Wolverine and the X-Men #21 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

I am not, as you know if you've been reading this blog for a while, a fan of the Kiddie Hellfire Club.  Obviously, if you've been reading comics for a long time, you get used to not liking a certain villain or groups of villains.  I can't say that I've ever particularly been fond of the Acolytes, who always seemed an amorphous group of crazies than a serious threat to the X-Men, whereas I always enjoyed appearances by the Marauders or the Reavers, who brought a terrifying sense of unpredictability to their appearances.  The problem with the Kiddie Hellfire Club, though, is that Aaron refuses to let them go.  I could handle not liking the Acolytes because they only appeared for a few issues every 30 or 40 issues.  The Kiddie Hellfire Club, unfortunately, appears constantly, to the point where this title should really be named, "Wolverine and the Kiddie Hellfire Club."

The good news is that Aaron manages to use them to provide at least a decent story in this issue.  First, although it's unclear what Kade wants with Idie exactly or why she has to join the Hellfire Club of her own accord, we're really only dealing with Kiddie Frankenstein in this issue and not the whole roster of annoyingly insane children.  Second, I totally believe that Frankenstein's Monster is combing the world to eradicate every last descendant of Frankenstein.  I mean, wouldn't you?  The fact that Kiddie Frankenstein has taken up residence in Salem Center to stalk Idie creates a plausible reason for why Frankenstein's Monster and his circus suddenly appear in town.  Aaron makes the circus intriguing in its own right, since it's purpose is to harvest souls for Frankenstein's Monster to sell to Hell in exchange for staying alive.  Seriously.  Of course, the X-Men make it easier for the Monster to do so, given that their powers lend themselves to circus feats that help bring in more "customers" than the circus usually pulls.  I thought this part could've veered into cheesy, but Gillen kept it on this side of clever.  Overall, it was a pretty tight story, even if it involved a character (Kiddie Frankenstein) that I'd really love never to see again.

The best part of this issue, though, is that it sets up a pretty good storyline for the kids in the next issue.  For most of this series, they've pretty much just milled around the School.  But, with the professors incapacitated, we might actually get to see them do something.