The Forbidden Planet International Blog Log

Here’s the promo art for the forthcoming “Astonishing X-Men: Xenogenesis” by Warren Ellis and Kaare Andrews…..

Cyclops and Storm seem somewhere about 7ft tall, Storm appears to have forgotten most of her top and, from that waistline, hasn’t been eating properly either. And poor Emma Frost has suffered from some really bad plastic surgery that’s taken at least 2 ft off her height. Kaare Andrews is normally a pretty good artist, but this is just pretty awful.

This “Astonishing X-Men:Xenogenesis” relaunch from issue 1 marks the start of a new Astonishing line from Marvel, followed swiftly by “Astonishing Spider-Man/Wolverine” by Jason Aaron and Adam Kubert. According to this solicit information:

“They are firmly set in Marvel continuity but also accessible to new readers,” said Marvel Senior VP of Sales and Circulation David Gabriel. “If you’re looking for big changes and character developments or a place to start reading if you are new to comics, this is where you come. Thanks to Joss Whedon and John Cassaday, the name Astonishing is synonymous with excellence. That’s what this line is all about, from the creators to the characters.”

Hang on, “accessible to new readers“, isn’t that what the Ultimate line was touted as? Except Astonishing is “firmly set in Marvel continuity but also accessible to new readers“. Is that even possible anymore?

However, based on just those two titles, Astonishing should be a big hit. I did enjoy Ellis’ first Astonishing X-Men storyline and by all accounts, Jason Aaron’s Ghost Rider series from Marvel was a highlight of 2009 from the company. But after that, the almost inevitable wave of Astonishing titles, the crossovers, the major events and everything else that just seems to dilute good, simple, old fashioned storytelling may do to Astonishing what it managed to do to the Ultimate line.