Wolverine: First Class- The Rookie by Van Lente, Divito and Espin

Kitty Pryde was a new student at Xavier's school when she was first paired with Wolverine, and neither was happy at being paired with each other. This graphic novel shows several cases that pairs Kitty and Wolverine together.

In the first story, they are sent to find a missing mutant who lives in a small town. But when they get there, the inhabitants of the small town are afraid of all mutants and want nothing more but to kill them. But when Wolverine is affected by the same rage that is affecting the town, it is up to Kitty to bring him back under control and resolve the missing person case.

Next, Kitty needs someone who can drive her to the Dazzler Concert. She asks Wolverine to drive her and her friends, but he turns her down flat. Kitty is ready to do anything to get him to drive her, including look up his birthday and invite Mariko out to dinner with him on his birthday. But when Sabretooth attacks and tries to kill Wolverine, can Kitty undo the damage she's done?

Then, Kitty and Wolverine travel to Wundagore to look for Magneto, and instead get wrapped up in an adventure starring the High Evolutionary and his New Men, made from a mix of human and animal genetic material. When the High Evolutionary's greatest mistake, The Man-Beast, returns to destroy all the High Evolutionary created, one of the New Men will cross Kitty's DNA with a real cat to turn her into a version of one of the New Men's greatest heroes. But can she fight against the Man-Beast in her new form?

And the final story is a reprinted story of Wolverine, Wendigo, and the Hulk as Wolverine takes on the Hulk as he fights Wendigo. But can the woman whose brother is cursed to be the Wendigo transfer the curse into the Hulk? Or will the Hulk's humanity beneath his green skin put her plans on hold?

I found the pairing of Kitty and Wolverine charming. Wolverine is so often shown as an animalistic guy little better than the animal of his namesake. But he does have a daughter, so he isn't going to brutalize young woman, either. While putting up a harsh front, he's something of a softy on the inside, so pairing him and Kitty (who was like a daughter to him long before Jubilee even appeared on the scene) is just perfect.

I found the Wolverine/Kitty Pryde pairing to be the best, so the last story didn't really appeal to me. It ends up being more a Hulk story than a Wolverine story anyhow. I like the way that the two of them get on together. Wolverine may be macho and cynical, but Kitty is optimistic and enthusiastic to be his perfect foil.

I really liked this graphic novel and made me remember how much I loved the early X-men comics, and more to the point, *why* I loved them. And if you remember that time, you'll love this graphic novel, too. Highly recommended.