Joss Whedon

`Astonishing’ development: `Buffy’ creator launches new X-Men book

Imagine if Brad Pitt appeared as a contestant on ``American Idol.’’

Or if Pedro Martinez popped up as co-host of NBC’s ``Today Show.’’

You’d probably have one of those what-the-bleep moments.

Comic book fans are having a similar, albeit happier, reaction, as cult TV creator Joss Whedon - best known for ``Buffy the Vampire Slayer’’ - takes on a new career, sort of.

The acclaimed writer/director has signed a one-year deal with Marvel Comics to write the company’s franchise characters, the X-Men.

Whedon thought he’d simply take over a pre-existing book - there are only about 19 monthly X-comics, it appears, but Marvel is so invested in Whedon that it is launching a new book, ``Astonishing X-Men,’’ on sale May 26.

``When I heard the title, I asked, `Does it have to be astonishing every month?’ ’’ Whedon said jokingly in a telephone interview earlier this week.

But Marvel is smart enough to recognize that Whedon’s reputation for strong characters, plot twists and frightening villains can draw legions of new readers.

``Astonishing’’ isn’t Whedon’s first foray into comics - but it is his biggest project. Last year, he penned a miniseries for Dark Horse Comics called ``Fray,’’ about a vampire slayer in the far future. The comic was beset by delays because of Whedon’s TV and film projects.

Whedon says he understands he has to adhere to a stricter schedule.

So why the X-Men?

Whedon said Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada corraled him at a recent comic book convention and offered him the job on the spot.

``I had no choice - I couldn’t say no.’’

Whedon credits one X-Men heroine with inspiring a part of his most famous creation, Buffy. That would be the Kitty Pryde, a teenaged mutant with the ability to become intangible and walk through walls - and just about anything else.

``I fell in love with her as a teenager,’’ Whedon said.

Kitty will be one of his five core characters.

The rest of his cast includes Scott Summers - Cyclops - recovering from the most recent death of his wife, Jean Grey, (yes, she’s dead - again) and embarking on a new romance with mutant school headmistress Emma Frost, the White Queen; Hank McCoy, the blue-furred Beast; and Logan, better known as Wolverine.

``You can’t have an X-Men book without Wolverine, not that I mind,’’ he said.

``The biggest challenge is to figure out who they are, why they are a team, why they are this team and how they can possibly keep it together. Things always go so badly for the X-Men. They have really crappy lives. They take it on the chin 24/7.’’

Whedon wouldn’t reveal exactly what kind of menaces the team will be facing, but did say his top priority is to beef up the team’s ``rogues gallery.’’

``I’m trying to create some villains of my own that are fun to look at. The problem with the X-Men’s rogues gallery is that very few of them have been as exciting as the X-Men. The most interesting ones - Rogue, the Juggernaut, the White Queen - all became X-Men. I’ve been robbed.’’

One thing missing from Whedon’s book: the team’s trademark leathers, fashion statements from two big-screen blockbusters.

Spandex is back in.

Whedon says that was an edict from Marvel, and he even includes a joke in his first issue about all the leather scaring the public. So Wolverine will be back in his yellow spandex outfit (which goes far in explaining his temper, actually).

Whedon knows he has a tough act to follow. Writer Grant Morrison - who recently signed an exclusive deal with DC Comics -helped rev the X-Men universe up with stories that deftly mixed sci-fi with soap opera.

``I’m very interested in the smaller moments. I will use a story with great intensity, in which the fate of the earth may hang in the balance, but the big moment I’ll focus on is when they are getting ready and getting dressed. Grant Morrison has a great science-fiction brain. My stuff is a little smaller and down to earth.’’

Whedon has plenty of ideas to carry him past the 12-issue mark - but whether readers will get to see them depends on his schedule.

As for his ultimate comic book story, Whedon said he has long dreamed of a Buffy/Batman crossover and pictures the two standing on a darkened rooftop.

Buffy says to the Dark Knight: ``That’s it? It’s just the costume? No bat powers? ’Cause I know people with bat powers.’’

Maybe some day.