Comic Shots #1 with Chris Neseman: Old Fashioned and ‘Wolverine: First Class’

Each week Chris Neseman drops by to pass along a tasty drink recipe and an even tastier comic book recommendation. The cocktail and the comic can both be enjoyed independently, but they have a common theme and when served together they can make for the perfect reading experience.

This week we’re mixing the rough and the sweet with one of my favorite cocktails. It’s a basic little beverage that I often hear referred to as a “Grandma” drink mostly because of it’s name. It’s an Old Fashioned, and it has been around for well over 100 years. For those of you that haven’t tried sampling straight whiskey, an Old Fashioned is a nice way to step into the world of bourbon. You can enjoy a sweet and chilled cocktail without totally losing the whiskey with mixers like soda, colas or sour mix.

Here’s the ingredients and how to make it.

Old Fashioned

• 1/2 orange slice
• 1 cube sugar
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• 2 ounces rye or bourbon whiskey (I prefer Jim Beam Bourbon)

Dissolve a small lump of sugar with an equal amount of water (bottled is best) in a whiskey-glass; add two dashes bitters, a couple ice cubes, a slice of fresh orange and the whiskey. Mix with a small spoon and serve with a maraschino cherry as garnish.

Enjoy an Old Fashioned on the back deck, out with friends, or on the couch while you’re reading…

Wolverine: First Class (Whiskey and Sugar – Wolverine and Kitty. Get it?)
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: Fred Van Lente
Artist: Andrea Di Vito & Salva Espin

Back in 2006 Marvel launched a series that revisited the early years of the original X-Men called X-Men: First Class by Jeff Parker and Roger Cruz. If you’re a fan of the original team, or if you just enjoy teenage superhero comics it’s a fun run of stories from a simpler time in X-Men history. I highly recommend picking up the original issues of the series if you can still find them, or even better, the beautiful oversized hardcover. It should also be noted that John Byrne helmed a similar series called X-Men: The Hidden Years. That said, we’re here to talk about the new First Class series starring Wolverine and a young Kitty Pryde. Wolverine: First Class begins with the newly recruited Kitty Pryde settling into Xavier’s mansion. For those concerned with continuity, this story probably takes place around Uncanny X-Men #139. If you were a fan of the Kitty Pryde and Wolverine mini series of the mid 80s this new series will pull on the nostalgic heart strings of those who remember a world with only one X-Title and the mini series that were used to tell additional stories. I miss those days, but I’m old fashioned… See, I told you it was a theme.

The series takes us back to a time when Wolverine was the rogue member of the X-Men and often less interested in fighting mutant terrorists than he was in finding out about his hidden past. That drive to uncover the truths of his life have provided decades of interesting plot lines and revelations about the character. Wolverine is certainly a more evolved character now, but the that lack of mystery may have ultimately taken away the rough edge that made him a favorite to many readers. What Fred Van Lente has been able to do in Wolverine: First Class is walk between the raindrops of continuity and tell stories about the Wolverine we remember from twenty years ago. By merely accepting that these stories take place in between the moments of classic X-Men stories we are able to have our cake and eat it too. We have the classic characters of Wolverine and Kitty Pryde told in a modern voice that appeals to both our adult tastes, and to the kid inside us that longs to recapture the joy of those early adventures. When Wolverine was simply “The best there was at what he did” and the mystery of his past hung over the character he was entertaining and exciting. First Class restores some of the rough edge to Wolverine in a way that goes down as easy as an 80 proof bourbon… Uh, you get my drift.

Kitty is without a doubt the sugar in our little comics cocktail and in many ways is the star of this series. When she was introduced during the Phoenix Saga, Kitty Pryde was our personal window into the X-world. Every kid reading the X-Men wondered what it would be like if they woke up one day to discover they were a mutant with fantastic abilities. Kitty was that kid, and we followed her experiences like they were our own. She was the kid that proved in our minds that a good heart and just a little genetic luck was all you needed to take on the bad guys and travel the universe. Kitty was the female version of Peter Parker for a whole new generation of comic fans in the 80s. What twelve year old at the time didn’t have a list of superhero names ready if that mutant gene finally kicked in? I know I did. I’ll also tell you that Sprite was never even close to being on that list. But I digress. Kitty was there to reintroduce the X-Men to us through the eyes of a newcomer. Of course she would be drawn to the danger and mystery of Wolverine, because we were as well. Mixing these two characters together was brilliant then, and it’s brilliant again twenty years later in Wolverine: First Class.

So take part of a lazy evening and mix up a little danger and sweetness with an Old Fashioned and Wolverine: First Class. Savor each sip and every page as you remember those days gone by with a classic cocktail and a classic feeling comic.

Chris Neseman is the host of The Around Comics podcast and a co-host of the 11 O’Clock Comics  podcast. You can contact him at chris@aroundcomics.com and suggest a cocktail or comic of your own, because good drinks and good comics should be shared.

Please obey the law and only drink if you are of age. Drink responsibly and never drink and drive. Buy only the amount of comics that you can till your wife or significant other threatens to throw things away.