Astonishing X-Men
So I was in a mall in L.A. (technically, we were in Lakewood), in a bookstore looking at magazines while Kim was shopping at Victoria's Secret (you outta see the uber-bra she bought, it really breaks out the big guns. Then again, don't look at my wife's chest-- it's just for me, until the babies steal them). I knew we'd have a good amount of time to kill at the airport and on our flight home, so I figured I'd grab a magazine. The new Spin magazine grabbed my attention with a cover story on Yeah Yeah Yeahs, along with a feature on 25 bands I should know (some of which, Hot Hot Heat, Death Cab for Cutie, Sahara Hotnights, etc, I already do know). So I decided to buy it. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I spot the new Wizard Magazine.
Wizard is a magazine about the current going ons in comic bookland. I used to get it every month when I collected comics, and subsequently would spend more and more money on comics each month. On the plus side, I was able to experience some of the better comics I've ever read, precisely at a time when my beloved X-Men had started to disappoint. On the down side, my comic-habit was getting to be too costly and too time-consuming. I eventually just stopped buying comics altogether, since I had no money, really hated what was being done with the X-Men, tired of waiting for the new Daredevils to come out, and was busy in a new relationship with a girl who would go on to become my future wife.
Following the release of movie blockbusters like Spider-Man, Daredevil, X2: X-Men United, and Hulk (all of which I enjoyed immensely), I got excited about comics again, and delved back into my considerable back catalogue of comics, if for no other reason to share them with my new comics disciple, Julie (you should see how much it throws the comics geeks off when a reasonably attractive blonde like Julie shows up in their mist. The only real-life girls these guys usually deal with are their moms). I still didn't embrace the new comics, in part because I know from past experiences how costly and difficult it is to fill in a comics gap (from my previous two times quitting comics), and in part because I remember how much I hated the direction X-Men comics were taking (i.e. not wearing costumes, Cyclops and Phoenix near breaking up, becoming more militant, more "realistic"-- I don't read comic books for realism). Instead, I chose to fill in the past gaps of my collection, the years before I starting collecting. It's actually less expensive this way, since comics were about a dollar when I first start collecting, as opposed to the near five dollars they cost now. This way I can enjoy the X-Men I know and love, the X-Men that are represented in the movies, and re-live my childhood to a degree.
But then came the appearance of the new Wizard Magazine. Right there, on the polybag that contains the magazine and the inserts that are always included to entice buyers, were a few simple words: Joss Whedon's X-Men #1. Whaaaaa? Joss Whedon, as in Buffy the Vampire Slayer Joss Whedon? Angel Joss Whedon? Could it be that my favourite comic book team was going to be written by the creator of my favourite TV series? Against my better judgement, I bought the magazine, which included a three page preview of Joss Whedon's new X-Men series, Astonishing X-Men. My curiousity was piqued.
So today, I did something I haven't done in three years: I bought a new release comic book. I went to the comic book store across the street and bought the first issue of Astonishing X-Men. How was it? Alright. There wasn't much to it, but it laid a decent foundation and had some good moments. I'll pick up the second issue. But since I've only followed what's been going on in comics in a very cursory manner (occasionally stumbling upon information from websites while looking for something else), I had to find out a few things from the net. One thing in particular, why aren't Cyclops and Phoenix together?
The issue insinuated the Jean Grey was, yet again, dead. So I looked it up. It appears Jean Grey has indeed died for the umpteenth time. I think you haven't truly made your mark as an X writer unless you kill Jean Grey. This annoys me. This reaffirms why I'm glad I wasn't around for the past three years in X-world. I will not be trying to fill in the gaps. I may end up getting sucked back in to the current comic world, but I'll try and pretend that all of the mess I've been reading about that happened while I was gone hasn't happened at all. Hopefully, Mr. Whedon will fix some of this mess up. If not, there are worse things in the world then me not reading comic books.