Astonishing X-Men, Volume 1 by Joss Whedon, John Cassaday

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Astonishing X-Men, Volume 1 HC
by Joss Whedon, John Cassaday

Wow. Just wow. I bought the first two volumes in paperback and then saw this collection in the library (which contains both volumes I already owned) one day, so I took it out. I'm glad I did, because the added pages of intro & analysis were great to read. I promptly bought the next two in the series because I desperately wanted to know what happened next.

Of course I could ramble on about what a genius Joss is; his style and dialogue are very evident. And though I don't like John's Beast so much, I can deal with it. Because this is definitely the best version of the X-Men I have ever encountered, hands down. It's dark and funny and exciting and brilliant. It takes the characters in unique directions while staying true to them. It deals with things that X-Men has always dealt with but in a fresh way. I loved Peter. I loved not liking/trusting Emma (her comments about Jean ROCK though). I loved Kitty so much and I can't get enough of the tension between Wolverine & Cyclops. I loved both stories because from start to finish they kept me guessing and kept me thinking.

The first story was incredible. It did a great job of explaining where the characters were in the timeline and what was happening. The mutant cure is a storyline I usually don't like much (though I liked how conflicted Beast was about it; that's usually Rogue's part). But everything that came with it was brilliant, including Pete and using mutants.

The second story is even darker and rather scary, actually. I don't know how I feel about the Danger Room having a consciousness but it made for a lot of interesting choices and moral decisions. I like thinking of Xavier as perfect but I'm constantly amazed each time he's shown as not perfect (and that happens so often, what's my problem thinking he's an angel? LOL).

I cannot wait to see what happens next.