After a good decade away from the House Of Ideas Chris Claremont, the man who made the X-Men who they are today, finally returned to Marvel and one of the most iconic characters he created. Kurt Wagner, the conflicted Catholic/teleporting mutant had taken a long sojourn from the comics too, as a result of erm dying. But not to worry, apparently his dad was part Satan or something anyway, so he soon found himself resurrected and returned to teach at the Jean Grey School For Higher Learning in a new ongoing written by Claremont and drawn by Todd Nauck which debuted this year. Nauck's art isn't bad, but it's the covers by Jamie McKelvie that have really impressed. Having drawn interiors for one of last year's best Marvel books (Young Avengers, with long time collaborator and The Wicked + The Divine co-conspirator Kieron Gillen), cKelvie has since moved into providing a bunch of covers for the publisher. His cover for Nightcrawler #2 takes advantage of the clean, crisp style McKelvie has come known for, alongside his flair for natural poses in an industry which doesn't often pride itself on being anatomically correct. Then there's the stark use of colour, with the bright pink BAMF against the black of the background and Kurt's furry face.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
