Finally for this week, X-Men Unlimited #4. 

Thanks to Marvel's decision to relaunch the title earlier in the year, I now get to say something that I honestly never thought I'd say: X-Men Unlimited #4 is pretty decent.

Lee Barnett and Travel Foreman produce a Juggernaut story, which is fun stuff.  The Juggernaut wants to be allowed onto the school staff.  But Scott is a little bit sceptical about the wisdom of leaving a 7-foot supervillain with an anger management problem in charge of defenceless kiddies.  So he sends Wolverine to test the Juggernaut's temper instead.

It's a mixture of comedy skits and Wolverine trying to get the Juggernaut to grasp the point of just how unsuitable for the job he actually is, and it works well.  The finish is a bit over-convenient for my tastes, but it's well paced and just about comes off.  Travel Foreman makes his Marvel debut with art that shows a decent sense for comedy, and a suitably hulking (if inexplicably balding) Juggernaut.  Fun read, though I remain unconvincd about the wisdom of letting the Juggernaut near the kids.  Even as a PE teacher.

Mind you, he does kind of remind me of my PE teacher, come to think of it...

In the back-up strip, Ted Naifeh and Greg Tocchini send Emma Frost to a wedding.  Wolverine's in tow for plot purposes, but it's really Emma's story, as she finds herself back among university friends (in the loosest possible sense) who knew her way back when, and aren't really buying into the whole White Queen deal.  Not that they actually like her very much - she's made to feel thoroughly unwelcome, as is Wolverine.

The neat idea here is in the contrast between how Logan and Emma react to that.  Logan does something a little bit over the top, but basically justifiable.  Emma lashes out by revealing information that she really, really shouldn't - she's provoked, but she's still doing something vastly disproportionate in the name of a moment's satisfaction.  It's a nice little story that keeps her on the right side of "ethically dubious" without going overboard and suggesting that she's really going to lapse back into obvious villainy; her problem is more of a blind spot when she gets into less clear cut territory.

Two above average stories.  No problems here.

Rating: B+

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