Immediately following Astonishing X-Men #1

The Sitch

Bad boys.  Bad boys.  Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?  Astonishing X-Men #2 opens up on a reality TV show following two police officers on their latest call.  As most police do on shows like Cops, Officer Hoyt explains the current call they are on, a routine domestic dispute.  He explains that the uniform they wear seems to make the situation more inflammatory and they always have to compensate for it.  Unfortunately, things are far worse this time.

Guns drawn inside the house, the officers realize the magnitude of worse.  Dr. Rao pauses the footage for a moment to explain that most mutants manifest their powers at puberty, which is not the case for Tildie Soames, the source of the policemen’s horror as they enter the house.  Tildie’s ability to manifest her own nightmares before her teen years cost both her parents and Officer Hoyt their lives.  She is also the first mutant to successfully be “cured”, given a second chance at life.  The image of her nightmare killing the people in the room lingers on the screen as the announcement is made.

While the press conference is continuing, the X-Men are closing in on the hostage situation and beginning their assessment of how to handle the situation.  Hank and Logan discuss if the terrorists are former SHIELD agents (government security agency), which Logan immediately squashes due to their tactical layout.  Cyclops’ concern is the hostages trying to be heroes and getting themselves killed, which Emma immediately countermands by noting that most of them are either praying or peeing themselves at the moment.  Hank notes that the biggest question is still the mutant leader.

The leader has already detected the X-Men as well and prepares his men.  Even as one of the goons rattles about bringing on the muties, Kitty quietly begins extracting hostages by phasing them through the floor.  Another of the henchmen blasts his invisible high school swim coach through the penthouse window, Emma’s doing.  In one fell sweep, the remaining X-Men eliminate all of the henchmen.

The leader remains and has a short conversation with the X-Men; Wolverine notes that their taking out the henchmen was just a test.  The leader of the group manages to take out the entire team with a few short moves (think the Slayer-team’s first battle with Caleb).  The leader of the group, standing victorious over the X-Men, reveals himself as Ord of the Breakworld who stuffs his pillows with diamonds like Emma’s body.

With Logan laying gutted before him and the other X-Men broken around him, Ord voices his disappointment that not a single X-Men was strong enough to fight him.  Broken mid-thought, Ord spins to discover that a member of the X-Men heretofore has not revealed itself.  He catches a face full of fire for it too and is thrown from the building.  Kitty’s pet dragon Lockheed has arrived.

With the X-Men regrouping from their thrashing, the only thing remaining is to handle the public, the core of Scott’s plan to engender the public to mutants.  As the guests at the party and the press begin to ask questions, Emma berates the head of the party for leaving her off the guest list and Hank is surprised by a question about the “mutant cure” that has been announced.

Both developments, Ord and the mutant cure, are topics of debate back at the mansion as is the impact on the children and the X-Men team.  Scott is left feeling completely inadequate for the task.  Emma suggests that Logan, Scott and Hank all take a rest and look at it from a fresh perspective, leaving her and Kitty alone.  As Emma begins to tell Kitty why she selected her (to watch Emma in case she goes wrong), Kitty stops the conversation short.

Emma begins to explain her tenuous relationship with the X-Men and her love for Scott, and Kitty explains that on her first day she met the X-Men, they were ambushed, captured and caged…by Emma.  Kitty explains that at age 13, she learned more about good and evil than in her whole before or since and the face that she sees when she thinks of that term is Emma Frost.  Kitty phases through the wall, telling Emma that she doesn’t need to watch her; she can smell her.

Benetech Labs – lab of Dr Kavita Rao.  A furry beast leaps through the air and slides through a ceiling window.  Dr. Rao clicks on the light even as Hank descends to the floor.  Even as Dr Rao begins to debate her cure with Hank, he stops her cold.

“I’m not here to discuss the ethics of your “mutant cure.”  And I’m not here to destroy it.  I just want to know if it works.”

Thoughts

Issue number two was another difficult one for me to go through – not because it was bad, but because it was more exposition.  Granted I don’t mind exposition because I know that it always pays off with Joss later.  How long did it take for certain seasons of Buffy and Angel to really get cooking and when they did, everything that came earlier was SO worth it.  So it is with issue #2 – more exposition, though I do see more flashes of the mysteries and characters to be unraveled.

That’s what I want to focus on with this issue – mysteries and characters.  The mysteries that we’re having set up revolve around two primary storylines – the mutant cure, including Dr Rao and Tilde, and exactly who and what Ord of the Breakworld is and wants.

One of the things that I came late to with Joss was the development of characters.  I appreciated the wit and the ability to unfold a plotline well before I ever realized how well he develops characters.  Once I realized that ability, I began to watch for it.  In general, it’s interesting to see how characters are developed – through actions, words, etc or the lack thereof.

For my money, the most interesting movements in characters during the two issues we’ve had thus far have been Hank McCoy and Kitty Pryde.  Hank’s movement has been an unpredictable one.  Among all the X-Men, especially the original five, Hank has suffered the most visible changes.  He’s lost respect as a scientist, lost relationships and continually become less human-looking as he has progressed.  At first, he was humanoid with extremely large muscle groups, then became simian in appearance and now is feline.  What would that do to a person?  Drive them to seek the very thing that as a scientist they are opposed to perhaps?

For Kitty, it feels like we’re seeing her continue down the same continuum she’s been on for a while – growing up, becoming more assertive and knowing who she is.  In some senses, she’s being written a lot like Buffy over the years.  When you compare the 13-year old Kitty to the 20-something she is now, there is a radical difference in the way she acts.  I was quite pleased with her interaction with Emma.

Emma and Scott continue to move along their paths as well, though Scott seems to be having more of the same – the weight of the world is on his shoulders, and it’s even worse now that there is no one (Professor X) above him.  Emma is a wildcard and continues to be, though her invitation for Kitty to watch her was an interesting move. 

I am still not quite certain if there were reasons other than Emma knows Kitty can tell when she is going off the deep end.  It is interesting to note that two of their mutants powers are diametrically opposed as well.  Emma can turn her body hard as diamond and Kitty can completely go incorporeal and phase through any substance.

The one exception to all of these changes has been Wolverine.  Thus far, Wolverine has been has normal cranky, violent self with no changes.  I think that maybe that’s the point.  Maybe he won’t change at all.  It gives us a touchpoint for the X-Men in the middle of all the changes.  I am looking forward to see where these characters go over the next few issues.

Not too many comments on the plotline at this point since we’re still in setup.  Ord is the most interesting part of this story for me, though I am still not quite convinced he’s the real Big Bad for the series.  The questions that he holds for me are where is he from and what does he want?  What is the Breakworld?  How did he so adeptly assess and adapt to the X-Men’s tactics?  And why did Lockheed take him off guard so badly?

Side Note:  The Lockheed moment was my favorite in this issue.  I’ve always loved Lockheed as a character in the books, including an awesome Lockheed-centric issue back in the late 80s – early 90s.  I always like those unexpected moments that turn the battle, too.  Xander’s use of the wrecking ball on Glory, the uncloaking of all the students on Graduation Day.  Great stuff…

The other major plotline that I am still not too sure about is the mutant cure.  I suspect that there is something more insidious other than the removal of the X-Factor gene.  And what if there really is a cure for the mutant gene?  What are the implications of that cure?  The ethics of the situation ARE going to be a point of debate. 

Long-time readers of the X-Men will also catch comparisons to the Legacy Virus, a disease that killed mutants, another “solution” for the mutant problem.  The great irony is that the person who cured it was Hank McCoy, the Beast, the very person who is seeking the cure now.  Given that Kitty’s ex-boyfriend sacrificed himself to bring about the cure, the conversations are going to be heated between them.

Final note, Cassady’s use of palates to bring one story element into another continues to amaze.  The viewscreen with Dr. Rao’s presentation flowed directly into the X-Jet’s nighttime attack mode.  Great stuff.

Cover Art

This month’s cover art was great, but I am not really sure what to make of it.  The cover is simply a painting of Scott and Emma in shades of blue with a touch of ruby red.  Emma is covering Scott’s eyes with her fingers and with his laser vision seeping through her fingers.  The excellent part about this cover is the uncertain meaning it leaves us with.  Scott can’t control his blasts without protection from say, someone who could withstand a blast (diamond skin).  Emma is ambivalent at best in her association with the X-Men.  So, is Emma protecting Scott’s eyes or blinding him to what’s happening?

What's My Line?

A single moth would have made more noise touching down.

Diamond.  I am Ord, of the Breakworld.  We stuff our pillows with diamonds.

Lockheed!  You found me!  You are the best X-Dragon ever.

Hell, I think we should make him team leader.

Who flew away?  Was that Storm?

(Oh Please) Did it look like Storm?

Do you have a license for the bat?  What is your relationship with the bat?

I don’t even know what that means.

Tell me, dear Walter, would you like to spend the rest of your life obsessed with the works of Leroy Neiman?  I mean sexually?

Woman called me a disease.  You know how that feels to me?  I can’t even sheathe.  My claws won’t go back.

Maybe Scott and Logan could fight on the lawn again.  The kids love that.

I ain’t up to anything that don’t have the word “beer” in it.

You could fight for beers…

Well now that doesn’t sound too bad.

I don’t have to “watch you” Miss Frost.  I can smell you.

Rating:

3.0 of 5.0 – Still building…

Main Credits (as listed in the issue)

Writer - Joss Whedon

Artist - John Cassaday

Colorist - Laura Martin

Letterer - Chris Eliopoulous

Assistant Editors - Stephanie Moore & Cory Sedlmeier

Editor - Mike Marts

Editor in Chief  - Joe Quesada

Publisher - Dan Buckley

Published June, 2004