Wolverine: First Class #1

Fred Van Lente & Andrea Di Vito

.

Wolverine: First Class takes things back to a classic, simple era of the X-Men, before Wolverine mentors Kitty Pryde, and after the teenager has just joined Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. The first issue is told through Kitty's eyes as she is assigned her first mission in the field, and paired with Wolverine. The two are skeptical at first, Wolverine treating her like a child he's babysitting, and Kitty all but disregarding his attempts to keep her out of the action, but the two quickly play to their strengths and learn to work together as they are attacked by an angry mob. Di Vito's pencils are pretty decent throughout the issue, and the story, while simple and straight-forward, has some really nice little moments amid (and after) the action. There are some pretty cheesy moments in there too, like when Wolverine deflates a volleyball that the other X-Men are playing with, with his claws, of course. But if you can ignore the few groan-out-loud scenes, it's pretty solid. It feels more like a Marvel Adventures title than a regular Marvel Universe title, the same feeling I kind of got from X-Men: First Class. It has an all-ages vibe, but it also feels kind of classic as well. It's good clean fun, but I think it's something I'm going to have to experience in small doses.