Wolverine and the X-Men #36 is part 5 of Marvel’s latest event Battle of the Atom and so far we’ve had several twists and turns but much to my chagrin less action and fighting. What’s interesting in this chapter is the battle going on telepathically between future (old) Jean Grey verses Emma Frost, original (young) Jean Grey and the Stepford triplets all of which isn’t revealed in action until a short time later in the issue. Writer Jason Aaron brings some more action to the pages with both Scott Summers taking on Wolverine, well mainly young and pissed off young Cyclops. The last three chapters of this crossover has been a lot of talking heads and debates or at least it seems that way. Aaron does maintain at lot of the humor that flows through the dialogue, which keeps the pace of this issue brisk.
What Aaron brings to the Battle of the Atom is shifting the focus from the long-running question on should the originals go back to what’s gone so horribly wrong in the future for that time lines X-Men to show up and join the debate. Majik is the key to the answer and her abilities to time jump will shed some light on the horrors these future X-Men claim exist. We get sucked into believing it because of Jean’s willingness to fight herself and Deadpool finally finding a way to end his misery for good. Something’s got to be off-the-charts evil to cause those actions right?
If anyone is capable of jumping into the fray of these multiple time lines it’s Aaron as he demonstrates so well in his other title Thor: God of Thunder. We get a glimpse and a hint that things are as bad as they seem when young Jean Grey forces future Jean to show her what the future holds. Within a split second Jean’s eyes are opened to some sort of horror that changes her entire thought process. Majik ends up physically transporting young Hank and Bobby to the future and they get to see first hand what’s going on. Without spoiling the issue all I can say is that there is some very conflicting and confusing information coming from all sides of this fight and I am no closer understanding what the future exactly is for these X-Men.
I don’t read Wolverine and the X-Men on a regular basis so I am unfamiliar with artist Giuseppe Camuncoli but does nice work here. While not as cartoony as say a Chris Bachalo his style fits nicely within the other X-books I do read regularly, and the other titles involved in this crossover, All-New X-Men and Uncanny X-Men. His action sequences are some of the best with a tremendous amount of dynamic feel to them.
Wolverine and The X-Men #36 is a turning point for the Battle of the Atom story line and if you have been reading the other titles and chapters then you cannot afford to miss this issue. Aaron does a huge amount in dialogue and in action to really propel this story forward as his moves are seamless through the present and the future time. This book gets high marks from me because it kicks off a new direction for Battle of the Atom and came at just the right time.