World Famous Comics: Astonishing X-Men Vol. 2: Dangerous
Astonishing X-Men Vol. 2: Dangerous
By: Joss Whedon, John Cassaday Publisher: Marvel Comics Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Marvel Comics Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 144 Publication Date: November 23, 2005 Reading Level: Young Adult
Product Description: A tragic death at the Xavier Institute reveals a powerful enemy living among the X-Men that they could never have suspected - and no, it's not Magneto. Things heat up in a way none of the X-Men ever dreamed, but will teamwork save the day when they can't even depend on themselves? Collects Astonishing X-Men #7-12.
Been there, done that, read the Claremont/Bryne run from years earlier. From the beginning, to the end of his run, Whedon treats all the characters, with the exceptions of Cyclops and Colossus, exactly as they were in the 70s. It's as if he wants to write about the heroes he grew up with, and wants to ignore all the character growth that occurred in the last few decades. Wolverine is nothing more than a smartass who drinks beer. Emma Frost is a royal witch, Kitty Pride is still unsure and scared and amatuerish, despite her having been a SHIELD agent, hopped around the world with Wolverine, and kicked butt with the best of'em. Beast is more or less his at first bouncy beastly self, and then switches to his morose, self loathing, insecure self. Colossus is brought back from the dead (guess no x-men can stay dead), and Cyclops is treated like a leader with ability, not just a 2 dimensional jackass.
I hate the way Whedon cops out on all the villians he creates, and how their abilities exist. "It's alien! It's super science!". "Died? Oh we can bring you back. Shot into space without a suit? We can bring you back. Living computers? Shiar did it!"
I was particularly disappointed with his lack of ignoring not just X-men Continuity/Growth, but also ignores what SHIELD is for. Fury's response to the Genosha incident with the super sentinels with "It wasn't US territory". So I guess being UN Sanctioned in the first place sorta doesn't matter anymore.
Hack writing, lackluster fights, and occasional witty dialog (though out of character in many cases). It's mostly the same campy humor of Buffy the vampire slayer. Hit or miss, sight gags, 'omg that's embarrassing' moments.
It did have some outstanding visuals though. And the binding wasn't horrible. Whedon..please stick to ripping off Sci-Fi Anime and writing teen dramas.
Joss Whedon and John Cassaday continue to astonish Collecting "Astonishing X-Men" issues 7-12, this trade paperback features the X-Men versus a newly-sentient Danger Room. Action, fisticuffs, technology gone wild, it's all here. Sound pretty simple, though, to support a six-issue arc? Well, in the old days of more panels per page and half the story being told with wordy captions, this would have probably been a slam-bang three parter. But I enjoy the fewer number of panels per page of modern comics (the larger panels show off the art more) as well as the reined-in verbiage (comics being a visual medium and all). The result is an epic that's big, yet moves and breathes. Besides, there's other stuff going on, too: we see more of the shady dealings of S.W.O.R.D. (S.H.I.E.L.D.'s dark underbelly), enjoy a little romance in the Kitty/Colossus department, and learn more about Emma Frost's secret villainous alliance. If you liked the first "Astonishing X-Men" collection ("Astonishing X-Men: Gifted"), this second volume won't disappoint you.
Don't Hold This Against Joss While I had nothing but praise for mastermind Joss Whedon's first X-Men trade paperback (Astonishing X-Men Vol. 1: Gifted). I found the second arc of the series ("Dangerous") to be problematic. The story threads started and unfinished in "Gifted" were hardly touched at all in this arc, and a whole new, very confusing story starts. Those unfamiliar to pre-Whedon X-Men are going to find themselves lost when the mythology of "the Danger Room", Professor Xavier, and Genosha come into play, as they were hardly even mentioned in "Gifted."
This trade paperback collects the entire "Dangerous" arc, made up of six issues, and there are certainly many good points to be spoken of. The first and some of the sixth issue read very well, and--as with any Joss Whedon work--the character interactions are done perfectly. The character of Wing and his situation had a lot of potential for a great story, but what was done with him was convoluted at best. The baddie in this issue (a personification of the Danger Room itself) spends more than half the issue explaining itself, and I'm simply left saying "Huh?" Whedon even admitted his mistakes in this arc, saying that he was "so fascinated with the idea of new intelligence that (he) neglected the action and thus prevented the story from flowing well."
Overall, don't let this trade paperback change your view of Whedon. He was the best writer television has ever seen, and he's making a crater sized dent in the world of comics with this Astonishing X-Men, his arc of Runaways, and his Buffy: Season Eight series. Every writer has a bit of a slip up. This is Joss's.
6/10
Graphic SF Reader Colossus returns in Astonishing X-Men. Not having read X-Men for a long time before I started with the Astonishing run I had no idea that this had happened, anyway, so if that was cheesy to those that had been following all along, it is proably understandable. Might be a 50% chance now that some of the main X-Men have died and returned. Anyway, not as good as the first trade.
The astonishing still continue... This volume presents a new threat. An enemy that lives in the mansion years ago, and Professor X knew their existence, that make the X-men dissapointed about Professor Charles, the hole idea is to show that the Professor had to make many bad choices, terrible ones and kept them as a secret. This book has a good art but the story is not that good as the volume 1. If you like X-men, you probably have to read this book.
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