Buy Pile Report: Astonishing X-Men

I've finally gotten my hands on Astonishing X-Men #25, the first issue under new creative team Warren Ellis and Simone Bianchi. Unfortunately, I was not nearly as "astonished" as I was reading the first issue of the series four years ago under the former team of Joss Whedon and John Cassady.

When reading that first issue back in the day, the bright and clear art was warm and welcoming. The confrontation between Scott and Logan set the series' snarky and energetic tone early. The presence of Kitty, walking the halls of the Mansion reminiscing, indicated Whedon knew his history and would be respectful to it. It all had a feel that was different from all the other X-offerings on the market, and really different from any X-book that came before it.

None of that is the case with this first issue from Ellis and Bianchi. It's not that the issue is bad, far from it, it just doesn't remotely have the feel Whedon and Cassady (not to mention colorist Laura Martin) established.

Every panel of art is dark, with thorough details on every background and every piece of clothing, not to mention characters' faces. And, again, I am not saying the art is bad, because it's quite good if you like that style. It's just not the bright and clear art Cassady defined the book with.

Just like his partner, Warren Ellis stamped this book all his own as well, providing more dialog and exposition in one issue than Whedon offered in a whole story arc. Where Whedon often let the art do the talking, Ellis's whole first issue consists of characters standing around gabbing in different locations, making all those words necessary. And, without giving away the story points, Ellis is clearly not writing this book with the same nostalgia Whedon did. Again, all these things are not bad, they just don't have the same feel as we were used to over the last 25 issues (24 + the "Giant-Sized" issue).

It was all enough of a difference that I wonder why Marvel wouldn't just restart this series with a new #1 issue, leaving Whedon and Cassady's masterpiece for a clean collection.

I'm also not all that nuts about the inclusion of Storm here. Yes, I know this is the A-list X-book in the House of Ideas, and yes, I know Storm is an A-list X-Man, but I just don't see where she fits into the dysfunctional lineup "Astonishing" always had. Those original characters weren't just chosen because they were big names, they were chosen because there were specific interactions and frictions Whedon wanted to explore. Here, we get an artificial fight between Storm and Emma (quickly resolved, thankfully), and nothing more from Ororo to show what she brings to the book. I don't want this to be the X-Men All-Star hour, I want a good story, with good character moments. I don't know that Storm adds in that category.

Maybe I've just come to expect too much out of the book titled "Astonishing," since the men who made it deserve its adjective are now gone.

The story really was not bad, and I'm sure all this stuff about "the place spaceships go to die" will be interesting -- it just didn't feel the same as it used to be. I kind of feel like this book may become "Uncanny X-Men 'A,' " with "Uncanny" becoming "Uncanny X-Men 'B' " -- and is that really what we want?