Although there will certainly be no shortage of titles featuring your favorite mutants over the next few months, one in particular that’s especially eye-catching is that of Astonishing X-Men. We could probably chat all day about why it’s so appealing, whether it be due to paying homage to the lauded book once penned by Joss Whedon or the fact that a “familiar menace has once again reared its ugly head – reborn, renewed and resurrected.”
Personally, I think the lineup of characters can sell the book on its own: Old Man Logan, Archangel, Mystique, Rogue, Gambit, Bishop, Psylocke and Fantomex. Seriously, how can anybody who had any measure of exposure to the X-Men during the 1990’s not be the slightest bit intrigued by that crew?
Perhaps that’s something writer Charles Soule is aware of, even subconsciously, but it sounds like he put together his own personal dream team, as he recently told Marvel.com:
It’s a mix of characters who I really wanted to write and characters who hadn’t been seen in a bit, or both! I wanted a bunch of people I knew I could write well, but who also had lots of history with each other. All of these people have been “bad guys” at one point or another – checkered pasts all around. Many of them have dated each other, or have been in love triangles… it’s just a feast of drama, and the soap opera stuff is part of what makes the X-Men great. It’s fun to write all these folks, especially in a really focused story like I’m telling in Astonishing. The book has a specific point, story and end goal… which you’ll see soon enough!
Until now, it was unknown which artist would be joining him for this new endeavor, but most surprisingly, it turns out that it’s artists – plural. Expect Jim Cheung to illustrate the first issue, with Ron Garney, ACO, Phil Noto, Greg Land and Ramon Rosanas coming on board for subsequent installments. Obviously, other big names are set to follow.
Astonishing X-Men #1 arrives in comic shops this July.
