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24 January 2009

Renato lindgren

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Graphic Novel Fridays: All Good Things…

Full disclosure: I am a fan of Joss Whedon’s work. I own the complete Buffy series on DVD and Angel Season 5 (not to mention the respective comics here and here). I am also a fan of the X-Men. So in 2004, when Whedon agreed to write 12 issues of the newly titled Astonishing X-Men comic along with superstar artist John Cassaday, I geeked out.

The last time I’d read an X-Men comic was during Grant Morrison’s controversial New X-Men run (collected in three mammoth volumes), and while it took the team to new places and introduced a few radical ideas, it never had that old-school Uncanny feel I loved as a kid. But Whedon’s first two arcs, Gifted and Dangerous, were chock full of nostalgia and new school mutant mayhem (classic moment: the return of the “fastball special”). He created new teammates and new enemies while managing to keep an older generation of readers happy by using characters like Lockheed in ways they’d never been written before.

After that Eisner Award-winning run, Whedon and Cassaday agreed to another 12 issues, and the second half of Astonishing X-Men is just as good as its first. I’ll probably be chastised for even making the comparison, but like in The Dark Phoenix Saga, the X-Men travel into outer-space to battle and rescue in epic proportions. There just seems to be something about watching these characters quip and trek among the stars that brings out the best in the telling. There’s a particularly rewarding scene in which Whedon pulls a fast one on readers, spinning an entire issue on its head with a bit of telepathic dialogue between characters.

My favorite moment, however, is much more terrestrial. Before heading off into space, the team is mind-wiped by a villain who is too good to spoil. Wolverine reverts to a quivering schoolboy and makes paper cutouts on the X-Mansion floor (”Say mine is the best or I shall be cross all day!”). After an explosion, the still-brainwashed Wolverine falls against a refrigerator and knocks loose the door. A beer can rolls out and lands on his head. In the following close-up panel, Wolverine stares at the beer can, his face blurry in the background. He is thinking. Cassaday makes the most of these tiny moments. The next panel is the same image, only the can is now blurred, and Wolvie’s face is clear–his brow furrowed. And just like that, Wolverine snaps back into consciousness. Beer saves the day.

Sure, readers familiar with Whedon’s writing know there is only one way a happy couple viagra online kaufen will wind up cheap levitra in this story, and yes, the finale relies heavily on Comic Book Physics, but there is also glee in these pages. In this second oversized hardcover, fans can collect all of the final 12 issues plus the Giant-Sized Annual that conclude the total arc. Be sure to note that the first hardcover sadly went out of print (don’t worry, the first twelve issues are still available in six-issue paperback collections here and here). Like Claremont’s Uncanny X-Men and Morrison’s New X-Men, Whedon’s journey is exactly what the title proclaims: Astonishing.

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