine and the X-Men was an excellent series that started well and then began to taper off from about Volume 5 onwards. Volume 7 is easily the worst addition to the title yet with an extended look at the Hellfire Academy.
Earlier in the series, Broo was nearly killed and has regressed from a hyper-intelligent boy to a savage, thoughtless creature. Idie has followed him to the Hellfire Academy to find out who nearly killed her friend and Quentin Quire has tagged along - though he has mixed feelings about being the hero.
Most of this book is non-story. Villains inscrutably becoming teachers instructing psychotic kids to become stereotypical Marvel villains. Ho-hum. Hello, plot? Where were you? I was reading other books at the same time as this because I could only manage an issue a day before putting the book down - it was so dull. Nothing happens for the most part and then we get the big dumb predictable superhero fight at the end.
And why the hell was Idie - a 14 year old girl - drawn in a S&M outfit? What was Aaron/Nick Bradshaw/Marvel thinking - that was breathtakingly distasteful! I went from being passively bored to actively disliking the book after that.
I suppose there were some things I liked though they were mostly little. Nick Bradshaw’s art was easily the best part of the book - if it weren’t for him I don’t think I’d have made it through. Iliked the ice transformer that Bobby conjures up, the Snot boy, and some of Quentin’s quips here and there. But basically there’s not enough here to make Volume 7 stand up to the quality of the earlier books.
I think there’s one more volume after this before it’s all over but it was the right move for Jason Aaron to leave the title - this book proves, more than anything, that he’s run out of ideas.
Earlier in the series, Broo was nearly killed and has regressed from a hyper-intelligent boy to a savage, thoughtless creature. Idie has followed him to the Hellfire Academy to find out who nearly killed her friend and Quentin Quire has tagged along - though he has mixed feelings about being the hero.
Most of this book is non-story. Villains inscrutably becoming teachers instructing psychotic kids to become stereotypical Marvel villains. Ho-hum. Hello, plot? Where were you? I was reading other books at the same time as this because I could only manage an issue a day before putting the book down - it was so dull. Nothing happens for the most part and then we get the big dumb predictable superhero fight at the end.
And why the hell was Idie - a 14 year old girl - drawn in a S&M outfit? What was Aaron/Nick Bradshaw/Marvel thinking - that was breathtakingly distasteful! I went from being passively bored to actively disliking the book after that.
I suppose there were some things I liked though they were mostly little. Nick Bradshaw’s art was easily the best part of the book - if it weren’t for him I don’t think I’d have made it through. Iliked the ice transformer that Bobby conjures up, the Snot boy, and some of Quentin’s quips here and there. But basically there’s not enough here to make Volume 7 stand up to the quality of the earlier books.
I think there’s one more volume after this before it’s all over but it was the right move for Jason Aaron to leave the title - this book proves, more than anything, that he’s run out of ideas.
April 5, 2022
This whole Hellfire Saga is incredibly underwhelming. It has pacing and dialogue issues that stem from Aaron's inconsistency as a writer. The villains are children who, for some reason, are in charge of actual villains like Mystique. Okay then, that's totally believable. Furthermore, the absence of Wolverine in a series where he is the titular character is very disappointing. An uninspired volume of a series that has averaged okay storylines.
August 30, 2014
Gigantic mis-step of the art in the first ish...QQ looks terrible. Luckily, that artist is only at it for one issue.
QQ ends up figuring some things out, and goes to the Hellfire Academy...seemigly for the wrong reasons in the eyes of the faculty, but you, dear reader, if you've been keeping up, know that QQ's not that 1-dimensional.
Meanwhile, Wolverine and the faculty are tearing the Hellfire Club apart to find their kids. (I particularly like what the thought bubbles are of the soldiers while Rachel Grey is mind-probing them. Shows that the majority aren't evil, just need a job, an interestingly political comment hidden in the otherwise fantastical book).
Toad helped QQ to get to HA, and tries to rekindle with Husk as was her plan from a few volumes back, but she's cold and distant to him (I felt sorry, for him, but his continued presence in the storyline isn't just for show...I promise).
QQ is proving his greatness, as he gets under the skin of the teachers at HEllfire Academy (Sauron, Mystique, and some other losers...yes really.) this brings him into see Kade Kilgore, who seems to be quite a cocky mofo, which is no surprise to anyone. Also, QQ tears down the faculty verbally in one great passage (ZIng! - I loved it, and I love that Aaron wrote exactly what I was thinking at the time).
Meanwhile...Wolverine makes a wee breakthrough, with the help of Whiskey and the Bamfs...and it leads to a great sequence of panels, interspersed with KK giving away most of his plan to the Hellfire Club (the names appear on a screen, and we see a lot of familiar surnames (Shaw, Stane, Frost, etc. - a nice Easter Egg), while Wolverine puts all the pieces together on how to find Hellfire and the missing kids. There's also a cool little exchange between Dog Logan and Sabretooth (who were once thought to be the same person in various versions of the origin stories) but it's bang on, and really the only need for the 2 to be in the issue.
The last 2 issues just involve the final showdown, battle, shit getting real if you will. QQ, Broo, and Idie flex some muscle, and earn some respect. (I like that Aaron has actually produced new characters that might actually become somewhat important in the future). KK isn't quite the genius he thinks he is, we get to see Toad shine in an unexpected way, and the single funniest Doop scene ever takes place.
Doop's Home Videos 1994, VHS cassette, rated NC-17. That is all. Just let that sink in...yup. Mhm. There you go.
The Bamfs were instrumental in helping Wolverine track things, like an old faithful friend they remind us of...
The last page is something some of us have been waiting for for some time now, it's unexpected enough to be awesome, but not totally out of nowhere. All I will say is...I smell brimstone.
QQ ends up figuring some things out, and goes to the Hellfire Academy...seemigly for the wrong reasons in the eyes of the faculty, but you, dear reader, if you've been keeping up, know that QQ's not that 1-dimensional.
Meanwhile, Wolverine and the faculty are tearing the Hellfire Club apart to find their kids. (I particularly like what the thought bubbles are of the soldiers while Rachel Grey is mind-probing them. Shows that the majority aren't evil, just need a job, an interestingly political comment hidden in the otherwise fantastical book).
Toad helped QQ to get to HA, and tries to rekindle with Husk as was her plan from a few volumes back, but she's cold and distant to him (I felt sorry, for him, but his continued presence in the storyline isn't just for show...I promise).
QQ is proving his greatness, as he gets under the skin of the teachers at HEllfire Academy (Sauron, Mystique, and some other losers...yes really.) this brings him into see Kade Kilgore, who seems to be quite a cocky mofo, which is no surprise to anyone. Also, QQ tears down the faculty verbally in one great passage (ZIng! - I loved it, and I love that Aaron wrote exactly what I was thinking at the time).
Meanwhile...Wolverine makes a wee breakthrough, with the help of Whiskey and the Bamfs...and it leads to a great sequence of panels, interspersed with KK giving away most of his plan to the Hellfire Club (the names appear on a screen, and we see a lot of familiar surnames (Shaw, Stane, Frost, etc. - a nice Easter Egg), while Wolverine puts all the pieces together on how to find Hellfire and the missing kids. There's also a cool little exchange between Dog Logan and Sabretooth (who were once thought to be the same person in various versions of the origin stories) but it's bang on, and really the only need for the 2 to be in the issue.
The last 2 issues just involve the final showdown, battle, shit getting real if you will. QQ, Broo, and Idie flex some muscle, and earn some respect. (I like that Aaron has actually produced new characters that might actually become somewhat important in the future). KK isn't quite the genius he thinks he is, we get to see Toad shine in an unexpected way, and the single funniest Doop scene ever takes place.
Doop's Home Videos 1994, VHS cassette, rated NC-17. That is all. Just let that sink in...yup. Mhm. There you go.
The Bamfs were instrumental in helping Wolverine track things, like an old faithful friend they remind us of...
The last page is something some of us have been waiting for for some time now, it's unexpected enough to be awesome, but not totally out of nowhere. All I will say is...I smell brimstone.
August 30, 2014
Fun, funny, and a great payoff of the Kade Kilgore/Hellfire subplot that's been tormenting us since this book's inception.
I've gushed about Aaron's book for so many volumes I don't know what else to say - did he put in another great set of scripts, with zany ideas and goofy over-the-top interactions among the characters? Check. Was the art suitably whacko and bigger than life? Check. Did the Hellfire kids keep up their petulant ways? Mostly, check. Do we learn more about the inner life of characters like Idie and Broo? Well, not quite - but at least one other character who keeps getting shafted seems to have a couple or three dimensions to put on display.
This kind of Marvel book is everything that most current DC books would never dare to be - silly but appropriately serious where it should be (and only where it should be), having a blast with the characters (Bobby and Kitty still tickle me, and Quentin Quire is the breakout star of this volume and few preceding), making sure we have fun and not just the creators rifling through the toy box (well, in this case I'm occasionally looking at you Bendis).
Or at least, this is the kind of book that keeps me coming back to Marvel. If anyone knows of something as fun, confident and heartfelt as this in DC I want to know. (Suicide Squad would measure up if it wasn't just Harley having a blast.)
Plot spoilers:
I've gushed about Aaron's book for so many volumes I don't know what else to say - did he put in another great set of scripts, with zany ideas and goofy over-the-top interactions among the characters? Check. Was the art suitably whacko and bigger than life? Check. Did the Hellfire kids keep up their petulant ways? Mostly, check. Do we learn more about the inner life of characters like Idie and Broo? Well, not quite - but at least one other character who keeps getting shafted seems to have a couple or three dimensions to put on display.
This kind of Marvel book is everything that most current DC books would never dare to be - silly but appropriately serious where it should be (and only where it should be), having a blast with the characters (Bobby and Kitty still tickle me, and Quentin Quire is the breakout star of this volume and few preceding), making sure we have fun and not just the creators rifling through the toy box (well, in this case I'm occasionally looking at you Bendis).
Or at least, this is the kind of book that keeps me coming back to Marvel. If anyone knows of something as fun, confident and heartfelt as this in DC I want to know. (Suicide Squad would measure up if it wasn't just Harley having a blast.)
Plot spoilers:
July 13, 2022
This was the volume the series had been building to, and really it didn't disappoint. We finally see the Hellfire subplot come to a head as the X-men invade the Hellfire School and we see the battle we've been waiting for. Some of the scenes involving the inner working of the Hellfire School were a little silly, but overall this was a strong volume. The art on this series really started to grow on me too. I see a lot of Art Adams in the style.
As I've stated in previous reviews, this has been one of the stronger (probably the strongest) X-men title I've read recently.
As I've stated in previous reviews, this has been one of the stronger (probably the strongest) X-men title I've read recently.
May 24, 2015
This volume really hit the spot. The story built up nicely even through there was huge amounts of action. We had apparent betrayals that was really burgeoning love, setbacks that were really curiosities, and islands that get to fight Voltron. What's not to love?
Oh yeah, and Hellfire School is out of business. What a sigh of relief.
I love the teasers for the next volume, and hope this means we've going to get a new janitor. Toad really deserves a promotion.
Oh yeah, and Hellfire School is out of business. What a sigh of relief.
I love the teasers for the next volume, and hope this means we've going to get a new janitor. Toad really deserves a promotion.
April 26, 2014
The only reason I didn't score it a 5 is because there wasn't enough of my main man Doop in this volume. What a great conclusion to the Hellfire arc, I really enjoyed how fun this title is (probably because I've been reading a lot of DC's doom and gloom). The best part for me was just how crazy the Hellfire school teaching methods were.
October 8, 2025
Original 2018 Review:
This feels like the final volume of Aaron's run on Wolverine & The X-Men.
It's not. There's one more to go, but this wraps up the underlying villain of the series: The Hellfire Club, by placing all the events at The Hellfire Academy, the villainy version of The Jean Grey School.
This book is seriously lacking in Aaron's usual flair for storytelling. All of the elements from this fall in the proper place, but they feel idly dropped in those areas, as opposed to placed. By the end of the story, all the characters are where you'd like for a happy ending, and there's a "Yay, we made it!" vibe that the book doesn't really earn.
I'm not sure if Aaron grew bored with the series, or whether writing five million Thor books distracted him, but, while this was a better read than the previous volume, the drop in quality between volumes 1-5 and volumes 6-8 is depressing.
If you enjoyed the beginning of the series, and have read up this point, by all means, read this to get your denouement. And then stop. You shouldn't read volume 8, it's an entirely different book that doesn't add anything to the X-Men mythos. This is also a fun read if you like the BAMFs. And it's a slight precursor to the Amazing X-Men run.
***
Additional Thoughts From 2025 X-Reread:
I absolutely despised the way Aaron wrote the character Husk in this book. It seemed misogynist in the way that Chris Claremont, Chuck Austen, Peter Milligan, and other hacks portrayed Lorna Dane/Polaris over the years. There is a scene near the end where it's revealed that something happened that made her that way and she is returned to her normal characterization but, having read every X-book from this era, I don't understand what the inciting incident was or why overtaxing her powers returned her to normal. According to Wikipedia, I will soon read a collection where this is explained. I think it's a weak explanation and doesn't undo the "women be crazy" trope that Aaron used on this previously three-dimensional character.
Also, Broo somehow makes him no longer feral. , I guess.
This feels like the final volume of Aaron's run on Wolverine & The X-Men.
It's not. There's one more to go, but this wraps up the underlying villain of the series: The Hellfire Club, by placing all the events at The Hellfire Academy, the villainy version of The Jean Grey School.
This book is seriously lacking in Aaron's usual flair for storytelling. All of the elements from this fall in the proper place, but they feel idly dropped in those areas, as opposed to placed. By the end of the story, all the characters are where you'd like for a happy ending, and there's a "Yay, we made it!" vibe that the book doesn't really earn.
I'm not sure if Aaron grew bored with the series, or whether writing five million Thor books distracted him, but, while this was a better read than the previous volume, the drop in quality between volumes 1-5 and volumes 6-8 is depressing.
If you enjoyed the beginning of the series, and have read up this point, by all means, read this to get your denouement. And then stop. You shouldn't read volume 8, it's an entirely different book that doesn't add anything to the X-Men mythos. This is also a fun read if you like the BAMFs. And it's a slight precursor to the Amazing X-Men run.
***
Additional Thoughts From 2025 X-Reread:
I absolutely despised the way Aaron wrote the character Husk in this book. It seemed misogynist in the way that Chris Claremont, Chuck Austen, Peter Milligan, and other hacks portrayed Lorna Dane/Polaris over the years. There is a scene near the end where it's revealed that something happened that made her that way and she is returned to her normal characterization but, having read every X-book from this era, I don't understand what the inciting incident was or why overtaxing her powers returned her to normal. According to Wikipedia, I will soon read a collection where this is explained. I think it's a weak explanation and doesn't undo the "women be crazy" trope that Aaron used on this previously three-dimensional character.
Also, Broo somehow makes him no longer feral. , I guess.
September 19, 2020
Bueno, pues después de que la Patrulla-X y el nuevo Club Fuego Infernal llevasen buscándose las cosquillas desde el mismísimo Cisma, había llegado el momento del enfrentamiento directo entre ambos, o más bien, como si de la final de una película de adolescentes se tratara, del enfrentamiento entre la Academia Jean Grey y la Academia Fuego Infernal fundada por Kade Kilgore y sus compañeros, y con profesores del calibre de Dientes de Sable, Mística o Pandemonium o Vaina. Y es que durante los últimos números de la colección, habíamos ido viendo como la Academia Fuego Infernal había ido captando alumnos, incluyendo a algunos de los de la Academia Jean Grey, como Glob Herman. Y después de la defección de Oya (con Nydo a cuestas), Lobezno decide que ha llegado el momento de acabar con el Club Fuego Infernal y buscar la ubicación de su escuela. Y mientras, Quentin Quire se infiltra en la Academia del Club Fuego Infernal, buscando los auténticos motivos de Oya para cambiar de equipo.
Jason Aaron y Nick Bradshaw vuelven a hacer tándem en este arco (con una introducción de Pascual Ferry), y nos cuentan una historia amena y divertida en la que se reparte muchísima estopa para todas partes, y con un tratamiento muy irónico y creativo de todos los personajes. Así que nada, muy divertido todo.
Jason Aaron y Nick Bradshaw vuelven a hacer tándem en este arco (con una introducción de Pascual Ferry), y nos cuentan una historia amena y divertida en la que se reparte muchísima estopa para todas partes, y con un tratamiento muy irónico y creativo de todos los personajes. Así que nada, muy divertido todo.
February 7, 2014
All you need to know is this: Ice-construct Voltron.
This creative team has really grown on me. Aaron has been putting together a grade-a story from the beginning and Bradshaw's art has really stabilized and taken off.
The prelude chapter is a bit lackluster, but mainly because of the art. Seeing the Hellfire Club story finally come to a head was extremely satisfying. There are no corners cut here. You get a sense of history and newness. The cast comes together well to show the new generation of X-Men being groomed. The villains are awful and everything that I could have wanted from demented 12 year olds.
Idie and Quentin have taken the fore here and the book is better for it. They are easily two of the most compelling students at the Jean Grey School. This was just a real highlight of the series for me.
If I had to complain about something it's not really anything they had control over but I hate Rachel's character design and am not really a fan of the new look for Beast.
Still, it's a great book and one of the best X-Titles.
Seriously.
This creative team has really grown on me. Aaron has been putting together a grade-a story from the beginning and Bradshaw's art has really stabilized and taken off.
The prelude chapter is a bit lackluster, but mainly because of the art. Seeing the Hellfire Club story finally come to a head was extremely satisfying. There are no corners cut here. You get a sense of history and newness. The cast comes together well to show the new generation of X-Men being groomed. The villains are awful and everything that I could have wanted from demented 12 year olds.
Idie and Quentin have taken the fore here and the book is better for it. They are easily two of the most compelling students at the Jean Grey School. This was just a real highlight of the series for me.
If I had to complain about something it's not really anything they had control over but I hate Rachel's character design and am not really a fan of the new look for Beast.
Still, it's a great book and one of the best X-Titles.
Seriously.
April 8, 2020
Man sometimes I feel like Jason Aaron hates comic books and thinks all of us comic readers are dumb. Sometimes in some of the stuff he writes it’s just so ridiculous that I think he is making fun of these characters. At least that’s how I felt about issue 31 of this volume. Smh. Also for this series to be called Wolverine and the X-men, there’s not a lot of Wolverine in it. Luckily the rest of the story some what gets back on track.
The Hellfire club now has there own school to teach people to become villains. Idie wants to infiltrate to find out who shot Broo. Quentin follows and eventually the rest of the X-men come barging in and a crazy ass, well drawn, fight ensues. We get some closure the the whole Broo thing and a cool cameo at the end which may be what we will explore in the final volume. Over all I guess this volume was decent.
The Hellfire club now has there own school to teach people to become villains. Idie wants to infiltrate to find out who shot Broo. Quentin follows and eventually the rest of the X-men come barging in and a crazy ass, well drawn, fight ensues. We get some closure the the whole Broo thing and a cool cameo at the end which may be what we will explore in the final volume. Over all I guess this volume was decent.
Read
March 14, 2014I'm not wholly convinced the story makes sense, but who can resist a school for evil, played (mostly) for laughs and then explosively shut down? Reading the last couple of issues feels like guzzling packets of Nerds while drunk on a rollercoaster.
February 17, 2015
Not really that good, but still mildly entertaining. I was glad to see that Nick Bradshaw drew nearly every page of this book. I love this guys artwork.
October 3, 2016
Ummm... did Iceman just turn into Voltron? What in the fuck... overpowered much?
February 2, 2020
This was a good, dramatic, climactic installment of this series... but it still suffers from the same weirdness.
What is this? Does Jason Aaron even know? Is it a spoof? Is it dark? Is it an adventure? It’s very hard to nail down the tone and that makes the whole thing feel a bit off kilter.
Still... this collection worked. There was some a sense of stakes, and some exceptionally satisfying moments.
In the past, this series has gotten so weird it’s off putting. This time, it was so weird it was awesome. I’m still not able to objectively define where that line is... but this was safely on the cool side of it.
If you’ve made it this far, just keep reading... for everyone else... I’m still undecided on whether or not I recommend this odd series, which is awesome when I expect it to suck and sucks when I expect it to be awesome.
What is this? Does Jason Aaron even know? Is it a spoof? Is it dark? Is it an adventure? It’s very hard to nail down the tone and that makes the whole thing feel a bit off kilter.
Still... this collection worked. There was some a sense of stakes, and some exceptionally satisfying moments.
In the past, this series has gotten so weird it’s off putting. This time, it was so weird it was awesome. I’m still not able to objectively define where that line is... but this was safely on the cool side of it.
If you’ve made it this far, just keep reading... for everyone else... I’m still undecided on whether or not I recommend this odd series, which is awesome when I expect it to suck and sucks when I expect it to be awesome.
April 7, 2025
4,6/5 ⭐️
🇵🇱
Podobało mi się, szybka akcja, mało Mystique.. 😂, odzyskanie Broo
Czas na bitwę atomu..
🇺🇸
I liked, quick action, not enough Mystique.. 😂, Broo recovery
Time for the atom battle..
🇵🇱
Podobało mi się, szybka akcja, mało Mystique.. 😂, odzyskanie Broo
Czas na bitwę atomu..
🇺🇸
I liked, quick action, not enough Mystique.. 😂, Broo recovery
Time for the atom battle..
May 26, 2013
I continue to love the sheer fun this book embodies. People (ie internet trolls) often critique this element of the book, as if "fun" is not an element of the X-Men mythos. I grew up on baseball games in the backyard of the school, and bedtime stories told by Kitty Pryde, so this is an amazing departure from grim-n-gritty, guns, guts and sluts. Who can not appreciate Iceman in a giant ice robot form?
The fun does take a bit of a turn here, however, as Kade Kilgore ups the ante on his anti-mutant agenda: enter the Hellfire Academy! The teachers are super creepy, and the return of the Siege Perilous is interesting to those of us who remember the X-Men: Australia years.
Interesting elements here: The Husk and Broo situations are resolved/ problematized. Dog Logan is actually not a bad guy when it comes down to it, and has an even more sympathetic relationship with Kade Kilgore due to both of their daddy issues. Idie is as conflicted as ever, but she remains the thing that mucks up the traditional binary of good vs. evil, and remains an intriguing character as a result. Quentin Quire is one of comic's rebirths that I think was appropriate, as he is the star character here (sometimes to the detriment of the other students) and will only further serve to complicate Idie. Mysterious, fork-tailed, blue-furred druids are a welcome "mystery."
On art, Nick Bradshaw's return is welcomed, despite Ramon Perez's lovely work on the previous volume. I think the two together make for an amazing tag-team on this title.
The fun does take a bit of a turn here, however, as Kade Kilgore ups the ante on his anti-mutant agenda: enter the Hellfire Academy! The teachers are super creepy, and the return of the Siege Perilous is interesting to those of us who remember the X-Men: Australia years.
Interesting elements here: The Husk and Broo situations are resolved/ problematized. Dog Logan is actually not a bad guy when it comes down to it, and has an even more sympathetic relationship with Kade Kilgore due to both of their daddy issues. Idie is as conflicted as ever, but she remains the thing that mucks up the traditional binary of good vs. evil, and remains an intriguing character as a result. Quentin Quire is one of comic's rebirths that I think was appropriate, as he is the star character here (sometimes to the detriment of the other students) and will only further serve to complicate Idie. Mysterious, fork-tailed, blue-furred druids are a welcome "mystery."
On art, Nick Bradshaw's return is welcomed, despite Ramon Perez's lovely work on the previous volume. I think the two together make for an amazing tag-team on this title.
March 6, 2015
This series is really growing on me. At first I thought it was geared at new readers and younger readers, which may be true but die hard fans get lots to chew on once you get into these books.
Once again I was thinking " a hellfire school book" oh brother, then I consider maybe Aaron is poking fun at the whole "school" idea and the comedy lends to that. Aaron really know his material and how to make the best of any situation.
This book we start to see the hellfire school grow with new students, and some familar x-men. We slowly start to see that this story is more complex and makes alot of sense considering all thats going on with the x-men. Wolverine is getting pissed off and that good, we need that in a book like this. two love stories are developing nicely with toad/husk and Oya and a certian mutant.
Did I just ....see... a voltron Ice man? my god its beautiful. The Krakao fights are brilliant. The doop cameos are awesome im totally a fan. Oh and Kurt? Kurt! Kurt!!!!!!!!!
Once again I was thinking " a hellfire school book" oh brother, then I consider maybe Aaron is poking fun at the whole "school" idea and the comedy lends to that. Aaron really know his material and how to make the best of any situation.
This book we start to see the hellfire school grow with new students, and some familar x-men. We slowly start to see that this story is more complex and makes alot of sense considering all thats going on with the x-men. Wolverine is getting pissed off and that good, we need that in a book like this. two love stories are developing nicely with toad/husk and Oya and a certian mutant.
Did I just ....see... a voltron Ice man? my god its beautiful. The Krakao fights are brilliant. The doop cameos are awesome im totally a fan. Oh and Kurt? Kurt! Kurt!!!!!!!!!
August 20, 2014
The worst arc of an awful run. This arc is focused on the Hellfire Brats, one of the absolute dumbest and most obnoxious concepts I've ever come across. I hate them for all the wrong reasons - I don't want to see them defeated, I want them never to have existed. There's more of the shallow characterization that was so common in this series. And just to ramp up the stupid, it has a 14-year-old girl in a Hellfire Club outfit - the sort of thing the White Queen wore in the '80s. This is wildly inappropriate for a 14-year-old girl. It's a deeply uncomfortable sexualizing of her. But Jason Aaron never actually grasped Idie's character in the first place, so I don't know why I would've expected anything better here at the end.
Stupid, disgusting garbage. Without a doubt, Wolverine and the X-Men was one of the worst runs in the history of the X-Men, right up with Chuck Austen's trash.
Stupid, disgusting garbage. Without a doubt, Wolverine and the X-Men was one of the worst runs in the history of the X-Men, right up with Chuck Austen's trash.
January 14, 2014
Yeah!! So glad to be past confusing crossover stuff and back to just normal levels of Marvel confusion. And sass! Prob my favorite part was Kitty telling Bobby he could get to 2nd base if they got through their mission, and he told her it didn't count if she was phased. Love itttt. Just overall a lot of fun. And I loved seeing Idie come into her own. And I loved the Hellfire Academy's course offerings. This is less of a review and more of a list of things that I loved. I feel fine about it.
June 29, 2017
Mediocre. I feel like I'm only reading for Kid Omega now. The series is called Wolverine and the X-Men, and Wolverine is barely in this volume. I could have done without this whole Hellfire Academy arc.
Moving on.
Moving on.
April 27, 2014
Definitely my favorite volume of the series so far. In terms of scope and character development, it was fantastic.
December 29, 2015
Some cool bits (Krakoas war, Iceman Giant, Quire becoming human,...) but I can't get offer the fact that the Hellfire are 12-year-old kids
August 28, 2024
Ai esenas desagradables
March 9, 2018
There are several things that happen apparently without purpose or based on thin air. I had more hopes from this author. This is likely the last volume I'll waste time with in this series. It's just boring and even stupid at times.
Wolverine is determined to punish the Hellfire Club for their subversive acts on his school. Quentin discovers that Idie left the school to join the Hellfire Club so she can learn their secrets and kill them all. Beast resorts to getting help from Dr. Xanto Starbrood, the foremost expert on Brood physiology and an alien convicted of genocide, to heal Broo's feral brain. They get interrupted by a character sent by the Hellfire Club, a dushy character who dares to use the age-old self-introduction: 'behold the fury of...' wait for it 'the PHILISTINE' dum-dum-duuuuum! He teleports Xanto to the school where the traitor is revealed to be Toad or Quentin or... I don't know. It seemed like the Hellfire Club manipulated Husk into manipulating Toad who spoke to Quentin sometime offscreen. So far this sucks.
And now let's take a look at the 'horrific' - a big word for a very small smear - Hellfire Academy, an institution where several old enemies of the X-Men teach students how to be... wait for it... EEEEVIL! But not really, nor with all the beholding and 'you will learn to subjugate' nonsense. The lunchlady Husk is the most ridiculous one. I seem to remember her being sane earlier in the same series. I just 'love' this parallel universe. I didn't see any students eviscerated, though the teachers certainly promised it plenty of times.
Quentin makes a laughing stock of the incompetent teachers until he gets sent to the principal's office. Kade Killgore wants to send him into the Siege Perilous, a portal that has done wonders for one snot-nosed kid named Snot because of his superpowered... snot. The Siege Perilous rejects Quentin, but it's still seen as an option for the other students.
The Hellfie Club announce the new Hellions while Wolverine finally finds Lord Deathstrike with help from the bamfs. The Hellions tear things apart for no apparent reason which give Quentin and Toad a chance to escape while also proving to some teachers just how incapable they are in a fight. Idie is offered to be Black Queen out of the blue. She must first watch Quentin and Toad be killed by the Hellions. Just like that, for little logical reason. And since when does Toad have so much muscle? Anyway, Kade reveals he shot Broo in the head, so a newly half-dressed Idie is miffed.
The X-Men also join the fighting on Krakoa's back. Just because it looks kewl. Iceman is piloting a Transformers lookalike made of ice... OK... And the Hellfire Club has islands trained to fight back. Islands... trained? Yeah. You sure have to be a diehard X-Men fan to enjoy this, but do they really need to make it so difficult on the casual reader?
The Hellfire Club betray on Kade and try to kill him, but their weapons are useless against him. Even though the X-Men gain the upper hand in the fighting, Kade pulls out the Siege Perilous that is now generating a force field. Somehow... The Philistine is ordered to throw everyone into the Siege which, after some more betrayal from that impossibly annoying White Queen, blows up. The X-Men and most of the bad guys escape by teleporting with the bamfs.
The Hellfire Saga - a 5-issue story that reads like a neverending nightmare.
Wolverine is determined to punish the Hellfire Club for their subversive acts on his school. Quentin discovers that Idie left the school to join the Hellfire Club so she can learn their secrets and kill them all. Beast resorts to getting help from Dr. Xanto Starbrood, the foremost expert on Brood physiology and an alien convicted of genocide, to heal Broo's feral brain. They get interrupted by a character sent by the Hellfire Club, a dushy character who dares to use the age-old self-introduction: 'behold the fury of...' wait for it 'the PHILISTINE' dum-dum-duuuuum! He teleports Xanto to the school where the traitor is revealed to be Toad or Quentin or... I don't know. It seemed like the Hellfire Club manipulated Husk into manipulating Toad who spoke to Quentin sometime offscreen. So far this sucks.
And now let's take a look at the 'horrific' - a big word for a very small smear - Hellfire Academy, an institution where several old enemies of the X-Men teach students how to be... wait for it... EEEEVIL! But not really, nor with all the beholding and 'you will learn to subjugate' nonsense. The lunchlady Husk is the most ridiculous one. I seem to remember her being sane earlier in the same series. I just 'love' this parallel universe. I didn't see any students eviscerated, though the teachers certainly promised it plenty of times.
Quentin makes a laughing stock of the incompetent teachers until he gets sent to the principal's office. Kade Killgore wants to send him into the Siege Perilous, a portal that has done wonders for one snot-nosed kid named Snot because of his superpowered... snot. The Siege Perilous rejects Quentin, but it's still seen as an option for the other students.
The Hellfie Club announce the new Hellions while Wolverine finally finds Lord Deathstrike with help from the bamfs. The Hellions tear things apart for no apparent reason which give Quentin and Toad a chance to escape while also proving to some teachers just how incapable they are in a fight. Idie is offered to be Black Queen out of the blue. She must first watch Quentin and Toad be killed by the Hellions. Just like that, for little logical reason. And since when does Toad have so much muscle? Anyway, Kade reveals he shot Broo in the head, so a newly half-dressed Idie is miffed.
The X-Men also join the fighting on Krakoa's back. Just because it looks kewl. Iceman is piloting a Transformers lookalike made of ice... OK... And the Hellfire Club has islands trained to fight back. Islands... trained? Yeah. You sure have to be a diehard X-Men fan to enjoy this, but do they really need to make it so difficult on the casual reader?
The Hellfire Club betray on Kade and try to kill him, but their weapons are useless against him. Even though the X-Men gain the upper hand in the fighting, Kade pulls out the Siege Perilous that is now generating a force field. Somehow... The Philistine is ordered to throw everyone into the Siege which, after some more betrayal from that impossibly annoying White Queen, blows up. The X-Men and most of the bad guys escape by teleporting with the bamfs.
The Hellfire Saga - a 5-issue story that reads like a neverending nightmare.
August 4, 2019
Wcześniejsze dwa tomu sagi o dyrektorze Rosomaku i jego podopiecznych za wyjątkiem oprawy wizualnej, w zasadzie nie zachwycały. Dlatego dość ostrożnie podszedłem do kontynuacji runu Pana Jasona Aarona. Niepotrzebnie. Tak jak na początku serii, tak i teraz cała fabuła wreszcie trafia na właściwe tory.
Intryga Hellfire Club musiała w końcu dojść do oczekiwanego finału i konfrontacja obu sił jest nad wyraz smakowita. Ale zanim dojdzie do końcowego roz... gardiaszu, przyjdzie nam jeszcze zapoznać się z całą otoczką nauczania na nowo otwartej Akademii Hellfire. Szkoła w ich wykonaniu to istna lekcja przetrwania, gdzie w konsekwencji za porażkę, delikwenta może spotkać m. in. wyssanie siły życiowej lub tortury cielesne. Ma to odzwierciedlenie w całym ciału pedagogicznym tych złych, gdzie jako nauczycieli można tu spotkać Saurona, Mistic, Mondo czy mistrza Pandemonium, a to tylko mały ułamek atrakcji.
Podobał mi się ten pomysł przedstawienia opozycji do tego jak wyglądała dotychczas szkoła im. Jean Grey. Jest w tym jakaś świeżość. Jest też dawka absurdalnego humoru, który wreszcie zdaje się trafiać (w większości) w moje gusta.
Długo czekałem aż dojdzie w końcu do starcia z Clubem Hellfire. Zbierało się złym na bęcki, oj zbierało. Większość wątków znajdzie tutaj w końcu swoje rozwiązanie, choć pojawia się masa całkiem nowych(w tym też związku). Nie będzie tajemnicą, jeżeli zdradzę że Kilgore wraz z spółką dostaną takie lanie, iż dalsze istnienie klubu będzie pod znakiem zapytania. (choć kwestia nadal zostaje otwarta). No i sprawa z Broo też odnajdzie swój właściwy finał.
Komiks wyglądem nie odbiega od reszty i nadal prezentuje specyficzny, kreskówkowy sznyt, który jednym przypadnie do gustu, a innym nie. Mi się to od początku podobało, więc nie będę narzekał, zwłaszcza, że i dialogi są tutaj na odpowiednim poziomie. Także, zapędźcie Krakoę na spacer i dajcie się ponieść fantazji autora. Gwarancja pewnej jazdy bez trzymanki.
Intryga Hellfire Club musiała w końcu dojść do oczekiwanego finału i konfrontacja obu sił jest nad wyraz smakowita. Ale zanim dojdzie do końcowego roz... gardiaszu, przyjdzie nam jeszcze zapoznać się z całą otoczką nauczania na nowo otwartej Akademii Hellfire. Szkoła w ich wykonaniu to istna lekcja przetrwania, gdzie w konsekwencji za porażkę, delikwenta może spotkać m. in. wyssanie siły życiowej lub tortury cielesne. Ma to odzwierciedlenie w całym ciału pedagogicznym tych złych, gdzie jako nauczycieli można tu spotkać Saurona, Mistic, Mondo czy mistrza Pandemonium, a to tylko mały ułamek atrakcji.
Podobał mi się ten pomysł przedstawienia opozycji do tego jak wyglądała dotychczas szkoła im. Jean Grey. Jest w tym jakaś świeżość. Jest też dawka absurdalnego humoru, który wreszcie zdaje się trafiać (w większości) w moje gusta.
Długo czekałem aż dojdzie w końcu do starcia z Clubem Hellfire. Zbierało się złym na bęcki, oj zbierało. Większość wątków znajdzie tutaj w końcu swoje rozwiązanie, choć pojawia się masa całkiem nowych(w tym też związku). Nie będzie tajemnicą, jeżeli zdradzę że Kilgore wraz z spółką dostaną takie lanie, iż dalsze istnienie klubu będzie pod znakiem zapytania. (choć kwestia nadal zostaje otwarta). No i sprawa z Broo też odnajdzie swój właściwy finał.
Komiks wyglądem nie odbiega od reszty i nadal prezentuje specyficzny, kreskówkowy sznyt, który jednym przypadnie do gustu, a innym nie. Mi się to od początku podobało, więc nie będę narzekał, zwłaszcza, że i dialogi są tutaj na odpowiednim poziomie. Także, zapędźcie Krakoę na spacer i dajcie się ponieść fantazji autora. Gwarancja pewnej jazdy bez trzymanki.
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