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Rating:  -
I've bought this book becouse the first one was really amazing. Great story and art, great pacing. This volume is good, but not as great as the one before. Worth reading.
Rating:  -
The Astonishing X-Men is an intriguing and fun series. Im really loving them. Great writing and great illustrations. I really like the amount of detail put into these graphic novels. The characters have so much depth. Everything about the Astonishing Xmen is great!
Rating: -
Whedon and Cassaday bring amazing character dynamics and development to their second intallment of The Astonishing X Men. No relationship is simple, and no one character is a paragon of good or evil, not even some that have traditionally been squeaky clean in the past. Whedon's dialouge is both funny and thought provoking, only one of which seems to be a traditional theme in X Men Comics. Not to bore the hardcore fans of GNs and Comic Books though, the fight scenes are still epic. Cassaday's art is good for the slow parts, but the drawing for the fights are excellent. So, whether you're looking for a fun comedic romp, a character study, or just a good old rock 'em sock 'em comic book, Astonishing X Men delivers.
Rating: -
This was one of the hardest graphic novels to wait for since Ultimates 2. I gave up reading individual comic issues a few years back, preferring to buy the more durable and bookshelf-friendly collections, and only rarely have I regretted that decision, but the ending of the first Astonishing X-Men hardcover collection made the wait until the second hardcover was released almost intolerable.
Well, the wait is over and fortunately Joss Whedon (of Buffy and Angel fame) and John Cassaday did not disappoint. Whedon's storytelling, plot twists and unforgettable dialogue make this one of the most memorable X-Men runs in ages.
The first half of the collection is the Torn storyline, featuring the return (of sorts) of the all-new, all-evil Hellfire Club. Watching these guys rip through the X-Men with brutal precision was just incredible. Whedon, whose grasp of the X-Men's psychology is astonishing, uses this storyline to build Kitty Pryde into an A-list X-Man much the same way as Grant Morrison did for Emma Frost in his acclaimed X-Men run. He also goes a long way towards making Cyclops interesting again, which I appreciate.
I wasn't quite as impressed by the Unstoppable storyline in the second half of the book. Don't get me wrong, it's still one of the best X-Men tales around; I just never seem to enjoy those X-Men in space storylines (though Beast and Wolverine's reactions to being sent into space were priceless). In this story, the X-Men are sent to Breakworld (home or Ord from the first Astonishing X-Men storyline) to prevent Earth's destruction. Whedon's dialogue shines again, but these galactic epic storylines seem all too familiar, even with the sacrifice of a key character at the end of the saga.
As impressive as Whedon's stories are, John Cassaday's artwork is equally powerful. He's one of the 2-3 best artists working in comics today (second only to Bryan Hitch and Greg Land). I loved his Planetary run, and think he was the best possible choice for what Whedon wanted to accomplish in his X-Men run.
Whedon and Cassaday have put together one of the most impressive X-Men runs in history. I think that the Grant Morrison run will always be more important, coming in after years of mediocrity to radically shake up the status quo (not unlike Claremont and Cockrum's original run), but Whedon's run reflects a deeper love for the characters and their rich histories. This is another must-have collection for all X-Men fans, and has raised the bar for future X-Men stories.
Rating: -
Warning! This review contains SPOILERS! Do NOT read if you want to remain spoiler free! Again, I refer to details of the plot that you should avoid by not reading if you don't want to know what happens in the story.
I have to confess that I underestimated Joss Whedon. I don't often do that. BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER is my all time favorite TV series (along with BATTLESTAR GALACTICA) and I've loved ANGEL and FIREFLY along with other projects like DR. HORRIBLE. I have also loved Whedon's work in comics like FRAY, THE RUNAWAYS, SERENITY, and BUFFY Season 8 (not so big on ANGEL: AFTER THE FALL). I have been reading his X-Men cycle as they have come out in collected editions, and put off reading UNSTOPPABLE until it was paired with TORN in the second of the two hardback volumes collecting the entire Whedon/Cassaday run. I had enjoyed GIFTED, DANGEROUS, and TORN, but I had not been absolutely blown away by them. I mean, they were good, as good as Grant Morrison's ULTIMATE issues, but I wasn't amazed by them, as I often was on BUFFY and FIREFLY. The final volume in the story, however, was just shocking.
When I finished UNSTOPPABLE, I was simply stunned. One can debate whether Kitty Pryde was capable of doing what she is depicted as doing, but if one suspends one's disbelief (and why wouldn't we?), her big moment has to go down as one of the most shocking moments in all of comics. In fact, has any of the X-Men had a moment so grand? Joss Whedon is famous for depicting empowered women, but Kitty's moment of sacrifice in saving earth when the united Avengers had failed to do so was striking even for him. Is Kitty Pryde gone for good? Well, in the world of comics, never say never. She certainly seems to be gone, probably dead, or at the very least not herself. If so, I'll miss her enormously. I loved her because of all the X-Men she was the one whose powers were most subtle. She could use are abilities to endanger others, such as threatening to materialize an axe handle in someone's skull, but it wasn't like she was going to knock down walls. Given Whedon's use of women on TV like Buffy, Willow, Fred, Cordelia, and River, it was hardly surprising that he decided to make Kitty Pryde a member of his version of the X-Men. But I had no idea that he would utilize her so brilliantly.
The final installment also did a great job of pulling together all the threads of the previous three volumes. At the end of Whedon's run, the issues all did tell a single great story. And there were several significant developments that will affect future versions of the X-Men. The relationship between Scott and Emma has been further defined. Colossus is back. And there is a new member of the X-Men, the Xavier student Hisako having been promoted to main team status by Wolverine with the new name Armor.
The past few years I've often regretted that Joss Whedon was using his considerable talent in writing comics rather than in producing TV shows. Well, I am glad that he is doing DOLLHOUSE this winter and would take that over a new comic assignment, but I definitely do not feel that his time spent writing comics has been a waste of time. His work on THE ASTONISHING X-MEN (not to mention BUFFY Season 8) has been outstanding. Clearly at this point he has established that he is not a one-hit wonder. I just hope that the next fifteen years of his professional career are as fruitful as the past fifteen.
Although clearly the greatest attraction for me was Joss Whedon's involvement on this project, any reviewer failing to acknowledge the outstanding work that John Cassaday did. Well before his teaming up with Whedon on THE ASTONISHING X-MEN I was a huge fan of Cassaday from his work on CAPTAIN AMERICA and PLANETARY. He is one of the few artists working in comics whose name on a project will get me to buy it. When you get a writer as good as Whedon with an artist as gifted as Cassaday, you truly do get a result that almost instantly classifies the project as an instant classic.
Just a quick word of clarification for those who haven't read any of this and are unclear where to start. The Whedon/Cassaday ASTONISHING X-MEN series is comprised of four volumes, with the titles GIFTED, DANGEROUS, TORN, and UNSTOPPABLE. I recommend getting them in the two hardback editions. Volume One of the hardback collects GIFTED and DANGEROUS while Volume Two collects TORN and UNSTOPPABLE. But whether you get all four paperback volumes or the two hardback volumes, this is a set that anyone either loving comics or the work of Joss Whedon will want to own.
Note: The cover depicted is not the cover that was on the hardback copy that I received. Instead, it was a mainly black cover with Kitty Pryde in the top half of the front cover. Below that, in staggeringly huge letters was JOSS WHEDON and in much smaller letters, Astonishing X-Men. Hmmmm. I love Joss Whedon, but is it really appropriate to have his name significantly larger the the subject?
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