(CBR)
UPDATE 11/14/2013 12:30 PM PT: On his personal blog, Jason Aaron has addressed the end of “Wolverine and the X-Men,” citing his full schedule as the reason the series will draw to a close in February.
“I’ve been writing the post-‘Battle of the Atom’ arc of ‘WatXM’ as my goodbye to that series and to the Jean Grey School,” Aaron wrote. “Believe me, it wasn’t easy for me to step away from this book. I’ve loved building that school and writing those characters, both the students and the teachers, as much as I’ve loved anything I’ve done in comics. But the school itself isn’t going anywhere.”
Aaron also thanked the readers for supporting an unconventional X-Men series.
“Thank you for embracing such an offbeat X-series,” he wrote. “42 issues of Bamfs and Doop and sentient lawns? I love you all for helping make that happen.”
Marvel Comics‘ “Wolverine and the X-Men” is set to end in February 2014 with issues #41 and #42, as revealed in the publisher’s latest round of solicitations.
If the series is truly ending — rather than being prepped for a quick relaunch with a new #1, as Marvel is doing that same month with “Wolverine” and “Fantastic Four” — it would presumably be for creative reasons, not financial ones. In the October 2013 sales estimates, “Wolverine and the X-Men” #37 — part of the “Battle of the Atom” crossover — ranked at No. 25 on the single-issue chart.
“Wolverine and the X-Men” launched in October 2011 from the creative team of Jason Aaron and Chris Bachalo, following the “Schism” event that divided the X-Men into two squads; one led by Cyclops, one by Wolverine. Aaron has written the series in its entirety, joined by artists including Nick Bradshaw, Ramón Pérez, Giuseppe Camuncoli and Jorge Molina.
The series focuses on the students and faculty of the Wolverine-led Jean Grey School for Higher Learning, and has been praised for bringing a more a lighthearted sense of fun to the X-books. Much of the adult cast of the book also stars in the Aaron-written, Ed McGuinness-illustrated ongoing series “Amazing X-Men,” which debuted last week.
The solicitation for “Wolverine and the X-Men” #41 and #42 follows.
WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN #41 & 42
JASON AARON (W) • NICK BRADSHAW & PEPE LARRAZ (A)
Cover by NICK BRADSHAW
SCHOOL’S OUT FOREVER! FINAL ISSUES!
• It’s the end of the year for the Jean Grey school – but where do our graduates go from here? And who will have survived the experience?!
• Jason Aaron, Pepe Larraz & Nick Bradshaw bring the story of the Jean Grey school to a close!
32 PGS. (EACH)/Rated T …$3.99 (EACH)