The reviews are further down the page, first there's some preamble. It's important to understand the state of the X-Men comic franchise upon Joss Whedon's arrival. Back when Joe Quesada and Bill Jemas took over Marvel at the turn of the century they set about throwing caution to the wind in an attempt to save the publishing section of the once mighty company. Kevin Smith (the movie director and writer) had already written a well received Daredevil arc for Joe Q. so they rebuilt the comics around big concepts and big writers. Ever wonder what happened to Babylon 5 writer J. Michael Straczynsky? He's been writing Amazing Spider-Man (and other well thought of Marvel comics) for several yeas now. Comics isn't without its own big names either, so up and coming star writers Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Millar were given the Ultimate Universe to create - a place to retell the the stories of the company's main characters in a modern, Marvel movie inspired style (Ultimate Spider-Man and Ultimate X-Men being the two books that launched it - check my review of Ultimate X-Men vol. 2 here). For the normal X-Men the big name was writer Grant Morrison, brought in to shake up the flagging franchise as he took over the X-Men title with issue 114, turning it into New X-Men (see the enthusiastic review of New X-Men hardcover Vol. 1 here). With issue #154 of New X-Men, Morrison waved good bye and it was time for a new Big Writer to do something with the X-franchise. TV's Joss Whedon was it.
   

Recognise the name? He's the man who created and wrote (to one degree or another) Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Angel and Firefly. He's a man who has the hang of screen writing for our generation and has been successful (at least in the past). He's had a pretty limited comics experience until now. He wrote a few Buffy spin-off tales for Dark Horse apparently and a futuristic Slayer series "Fray". For the comics world, Astonishing X-Men will be their first experience of his comics output. That's not to say he's new to the world of comics. Chris Claremont's X-Men (he wrote the title for 25 odd years and turned it into the juggernaut you may know today) was a huge influence on Buffy and Whedon's a well documented enthusiast for it. So what can he do in a twelve issue run on a shiny fresh X-title with the excellent artist John "Planetary" Cassaday? Let's see.
   

Written by Joss Whedon, drawn by John Cassaday.
Issued at the end of every month from Marvel Comics to a comic shop near you.

The reshuffling of the X-Men books after Morrison's departure is too unimportant for me to go into here, but basically this is the book that has inherited the main cast Morrison had to play with and, ultimately, the closest of any of them to the themes and tone of Morrison's New X-Men. Whedon's writing in this issue is solid. There are a few moments of the trademark Joss Whedon snappy dialogue but for the most part this is a man trying to build a steady foundation in his first issue, hopefully to enable him to relax into it and bring his style more and more into play as the book goes on. The plot is a perfectly usable"cure for mutants" thing, which is somehow tied into a terrorist (who appears to be a mutant). However, the subplots offer more interest from my perspective - the reshaping of the school under Scott and Emma's control (Cyclops and the White Queen), the friction between Logan (Wolverine) and Scott since Jean Grey's death, Kitty Pryde's (Shadowcat) reintegration into the school and team, and her hostility towards the ex-villain Emma. There's plenty of material for the characterisation and (for lack of a better term) soap opera between the main players that Whedon is best at. The final plot point (or is better described as a theme for the book?) is the reshaping of the X-Men as a standard superhero team to improve their image in the public eye. This angle has proved quite interesting in the mutant books in the past (the second X-Factor team had some interesting threads along these lines as a government sponsored team) and hopefully will here too.

John Cassaday is an excellent artist (those who disagree are, to be honest, plain wrong) and his work in Astonishing is no exception. I'm waiting to be convinced that this is the best choice of book for him (I'm not sure a return to spandex and traditional superheroics is the best material for Cassaday's style) but his first issue is very good nonetheless. His people remain as interesting to look at as ever and his scene construction is excellent as always. He's not a traditional superhero brawl artist but his action scenes have their own style and fluidity that's somewhat ethereal. His Beast (Hank McCoy) isn't clicking with me yet but hopefully he'll settle into the character in a few issues. His Logan works particularly well, as does his Kitty Pryde.

With the costumes... he's done his best to design and draw things that people could actually make and wear, which has the effect of looking a little odd in his rather realistic art style. Still, at least they're reasonably subdued and don't look too terrible in comparison to the casual wear that Morrison had the team dress in (real clothing that, in my opinion, worked much better for the book than spandex ever did). Oh yes, and this is could to sound a little odd but bear with me, Cassaday understands human anatomy. His Kitty Pryde, despite being a young woman (age somewhere between late teens and early twenties) has the kind of... chest you'd expect to see on most slim young women. Emma Frost, on the other hand, is a lady who has spent a considerable amount of money on her looks and subsequently has a chest that's probably more familiar to readers of supehero comics. It's the little things that make the difference...

Overall a solid start with lots of material to get good, entertaining mileage from. Fingers crossed.
 

Written by Joss Whedon, drawn by John Cassaday.
Issued at the end of every month from Marvel Comics to a comic shop near you.

The second issue of Astonishing sees the two main creators settling into their roles. Joss gets into his stride this month and the amusing & snappy dialogue we're familiar with from Buffy et al, starts to permeate. He's making great use of the Beast as a voice of comedy throughout the seriousness, in a fashion that puts me in mind of Guido in the early days of the second X-Factor. Logan gets a few good snappy lines too, which is perhaps more in-keeping with Hugh Jackman's portrayal of the character than most of the comic version's history, but it fits. Whedon further develops the tension between Emma and Kitty and even throws in what could have been a cop-out solution to their bickering, but ultimately it does nothing to sweeten Kitty's disposition. Of equal interest is what he's doing with Scott Summers. Scott doesn't appear to be completely at ease with his role as joint head of the school and crafting the X-Men into a team of superheros isn't making it any easier. Hopefully this will be developed, or at least maintained, as the series goes on.

Ahh John Cassaday. Whedon could be the worst writer in the world and this comic would be worth picking up just for the loveliness that is Cassaday's art. Thankfully Joss is not, and instead Cassaday gets to work his magic on top of some quality writing. He appears to be getting more comfortable with the characters and as they spend this issue in costume he's given ample time to convince us that, actually, those costumes look kind of neat. The action scenes revolve around the takedown of the terrorists and they're frankly magnificent. Each panel of action (wide as is Cassaday's usual style) has such energy and movement.

His Beast looks much better this issue and I'm really enjoying his take on Hank's feline form. John (and Joss too I'd imagine) seems to be intent on making the Beast "cool" again as he delivers some excellent moves in the fight scenes. Towards the end the character is breaking in to the BeneTech laboratories and the two creators have him using both his brain and his mutation in a lovely piece of Mission Impossible style breaking and entering. It's enjoyable to watch and hopefully won't be the last time we see it (or similar). A final compliment must go to Laura Martin, Cassaday's ever faithful (and ever talented) colourist. Her work on the panel depicting Lockheed the dragon's return is truly stunning.

My enthusiasm for the book has increased significantly this month, as is probably obvious from my gushing review. Whedon's writing is moving more towards his style and he's successfully juggling all those themes and plots I mentioned in issue one. Roll on issue three.
 

Written by Joss Whedon, drawn by John Cassaday.
Issued at the end of every month from Marvel Comics to a comic shop near you.

The third issue is upon us and Whedon appears to have levelled off, so unless either he or Cassaday make dramatic shifts in ability then these are going to be much shorter reviews. Still, there's plenty to talk about or rehash at this stage that I haven't already done to death. Whedon has finished settling into the book now, he comes across as being in total control of what he is doing with the characters and the plot. Understandably he may not be doing what every single rabid X-Fan would like him to do, but he is confident in writing this his way now. As you may expect, he's having the most fun with the two central female characters, Kitty and Emma, as they continue to verbally spar with one another. Grant Morrison's Emma Frost in New X-Men was one of the best written (or at least, most interesting and entertaining to me) X-characters in their history. Whedon doesn't hit the same highs with her for me, but he does write her very well indeed. Kitty Pryde, on the other hand, is someone who I have never had the slightest bit of interest in. I haven't actually read any long runs of any title with her in yet, but to be honest I've never felt the urge to. Whedon has changed that for me, he's writing her as a (occasionally amusingly) naive young lady who gets some of the best lines in her verbal fights with Emma. In fact all of the X-Men are getting some amusing snappy dialogue, which is never rip-roaringly hilarious but adds some fun without ruining the overall tone.

Good old Scott Summers deserves a mention too. He's always had arguably the "coolest" power (optic blasts from the eyes, every boy's dream!) and for some reason he's also always been a terrifyingly dull character. Not even the convoluted mess of his family history, nor the torturous relationship with Jean Grey could save him. That is until Morrison saved him (apparently it was something he was asked to do upon arrival - make Scott Summers interesting). He gave the character a personality and shook up his life with the Emma Frost affair. Now Whedon, whilst not writing him in quite the same "insanely calm" style that I so loved at the start of Morrison's New X-Men, continues to write a readable and interesting Cyclops. His Cyclops has character and is currently coming across as rather strained in his new role as joint Headmaster, but not in an angsty way (at least not yet, so fingers crossed it stays that way). He gets a good scene in this issue with Nick Fury and a wonderful page with Emma at the end of a danger room discussion.

Cassaday delivers the excellent artistic goods again, to the point where I almost want to him forget how to draw for one week, just so that I have something different to say about him. There are only a few panels of action this week (again, beautiful and unique in style, like last month) but Cassaday is a master of subtle facial expressions, so his conversation pages are still a delight to see. Paul O'Brien made note, in his review, of Whedon and Cassaday's livening up of the team conversation scenes with the Danger room. This has been a lovely little touch and returns for the second time this issue.

The two creators are operating in a welcome middle ground between the current trend of decompression (taking pages to dwell on the visuals) and the older, crammed approach to comics. When necessary Cassaday is allowed to go to town depicting events slowly and beautifully. However, all three issues so far have given me a welcome feeling that "things have happened" during their course, whether furthering the plot or merely developing the relationships between the characters. There are only twelve issues of Whedon and Cassaday in total, and I'm hoping that it continues like this. It's not the best comic of recent times but it is one of the best straight superhero titles.
 

Written by Joss Whedon, drawn by John Cassaday.
Issued at the end of every month from Marvel Comics to a comic shop near you.

"The supermen fight and die and return in a meaningless shadowplay because we make them do it." - Sublime, 'New X-Men: Here Comes Tomorrow'

"What was dynamic becomes static - dead characters always return, nothing that happens really matters ultimately." - Grant Morrison, 'The Morrison Manifesto' (New X-Men Vol. 1 hardcover)

Ahh superhero comics. They can be delightful little things but they have their flaws and issue four of Astonishing X-Men rolls into the most oft-criticised of the lot = the return of a dead character. The above quote from Morrison was taken from his honest analysis of what was rotten about the flagging X-Men franchise, part of his proposal and plan for New X-Men (reprinted for the public in the back of the first hardcover). Marvel, of course, know better and so we return to comics that teach us to ignore such things as consequences, because it will be alright in the end. As is probably apparent, my dislike of this subject has somewhat tainted my enjoyment of this issue.

Appropriately so, this is a much more downbeat and low-key issue than those before it. I'm sure some of this was down to me approaching the climax with trepidation, but it's certainly not popping with the sharp interplay and amusing one liners between characters of the first three. More serious issues such as this are nonetheless essential parts of an X-Writer's armoury, and Whedon pulls it off well enough, it just doesn't engage me quite as much as the issues with a more mixed tone. The plotting is still on track though, and it's good to see him continuing the usage of the actual pupils in the comic (something Morrison slapped back into the X-Men's world during New X-Men and one thing the editorial have thankfully not decided to undo since his departure).

Cassaday turns in another excellent performance on the pencils and Laura Martin continues to produce beautiful colouring (as always). Cassaday puts panelling to good use around the Big Reveal at the end of the issue. He's using widescreen panels but he's stacking six on one page. Like a piece of cinema beating to a heartbeat before a big moment (the moments leading up to the twist in Fight Club spring to mind), you turn the page and everything freezes for a second as the Big Reveal happens (a menacing full page spread) and then, like an almost stalling engine, it picks up again with four slices for a page and then two pages of fives before stopping on three. It's a narrative device that works very well. This is what decompressed storytelling can bring to enhance a comic, past the pages and pages of pretty, slow motion pictures that many a creator gets hung up on.

I might not be sounding as enthusiastic as I normally do but that's not to say this is a bad issue. It is good and Whedon is as competent here as most in the field of superhero comics. It just doesn't throb with the same kind of feelings I found within the other issues. It's colder, with less passion - quite likely things that will perfectly into the whole six issue story arc, but as a single issue it's not quite working. As for the returning character... well I'm hoping Whedon can craft an explanation that is at least interesting, even if unsatisfactory. There's certainly potential in all this. The reaction of Kitty was fantastic storytelling by the artists and there's the basis of some great character work in the coming issues, if it's followed through. Perhaps his biggest challenge now is to enthral me with a long-time X-Man that I've never had much time for in the past.