Written by Daniel Way
Illustrated by Jason PearsonNot all monsters are easy to spot — some of them live among us, undetected or long forgotten. Some of them live inside us, in the dark corners of our hearts, feeding on our secret fears of loss. But in the Marvel Universe, most of them live on Monster Island. Or, at least, they did. A mysterious exodus is underway; monsters spilling onto nearby shores — with catastrophic results — and it falls upon a small group of X-Men to both save the population from destruction and to solve an imposing riddle: What are monsters afraid of? New series writer Daniel Way (Deadpool) is joined by superstar artist Jason Pearson to bring you a widescreen, mega blockbuster story filled with classic Kirby monsters, heart-stopping revelations and over-the-top action!
Astonishing X-Men has long since been a beacon of light in the X-Universe, offering up easily accessible stories from two top notch creators in the business – Warren Ellis and Joss Whedon. As difficult a run as Whedon’s was to follow up, Ellis certainly went out on a high note. Now it’s Way’s turn, coming in with Jason Pearson… but how does their first issue play out?
Check behind the cut for some thoughts.
Daniel Way is a man who is most known these days in comics for three things: the oft-discussed Daken, the polarizing title that was Wolverine: Origins, and the beginning of Deadpool-mania with Deadpool. It’s with those three titles alone that at first you might think Way couldn’t follow up Ellis or Whedon in the Astonishing title. However, with the first issue, Daniel Way – with the help of Jason Pearson – has delivered exactly what was promised: a large and action filled beginning to a brand new arc for the Astonishing X-Men. Whether or not that floats your boat in the age of “every story has to matter!!” is largely up to you, but that doesn’t stop this X-book from being largely entertaining and looking damn good while doing so.
This story brings the monsters of Monster Island out of their home thanks to the meddling of the villain Mentallo, whose motives aren’t clear but whose actions are perfectly recognizable. In the meantime, though, the X-Men are trying to bring out one of their youngest and brightest new members, Armor. It is absolutely mind boggling that a character as charming and creative as her has failed to make it out of Astonishing X-Men, but the fortunate fact of the matter is that as long as Astonishing is around, she will assumedly have a home. And given that this arc (in addition to all that fun monster stuff) will deal largely with her and her heritage, it’s a nice entry point not only to the title but hopefully to the character to grow with a larger audience and move beyond the book and into the regular X-Men title.
Way is rather his trademark self here, mixing in dark comedy into the title, but this title certainly has more heart to it. A lot of the strong points in the issue lie between conversations with Armor and Wolverine about the importance of the team, and despite Armor not existing anywhere else on Utopia except within this title it still rings true. Astonishing X-Men has always been such a small core cast of characters, and with Beast gone and Kitty/Colossus off in their own world, the smaller cast allows for a very focused story that offers up some nice moments between the four heroes that we have. While other X-books boast rather large teams, Way certainly is at an advantage due to the smaller troupe. While the impending monster disaster seems a little much for four people to handle (as well as the constant involvement from the top three most important X-characters, of course), it will be interesting to see how Way handles the character interactions in further issues (all continuity aside).
Of course, what is really striking about the issue is Jason Pearson’s art. A lot of fans felt conflicted when it came to Warren Ellis’ last arc due to the art by Kaare Andrews, which featured extremely over the top caricatures of the characters (to the point that Emma Frost was barely recognizable). To a certain extent, we’re in the same boat now. The only difference here, though, is that Pearson plays up his unique versions of the characters in a wholly kinetic style that breathes a lot of life into the issue. Featuring fantastic colors, this book is very vibrant and alive as Pearson fills up the pages. No, this isn’t the same sleek kind of art you get from Terry Dodson over in Uncanny with Kieron Gillen’s first solo arc. Yes, his Wolverine is excessively muscled and Cyclops is a tad bit skinny. But the book has such an even pace visually, and the visualizations match Way’s tone for the characters in a way that the book’s unique take on the cartoonish nature of the characters becomes one of it’s most endearing factors, in a way that actually boosts the overall quality of the title. If you were to ask what the best part of the issue is, it would hands down be Pearson’s art.
Continued belowAstonishing X-Men’s latest foray into the side-canon world of Cyclops, Wolverine, Emma Frost, and Armor is off to a good start. The smaller cast is only going to benefit the book, the art is wonderful, and the initial plot – while not being the most serious thing in the world – seems like a lot of the fun. This looks like it’s going to be a fun and funny run, albeit not in the same “over the top” way that Way writes Deadpool. Sometimes, comics are allowed to “not matter” in the typical sense, yet still be just as good as those that “do.” Sure, you need to go to Uncanny for the main stories of the world’s most fascinating underdogs, but it doesn’t hurt to have Astonishing as well to even things out.
Plus, Fin Fang Foom. When has that ever not worked out for the best, eh? Good luck, team!
Final Verdict: 8.8 – Buy