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Astonishing X-Men #25
Posted 29 Oct 2008
Writer: Warren Ellis
Artist: Simone Bianchi
Letters: Chris Eliopoulos
Colors: Simone Peruzzi
Publisher: Marvel
5.00 out of 5 Stars
Reviewed by ian Chant
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Curse you, Warren
Ellis!
I was so ready to
stop reading X-Men books. In the wake of the Messiah Complex
storyline and its wasted potential, I had taken every X-book off of
my pull list for the first time since adolescence. It was a brutal
but necessary culling of the weak from the herd, and though
sentimentally difficult, I knew it was ultimately for the best. And
it felt good. I was free and clear and new, the way I imagine
people must feel after being baptized, or getting an enema. And
then Warren Ellis came along and took over Astonishing X-Men
from Joss Whedon and ruined everything.
“Ellis is earning Marvel my
three bucks a month once more by taking the gloves off and treating
his cartoons like people.”
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“Warren Ellis
on Astonishing X-Men?” said I. The prospect of an
X-title penned by one of comics' most talented and misanthropic
writers that came out more often than “whenever Joss feels
like it” was intriguing. It became even more so when backed
by the staggering visuals of Simone Bianchi, whose gorgeous work
never fails to leave my jaw well and thoroughly dropped.
And like a recovering
alcoholic proclaiming that “one little drink can’t hurt
anything,” I picked up a copy. And then I promptly watched
all of my closely held new standards and hard earned dignity come
unraveled. Having Kitty Pryde jettisoned (literally) and Colossus
reassigned, Ellis is left with a pared down team of old and new
characters that he lends a pitch-perfect chemistry to.
There’s the eager rookie in Armor, Wolverine because
it’s not an X-title without Wolverine, Storm in a supporting,
seemingly temporary role, the icy hot elitist Emma Frost along with
two founding members in Cyclops and Beast. And while it’s
always refreshing to see Hank McCoy get a bit of his humanity back
(not to mention a bit of deeply disturbing nookie), that takes a
backseat to the minor miracle Ellis performs on the long suffering
Cyclops – he makes Scott Summers talk like a human being.
Cyclops is, for my
money, one of the most poorly handled characters in the Marvel U. A
consummate leader, he’s always portrayed in one dimension, a
caricature of leadership, so serious and brooding that he
can’t relate to his troops or advisers. Ellis understands
that part of being a good leader is being human. The stoic stand is
sometimes needed, but it’s more powerful if it’s
tempered with things like a sense of humor, or even an occasional
fit of uncharacteristic, absolutely hilarious and startlingly
effective swearing.
Complementing this
badly needed revamp of much loved character is the artwork and
design of Simone Bianchi. Bianchi’s washed out colors and
realistic portrayals render the characters more human while leaving
the alien jets and floating castles of the book’s world the
sense of wonder that makes them so effective, giving the whole book
the gauzy, dreamlike feel of a Theodor Dreyer film – you know
it can’t really be happening, and yet it’s right there
in front of you. And Bianchi’s innovative, panel eschewing
page design lends the entire work a sense of immediacy that is all
too rare in sequential art these days.
It’s a sense
that Ellis is taking full advantage of, leading into a story that
explores what the other mutants in the world were getting up to
while the X-Men battled Morlocks, Sentinels and goofballs with four
arms without abandoning the dimension hopping and grievous violence
of the books that fans like me love so dearly. He’s taking a
book that could have easily dropped off the map and turned it into
one of the best titles on shelves. And he’s earning Marvel my
three bucks a month once more by taking the gloves off and treating
his cartoons like people. Well played, Mr. Ellis.
Five out of five stars for making me believe in X-books again.
—CCdC—
Cover image used without explicit permission in accordance with the "Fair Use" provision of US copyright law.
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