Selected Book
Astonishing X-Men, Vol. 2 (v. 2)
- Hardcover
- Author: Joss Whedon
- Artist: John Cassaday
- Publisher: Marvel Comics
- Release Date: December 2008
- ISBN-10: 0785122532
- ISBN-13: 9780785122531
- List Price: $34.99
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Summaries and Customer Reviews provided by Amazon
SummaryThis deluxe hardcover collects Astonishing X-Men Volume 3: Torn and Astonishing X-Men Volume 4: Unstoppable by the chart-topping super-team of Joss Whedon and John Cassaday, plus extras. In Torn, things go from peculiar to just plain bizarre! Emma Frost's erratic behavior has the X-Men spinning in a non-stop downward spiral. Will an unlikely union be the final straw? After secretly lying in wait for months, the new Hellfire Club makes its move! Plus: The X-Man destined to destroy the Breakworld stands revealed! Who is it, and what will be their fate? And in Unstoppable, the X-Men are off to protect the Earth from its destruction at the hands of the Breakworld. And when it's all over, nothing will ever be the same! No, really, we mean it! Collects Astonishing X-Men #13-24 and Giant-Size Astonishing X-Men #1 |
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
An incredibly impressive ending to a great X-Men saga
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?
Whedon's epic run comes to a close
Rating:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Serenity creator Joss Whedon's much beloved (and much delayed) run on Astonishing X-Men comes to an end with these two storyarcs, chronicling his second year on the book. In "Torn", we witness Cyclops, Emma Frost, Wolverine, Shadowcat, Colossus, and Beast enjoy some downtime; which naturally doesn't last long as a newly formed Hellfire Club attempts to take them apart by the inside out. Or so you may think. Whedon's twisting scriptwork leads into "Unstoppable", which catapaults the X-Men into space, and where they learn of the X-Man that is destined to bring about the destruction of the Breakworld. Agent Brand, Ord, and Danger are along for the ride as Whedon brings everything he's set up full-circle, bringing things to a spectacular close involving nearly every major hero in the Marvel Universe, and finding that not every member of the X-Men will be making it back home. Loaded with smart and snappy dialogue and fixed with plenty of surprises, Whedon's run has never managed to disappoint, and his characterization of Kitty Pryde remains the best the character has seen possibly since the days of Chris Claremont. Planetary artist John Cassaday provides more spectacular cinematic artwork as well, with some moments that are simply jaw-dropping. All in all, it's definitely sad to see Joss Whedon's run come to an end, but his work can easily be set next to Grant Morrison's prolific run as simply being the best X-Men stories in eons.
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