Friday, March 1, 2019

Astonishing X-Men #1

From the Random Stack of Unread Comics... Well, actually, I had previously read this issue, but this it my first time reviewing it.

Title: Astonishing X-Men
Issue: 1
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Date: July, 2004
Writer: Joss Whedon
Artist: John Cassaday
Colorist: Laura Martin
Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos
Editor: Mike Marts

This is a reboot for the X-Men, with film/TV writer/director Joss Whedon writing. We are introduced to a new semester at the Xavier School, and a new X-Men team: Kitty Pryde, Beast, Cyclops, Wolverine, and Emma Frost. It's a good lineup, that provides plenty of fodder for conflicts within the team.

In fact, most of this first issue is the team working out their role as teachers, teammates, and as superheroes, something that the X-Men have not always been seen as.

Whedon is a master of one-liners, and this issue included several really great ones (Kitty: "Did I miss the Sorting Hat?"; also Kitty to Emma, "I'm sorry, I was busy remembering to put on all my clothes.").

The interplay between the characters is fun, and the hints that are dropped about the larger scale plot are just enough to leave the readers intrigued.

X-Men has so much history behind it that it can get overly complicated too fast in many cases. This story managed to keep things moving along, giving the space to get to know the core team members before too much mayhem is allowed to happen, and the result is an excellent jumping-in point for new readers.

Rating: 8/10

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