Wolverine: First Class confuses me a little.  At first glance, you might assume that it was intended to bring in younger casual readers, like the various Marvel Adventures books.  And it's certainly rated for younger audiences than the other X-books.

But at the same time, it's more of a traditional superhero book for people who liked the style of the 1980s.  Of course, that makes it a relatively accessible title - everything's neatly introduced, with Kitty serving as the character who needs it all explained to her, and writer Fred van Lente carefully and skilfully ties up the plot in the course of 22 pages.  It's got the good old-fashioned, salt of the earth storytelling values that you don't always see in superhero books today.

Yet at the same time, it runs stories like this one.  "Citadel" is a flashback story where Wolverine recounts an early adventure with Alpha Flight, in which he fought another victim of the same government project - Weapon Y - and hoped to get some clues as to his own background.  It's partly a vehicle to use the classic Alpha Flight as guest stars, but mainly a rather depressing story speculating about Wolverine's mystery origins.  Curiously, it does so in a way that would have made perfect sense in the context of early eighties comics (when this series is supposed to take place) but more or less ignores all of the revelations added more recently.  It's pick and mix continuity.

The story handles all this very efficiently, and guest artist Clayton Henry is well used on an all-ages title.  His style is always well-suited to superheroes in the classic mould.  Still, the whole thing just seems like a rather odd story if we're going after the younger readers here.  The main impression I get from the book is of a writer who really enjoys playing with these toys, and is inviting us to join him.

And there's nothing wrong with that, so far as it goes.  I quite like the book, and I share its affection for the period.  It's got a lot going for it.  But this story, at least, feels a little bit like a nostalgia book.

Rating: B

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