Joss Whedon

Quick Rating: Excellent! - What price would you pay to be normal? - Written by: Joss Whedon - Penciled/Inked by: John Cassaday - Colors by: Laura Martin - Letters by: Chris Eliopoulos - Assistant Editor: Cory Sedlmeier & Stephanie Moore - Editor: Mike Marts - Editor In Chief: Joe Quesada - Publisher: Dan Buckley

The excitement that comes with each issue of this series is, for me, not unlike the early hours before you can get up to enjoy Christmas morning. Okay, maybe it’s not THAT good, but the point is that I look forward to reading this book more than any other at the moment even beating out my current obsession for Ultimate Spider-Man.

What Joss Whedon and John Cassaday have done is not so much reinvent a franchise as reinivigorate it. You can debate how much orginality goes into a story involving a cure for mutancy, but what you can’t debate is that this one is much more personal and interesting than previous attempts.

Right away Whedon lets us know the strife this is causing not only in the US, but in the heart of the school. At first I couldn’t understand why Wolverine was so adamant that Beast destroy the sample but after hearing his explanation and actually thinking about what that would mean for the team, I have to say I agree. I don’t really agree with the methods, but it makes for great drama and quite a bit of comedy. The line where Wolverine says he’d never pick a fight with Kitty because she’d go "All Ninja" on him is great and had me laughing out loud.

A friend of mine recently dropped by for a visit and as I usually do I hoard a stack of comics for him to read. Astonishing X-Men was at the top of the pile, and though he was already a fan of Whedon’s work on Angel simply wasn’t prepared for how good his work on this book is. It’s an agreement around the Wilkinson homestead that Whedon’s best work to date was done on Firefly but this series takes a close second.

One thing Whedon is particularly good at is involving all the characters and developing not only a clear personality, but group dynamics as well. The early episodes of Angel, much like a solo series like Wolverine, worked to give the audience as much one on one time with their favorite character as possible. What fails in the end, however, is that other than flashy adventures and cool poses, the character ultimately doesn’t move on or do anything relevant without a meaningful support cast.

As Angel continued to grow, so did the devotion of fans of the show. Whedon seems to have learned his lesson then as this book positively glows brightest when characters are truly interacting. Nick Fury’s talk with Cyclops not only illustrates how little the two have interacted in the past but also sets up S.H.I.E.L.D as a potential enemy in upcoming arcs. Emma and Cyclops work brilliantly, the dynamic between Kitty and Emma is perfect as was the confrontation between Beast and Wolverine. No matter how you slice it, this is quality work.

Not to bash anyone else out there, but let’s take a look at Chuck Austen’s latest work on Uncanny X-Men. I’ll go on record right now as saying some of his recent work on Exiles was fantastic and his current arcs on Uncanny X-Men are gathering strength. Yet when you look at the characters he has, many of them are driven into the background with nothing to do. Rogue and Gambit have had less than ten lines between them while Juggernaut and Iceman essentially repeat themselves. In Austen’s work, which is a different approach to comic storytelling, the events drive the plot and influence the characters. In Whedon’s work, the characters are in full command which affects the end results. It’s a subtle distinction, but it makes reading Astonishing X-Men that much more enjoyable.

Getting on to Ord, I’m curious to see where this character is going. He’s described as an alien, possibly a mutant, and clearly has a past with the X-Men. As to who and what he is I’m sure it will be revealed, but for the life of me I can’t even begin to fathom who he really is.

The end of the issue deals nicely with Cyclops’ preoccupation with his dead wife, Jean. After Beast announces they’re testing this ’cure’ on a mutant, Cyclops leaps to that conclusion. But then again, there are a lot of dead mutants out there to test on. Early teasers say there’s a big reveal coming in the next few months and the shocking return of a character.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say Colossus.

There are many reasons for this guess, a few of which I can’t publically reveal. Still, seeing as though he died for a cure to the Legacy virus, having him pumped full of cure doesn’t seem beyond the realm of possibility. Dead means dead, but then again... what if he wasn’t dead in the first place? Things like life and death are tricky concepts in the book.

Who knows, though. It could be Cypher. Psylocke. A Multiple Man. The possibilties all exist for something interesting, that’s for sure.

John Cassaday steps up to the plate with this issue. I find the first issue, often, for an artist is the one that looks the best. It’s the worm on the hook, and after the fish (us, for those of you who can’t make the connection) are caught there’s no more need to feed us as often. Cassaday, though, seems to be improving with each issue. Wolverine and Beast in particular look fantastic in this issue. From the amount of detail in Beast’s hair to the subtle designs in the school, it’s clear that Cassaday wants to make this the project to remember.

He’s doing an amazing job. Between him and Whedon, this is going to go down in the annals of x-history as one of the best tales ever told. You should treat yourself and buy it, and once the trades are available, buy those as well. You won’t be disappointed.