It sounds like pure fannish wish-fulfilment that genre TV god Joss Whedon and detail artist extraordinaire John Cassaday would be on the same comic book, and even moreso that they would be taking on the much beloved X-Men. But that's exactly what has happened with Astonishing X-Men... so why am I a little bit disappointed? Don't get me wrong, Astonishing X-Men is a good debut, it's got a lot of fun moments, the art is gorgeous and the dialogue every bit as good as Whedon fans would expect, but it doesn't have the same charge that I got out of Morrison's New X-Men in the beginning. It doesn't feel as fresh, and while "New" X-Men lived up to its sobriquet, so far this book hasn't astonished me, even if I do like it well enough that I'll definitely continue reading.
There's a disconnect in the tone of Astonishing X-Men. At the same time that Whedon's characters are talking about returning to costumes and team ethics and being superheroes, Cassaday gives us costumes that are bland and unremarkable, and which look less flashy than the black leather costumes that the characters are mocking. While the feel of the book is undeniably old school, several chances for an opening action scene are passed by in favor of the more talky style embraced by Marvel in general these days. And while Whedon embraces some of the continuity changes, like Emma as headmistress rather than villain or the changes in the Beast, his Kitty Pryde doesn't really ring true to the character that we've seen in recent years, seeming instead like a throwback to her previous incarnation.
Of course, the upside of this is that Kitty Pryde as she was is a much better character than the one who suffered through a lot of horrible stories in the '90s. That's what Whedon brings to Astonishing that gives me hope for future issues, a look at the characters that is based upon a love of their essences, their classic period, rather than the soap operatic continuity nightmare that they have become. I generally feel more like the characters don't deserve Whedon than the other way around, and I'd have been much happier to see a Cassaday/Whedon completely original project than the two of them trying to breathe life into the X-Men again.
All of that said, while the general thrust of the issue is a little too old school for me, the moment to moment writing is terrific. Kitty Pryde returning to the school as a teacher and liaison between older faculty and the students is such a natural role for her character that it should have been done years ago. The bickering relationship between Kitty and Emma is fantastic, and is second only to Whedon's take on the Cyclops and Wolverine relationship, which is more interesting here than it has ever been, even during the Claremont and Byrne days. Though I'm disappointed that Whedon and Cassaday didn't give us a really memorable, several page throwdown between Cyclops and Wolverine, the way Wolverine does return to the mansion, and the quick eruption of anger between the two, not to mention the tension between them in a later discussion, is just fantastic. On top of that, the dialogue throughout just crackles, with Kitty Pryde coming off as the most "Whedon-esque" of the bunch and delivering several very funny lines.
John Cassaday is a guy who, to me, has always seemed better suited for non-superheroic projects. His work here, colored by Laura Martin, is phenomenally good, almost photo-realistic and painted in appearance. However, it doesn't seem to fit the tone of Whedon's script, which is more of a straight up comic-book style, and though I like the distinctive looks he has given Kitty Pryde and Emma Frost, they look more like specific actors than like the characters themselves. It's distracting, really, and I find myself wishing that Alan Davis had been on this book rather than on Claremont's Uncanny, as I think he would have fit the tone better. Again, the art, from a pure aesthetic standpoint, is gorgeous, and other than quibbles with the designs of the costumes, I would even call it flawless. I'm just not sure it fits the tone of the book as presented.
