X-Men: Schism is over and the mutants have chosen sides. Now the X-Men are back in school as X-Men: Regenesis kicks into high gear with Wolverine and the X-Men #1. The most endearing thing about the X-Men is the element of mutant teenagers going to mutant school to learn about stuff but mostly to fight off whoever’s attacking the school on a regular basis. For a few years we were stuck reading about an island full of mutants but now the X-Men are back in Westchester and this time, things are a little different. Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters is no more. Welcome to the brand new Jean Grey School for Higher Learning!

It’s not as elegant as Xavier’s but that’s what excites me about this new school. We’re still reading about a school for mutants but for the first time since Emma Frost’s Massachusetts Academy, we’re seeing a school for gifted individuals not run by Professor X or Cyclops. While the old school mutant schools pretend that they’re normal educational facilities, this new school mutant school flaunts its mutantness with floating structures and ice protruding through an entire building. If that’s not crazy enough for you, check out the co-headmasters of JGSHL:

Computer nerd with ninja skills Kitty Pryde and THE GODDAMN WOLVERINE. We’ve seen them as instructors several times already, most notably in Joss Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men run, but this is actually the first time they are in charge of an entire school. It’s fun seeing them being anxious and uncomfortable as headmasters, considering they face unimaginable evil and otherworldly threats on a regular basis without flinching.

There’s also the mentor-and-pupil-turned-equals friendship dynamic between them that we don’t often see these days. For new readers, it’s just Wolverine and some feisty cute chick, but for long time fans of the X-Men, this is like Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson running a school for Robins and Batgirls. They offer a fresh perspective on running a mutant school and it would be interesting to see how they handle everything. In this first issue, we’ve already seen them struggling to get the school off the ground as they try to convince two inspectors from the Department of Education that the school is safe, but we all know that’s not true. By the way, do those inspectors remind you of two former headmasters of a mutant school?

Kudos to Jason Aaron for introducing us to the new Westchester school without making us feel like we’ve all seen it before. I’ve always been highly entertained when writers give a tour of a mutant school whether its student body is composed of the original X-Men, the New Mutants, Generation X or the Young X-Men. Most of them just show us the daily activities of students and instructors. While some of those stories are fun to read, Aaron’s introduction to Wolverine’s new venture is as entertaining as they come.

There’s just something hilarious about two Department of Education inspectors bearing witness to all the perils in a school full of mutant teenagers. I mean, if you were in their shoes, would you approve of an entire school that is pretty much the Danger Room?

Teenage mutants in a school that is more or less one giant death trap is the main hook of this book for me and this is the part where I profess my love for Chris Bachalo. Nobody makes kids in fatal situations look so much fun than Bachalo. His run on Generation X will always be my favorite work of his and I hope he can bring that dark whimsy into this book. Bachalo’s art here may not be as dark as it was in Generation X, but I think it will grow on me.

While the Danger Room being active in all parts of the school is enough to tickle my fancy, I’m also glad that Aaron has also included more potential threats to the children’s safety such as the Hellfire Club and the strange things happening within school premises. Of course there’s also the combustible elements of troublemaker students — particularly Quentin Quire — aliens, creatures from another dimension and the fact that one of the headmasters has several decades’ worth of deadly enemies waiting for the right opportunity to destroy everything he holds dear. The more the kids are in danger, the more I want to read this book every single month. It’s just not the X-Men without the potential of death and destruction in a school full of teenage mutants. Professor X knows what I’m talking about.

Overall, it’s a fantastic start for Wolverine and the X-Men. It’s an old concept, yes, but it has great new ideas and a fresh combination of characters. I mean, instead of just mutant students, we also have a couple of aliens in there. The staff has a couple of strange members as well; we have Doop and purple alien dragon Lockheed apparently teaching classes. And let’s not forget about the school janitor, Toad. On top of all that, there are small Nightcrawlers running around and stealing people’s whiskey. There’s just a lot that I love about Wolverine and the X-Men #1 and I hope Aaron, Bachalo and the rest of the creative team can deliver this kind of fun and excitement every month. And judging from the Things to Come! teaser, I might just get what I’m hoping for.