Astonishing X-Men Vol.: GIFTED by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday

As far as I know this is the first thing Whedon's worked on with character's he didn't create. As such he sticks to the script more or lessthat others have laid down for the characters. in particular they occupy the post-Grant Morrrison world of 3 Stepford cuckoos, a destroyed Manhattan, a dead jean grey, and a possible de-evolving beast. But it doesn't attempt (at least yet) for the everything-so-crazy Morrison style.

And the last thing I wanted was Morrison 2. The result is a very deliberate and careful book. There is an economy of words that fits great with those wide panels of Cassaday's. Perhaps not being a comic writer Whedon left much of the storytelling to Cassady. The pacing is far above that of Fray, Whedon's vampire-slayer-in-the-future comic. It could be just growth on Whedon's part but I'm betting Cassaday was trusted with the majority of that responsibility. His layouts are very simple. He avoids the ridiculous designs of many superhero books. The characters never pop out of an octagon panel. Within the panels is a simpleness as well. His big fight scenes have a softness too them. They aren't dynamic in the kirby sense or the manga crazy lines sense. They seem to be stuck completely still except for the tenseness in every muscle in their bodies. The result is a book which is quite calming in a way, which serves to emphasize the more intense moments character study Whedon does on the X-men.On occasion the calmness lapses into stiffness. His rendering of Beast is straight up awesome. The pain of Beast's dilemma comes through his furry face and out of those eyes. But Beast is so good that one can't help but see a bit of weakness in the expressions of the human faces in comparison. Cassaday, however, is an artist that's developed far beyond Planetary. He seems to only get better. The coloring is shiny, and sleek as all get out, but not so much as to overwhelm Cassaday's work.

Cassaday's truly awesome Beast.

In the story Whedon takes a cue from Morrison. Take over book, make your own villain. Whereas Morrison's villian, Cass Nova, is determined to destroy all mutants, Whedon's "Ord from break-world" (who looks like a crappy angel Villian) is determined to "cure" it. The best x-writers have all put their spin on the fact that muties are a marginalized minority on the rise, letting them discuss race relations, genocide, homeland issues. etc.

Whedon spins it differently creating a possible universe where you don't HAVE to be a mutant if you don't want to. We discover what happens when the option comes to shrug off your burden/birthright. Some will do anything to be "normal", others, particularly wolverine who feels mutants shouldn't even have that option, will do anything to destroy the means of nullifying the x-gene. Others, like Beast, get stuck in the middle. This puts the x-men at odds with themselves while trying to hold together an ideal of mutant community solidarity.
This is all analogous to theories about the gay gene. it's the obvious connection, but one thankfully, Whedon doesn't beat too hard into the ground. The white queen at one point makes a comment directly relating the two. The guatemalan crab boy who believes all mutants must take the "cure" or go to hell, is your self-hating convert. Whedon slowly extrapolates all this out giving an interesting look at conflicting ideas of science vs. nature and the choice of someone to be who they want to be. The answers are not simple. The split personal feelings of the X-men themselves, makes for a cool dynamic on the whole history of the conflict between muties and humans (and big bad aliens).
Overall what made Whedon's TV writing strong is his character's relationships to each other and their purpose despite the ridiculous situations they find themselves in. their very purpose here is challenged. is their purpose as a team greater then there individual desires? Are those desires themselves even allowed in Xavierism? What is really at the core of the principles that they serve? Does a mutant with crab arms deserve a chance to not have crab arms? And if he does how could that hurt all the angelic pretty ones who've accepted there differences? Especially in a world where the government representing a dying human race wants to get rid of them. and they way they choose to do it here is oddly, and arguably, humane. None of these questions have pat answers at the end of the collection.

The bit about the X-men going back to the costumes seems pointless, since from what i can tell Wolverine is the only one with a costume. Cyclops reasoning for it is, well, simple enough. "The black leather scares them." Yet cyclops still has black leather, more black leather actually, and a skull cap. Maybe Cassaday didn't get the memo? The idea, at least, of the costumes lend to the overall nostalgic feeling of the book. The return of shadow-cat and other familiar characters feels like home for the old fan. Shadowcat still plays the role of the young-in' and even though she's been through this over and over again, her entrance into the mansion and back into the fold feels fresh. The nostalgia takes a gloriously cheesy turn near the end of the book, when Wolverine says "i've got two words for ya" and instead of giving the audience the two words they get a two page spread. i honestly laughed out loud cause it was stupid and thrilling and awesome at the same time. Just like most of Whedons stuff. A funny little nod to the fans who know and a "wha happen?" for the new folks. But seriously are there any new folks anymore? What we have here is a fan writing for fans.

All in all, the book is good and I suspect it'll get better. It's got some good buildup for what'll probably be the equivalent of a great buffy season. Morrison is a hard act to follow. I just hope they keep Cassady along for the ride and don't starting rotating lesser artists in. He adds the right touch to what is simply an escapist colorful throwback that is better and
smarter then one might think at first.

But hey, I loved Firefly....

—Marcos