Comics Review: The Astonishing X-men Volume 1

I picked up this graphic novel last week. It was written by Joss Whedon, who you may remember from the short-lived yet very well done TV series Firefly. I started reading graphic novels a couple of years ago, having avoided comic books in my youth, but have mostly avoided the superhero genre until now. With the recent release of the X-men 3 movie, I thought it would be fun to take a look at this "re-imagining" of the famous and long running X-men series.

The book collects the first 6 issues of the new comic. It starts with Kitty Pryde returning to the Xavier Institute after some time away. Things are much different than in the movies. A mutant named Emma Frost is apparently running the school now. Along with Cyclops (aka laser-boy), Logan, and the blue beasty guy. Professor Xavier is not around and Jean Grey is dead. I'm not sure where this new series fits into the overall continuity of the X-men, but that doesn't matter much as the story requires only a vague understanding of what the character's individual situations are. Similar to the latest movie, the story revolves around a cure for the mutant gene. Familiar X-men themes of human hatred toward the mutants and whether the right reaction to that hatred is peace or violence permeate the story. I really enjoyed the writing and the artwork. You can really see Joss Whedon's style come through in the writing, as there are some great one-liners to go along with the strong character development. Overall, I'd give Volume 1 of the Astonishing X-men 4.5 stars. I'm looking forward to the next issue.