Emblematic: A Review of Astonishing X-Men #6

written by Charles Soule
illustrated by Mike del Mundo

The first arc of the new Astonishing X-Men series ends (spoiler alert) on a distinctly anti-climactic note. Quelle surprise!

Professor Xavier finally makes his move; having lulled the Shadow King into complacency, he strikes, breaking his hold over the possessed X-Men, but not, unfortunately, over the hapless citizens of London, who remain zombified somehow. Meanwhile, with Warren Worthington having uncorked his deadly alter ego Archangel, the question now arises of whether or not he'll be able to rein in his murderous impulses, especially with the impending threat of a bomb about to be dropped on London to cleanse it of its "infection."

This issue is really a shame. Mike del Mundo's art is fantastic; arguably the best this book has seen since Jim Cheung launched it six months ago. Unfortunately, it can't save a disjointed and woefully anticlimactic story. I remember when Joss Whedon launched this title's first iteration in 2004; the first six issues really popped. I remember how Whedon and collaborator John Cassaday followed up Grant Morrison's well-loved run on the X-Men books by going in a completely different direction. They replaced the Matrix-inspired black leather and somber, surreal tone with straight-up, full-color superheroics, and it was glorious. The first six issues alone (out of his eventual run of twenty-five) were a joy to read, and wonderfully self-contained. I remember how the return of Colossus, who up until that point had been believed dead, made issue #4 an event in and of itself.

This strange hodgepodge of different artists is a far, far cry from the glory days of Whedon and Cassaday, and is emblematic of some of the really poor editorial choices that have plagued Marvel in the last several years. It's no secret that Marvel's sales have been dropped, behaving in inverse proportion to the box-office performance of their movies. I imagine it's decisions like this that cost erstwhile Marvel editor-in-chief Axel Alonso his job.

Don't let the door hit you on the way out, Axel.

5/10