Joss Whedon

Astonishing X-Men #5 - "Gifted": Part Five - Writer: Joss Whedon - Artists: John Cassaday, Laura Martin(c) - Publisher: Marvel

Joss Whedon is on his way to becoming as influential as Grant Morrison was to comic books. Mr. Whedon has single-handedly through sheer skill made an X-Men book that is not only comprehensible but also fun to read. Whedon’s ear for dialogue and his ability to balance humor with drama tremendously benefits Astonishing X-Men.

In the fifth part of the series, readers see the return of Colossus. Given my dropping out during my sophomore year of Professor Xavier’s School for Convolution, I honestly had no idea that Colossus had allegedly died. I thought he just went back to Russia or something. Whedon however through the actions and dialogue of Kitty Pryde at once gives substance to Peter’s death and his return. Furthermore, this is not a trick, and Kitty smartly makes certain of it—not that it was necessary.

Whedon gives power to Kitty’s and Peter’s former relationship by doing something that seems in hindsight so obvious, yet such a simple solution confounds most hacks in the industry. Case in point: Hawkman. In one of the attempts to fix Hawkman’s continuity, it was decided by the apparently insane powers that be that the Hawkman and Hawkwoman who were seen in the Giffin/DeMatteis/Maguire Justice League of the post-Crisis and took part against the Manhunters’ second assault in a massive all-title crossover were in fact a Thanagarian imposter and his beard in the form of a human girlfriend. Well, that’s all well and good apart from...."The world’s greatest detective" referring to him as Carter!

Batman according to continuity part deux was friends with Hawkman and Hawkwoman and fought beside them in the Justice League of America. Even if we had to accept that somehow the space Hawks really never existed, this fix was a little easier to swallow because of that friendship and immortality being very commonplace in comic books; it’s those pesky feminine spines that are the problem. Basically, even if Batman’s research somehow missed the ties to Thanagarian intelligence, he should have been able to instinctively know whether or not Hawkman and Hawkwoman were the same people he considered old friends. Kitty doesn’t really need to confirm that Colossus is who he appears to be because she can feel it. They were former lovers, and she can tell.

As powerful as Whedon’s writing impacts, this issue’s blue ribbon goes to John Cassaday. The moment where the X-Men face Ord and suddenly appear to be seeing a ghost is a pure "Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!" moment. The scene also allows Whedon to twist what’s becoming an old joke elsewhere and kick off a violent, slap-happy melee where intelligent moves by the X-Men intricately link to high drama and high comedy.

In truth, The Avengers should be Marvel’s flagship title, and for a good Kurt Busiek while it was. However, thanks to Joss Whedon, John Cassady and the depth of Laura Martin’s color palette, a JLA/Astonishing X-Men team up now makes an inherent amount of sense. Bonus points for the reference to Xander’s strategy: "Man’s got eye-balls..."