Astonishing X-Men, Vol. 1: Gifted

from Brian:

Joss Whedon is known (and beloved) around the world for being the creator of various cult-favorite television series Buffy The Vampire, Angel, and Serenity. He has recently become the driving force
behind the Avengers movies, providing humor and nuance to larger-than-life superheroes. These world dominating Avengers movies however, was not the first time Joss Whedon tried his hand at comic-book based storytelling. Eleven years ago, Joss Whedon created the X-men storyline I am reviewing. The big question is whether this graphic novel compendium stands the test of time, and if it is easily digestible for comic book fans not too familiar with the X-Men universe.


The answer is an unequivocably yes. The story combines Whedon's show more trademark wit, and complex exploration of characters. Though these superheroes' origins are from comic books, Whedon brings soul stirring human drama to their plight, culiminating in a climax that knock many "serious" dramas down a peg or two.

The art in the book is fantastic, pulpy and streamlined, the writing quick like Whedon's series. There's even a fantastic scene where the usual grumpy Wolverine is stoically trying not to burst out laughing.

Every character within this ensemble is given a chance to shine, with Whedon showing his trademark ability to balance all their needs, push the story, and even introduce a new compelling character in the green haired, green sunglasses wearing Agent Brand.

What also cannot be stated enough is Whedon's terrific ability to create strong female characters. What he does in introducing Agent Brand and with giving the story's main arc to master of intangibility Kitty Pryde (a minor character in many of the incarnations) is pure...genius.

A must-read. show less

To start with I give a warning: I'm a total sucker for the X-Men series. I love it. I have seen every movie and grew up watching the cartoons. I jump at the chance to read one of these whenever I found one. And just for kicks lets toss in that I have 2 different friends who have cats named Gambit.

But on with the actual review. I really enjoyed this adventure. It went a little beyond the usual by placing Scott in charge while being in a relationship with Emma Frost...which I never would have seen coming. Still, Emma is a huge stepdown from Jean Grey...but she's dead so, oh well.

I was intrigued by the revival of a mutant "cure". This has been touched upon in prior instances, but nothing ever came from it. Things feel especially strange show more since Prof. X is nowhere to be found. Hank/Beast is still struggling with his mutation and Logan/Wolverine is still as agressive as ever. I don't have much more to sayexcept great job to Joss Wheddon and John Cassaday for a thrilling X-Men success. This graphic novel did not disappoint. =) show less

When Kitty Pryde returns to the rebuilt Xavier Institute as an instructor, co-heads Emma Frost and Scott Summers are keen to make the X-Men more of a presence on the world stage again. But when scientists announce a cure for the mutant gene, they find themselves in the midst of a controversy that could turn the mutant world upside down.

Really well-written entry into the X-Men universe with the ground work laid for some intriguing story arcs. If you've seen most of the X-Men movies, you should be able to jump in to this narrative with very little bumps.

I really enjoyed this book - it hearkened back to the older days of the X-Men while still forging on to new material. The art is very complimentary to the story.

Maybe I've spent too much time reading Bendis comics, but Whedon's X-Men feels weirdly terse compared to his usual rapid-fire dialogue stylings. That's not to say that it's not here (it is, sometimes to the detriment of the individual characters' voices - see Nick Fury), but it just seems odd. Anyhow, though, this is great - a big, splashy story that's perfectly balanced with some really great character moments. I'm not sure Cassaday's art always matches, though - again, maybe I've been reading too much Bendis, but I feel like this would have worked better with someone like Immonen on art who's less realistic and more fluid.

I've been reading X-men off and on for about 35 years now but the last series I tried, Ultimate X-men, I didn't like enough to keep reading, this one, however, really makes me want to read more. Whedon's dialogue is smooth and real, the main idea is a nice, big, emotionally/ethically "meaty" idea and there's a lot of intrigue going on.

In this edition there's also the "motion comic" which I plan on checking out with my son to see if he likes it.

I'm a huge Joss Whedon fan, which is why I'm reading a couple of graphic novels at the moment. I also love the X-men. If all you know of X-men is the movies, then this graphic novel may feel confusing. It deals with a mutant cure, but in a totally different way than the movies did. Overall, I enjoyed the story and the sparks of Whedon's wit here and there.