I am going to scan my cover and make a Beast tee-shirt. Thanks Simon for the idea.

Anyway, I thought #20 was one of the best in a while. The "crash landing" from orbit (the telepathic tea party, the smoking Logan, the Peter/Kitty stuff) and the S.W.O.R.D. technology was so awesome. And it felt dire and epic, sort of like the final act of "Serenity".

CaptainB | February 18, 19:56 CET

This issue really felt like an old-school, Claremontian X-Men space adventure to me, in the best possible way. With a lot less captions.

I really feel that the complaints the book gets aboutits slow pace is solely because it feels slower with the longer wait between issues.

The mere presence of the characters as Joss writes them was enough to make this a great issue. Loving Hisako, too, although I agree with Wolvie about her chosen codename--hopefully he'll pick something more colorful for her.

Niels | February 18, 19:57 CET

SBCB put up another one, and it's even less posititve:

http://www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com/reviews/117177370884353.htm

2 Bullets?? And calling it utter boredom?

Couldn't disagree more.

CaptainB | February 18, 20:21 CET

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say I think this might be my favorite issue of the entire run. Agent Brand essentially ordering Peter to commit genocide and his reactions to that. Emma's tea party and Scott's concern about her maybe overdoing it. Hank threatening Agent. Kitty. Just her overall, obviously. And, of course, the scene between Logan and Hisako. What else could he possibly throw in? Comic perfection, I say.

leafblown | February 18, 20:41 CET

I thought it was the best Astonishing yet, hands down. I kept reading it over and over. I don't know how many times I actually yelled "yes!" outloud while reading it; especially when Hisako suited up for the first time.

Edit: Just read that last review, and I can't believe how pretentious and ridiculous it was. Seriously, if they had just teleported down to the planet, now only would that be cheesy, it would be even MORE boring.

[ edited by GrapenutsRobot on 2007-02-18 18:50 ]

GrapenutsRobot | February 18, 20:47 CET

I liked this one a lot actually, not sure I agree with Comixfan or the other negative reviewers. I already posted my review in a comment earlier so I won't go repeating myself, but #20 was full of things I liked. The Torn arc had much duller issues than this one.

ChromeShark | February 18, 21:02 CET

GrapenutsRobot, no namecalling here please. I've edited your post.

Caroline | February 18, 21:15 CET

I don't know if this has been posted, it doesn't look like it, but Sideshow has their second Astonishing diarama up. First one featured Colossus and Cyclops, this one has Emma and Beast. Three should be Kitty and Logan. It's impossibly goregous. Also, they have images of the new Premium Buffy, now with caterpillar eyebrows, pony-tail, and Faith-show-down-pants.

CaptainB | February 18, 23:52 CET

CaptainB - Beast looks great in that - but what the hell is Emma doing? Tiptoe through the tulips?

catalyst2 | February 19, 04:44 CET

I wish she was in diamond form, you know, showing her actual powers. Instead, she's furthering her status as a Jean-replacement. It looks like a display of telekenesis which she just doesn't have. I know it'd odd, but I still want one.

CaptainB | February 19, 04:57 CET

I absolutely loved the character interaction - especially Logan and Hisako. I wish Hank got to remain in his suit the whole time, but Hisako's comments about her costume were great. As a Kiotr fan, I liked the Kitty and Peter scenes, but I do find it odd how Kitty finally remembered how big of a jerk Peter had been to her (back during Ellis' Excalibur run) last issue.

As for the plot, I'll have to wait to see what happens. The sudden revelation at the end about Colossus (after not knowing for so long who which X-Man destroyed the Breakworld) seems odd. But I have a feeling Joss will make it work. Having to wait three friggin' months for the next issue does take some of the enjoyment out of reading it.

I do hope Hisako does survive this arc. She was the best part of this issue and I would love to see her join the roster of New X-Men eventually.

[ edited by FaithFan on 2007-02-19 05:29 ]

FaithFan | February 19, 05:28 CET

FaithFan, it sounds like the revelation that Colossus is the destroyer of the Breakworld was sudden to you. This was actually revealed back in the Torn arc and discussed a few times earlier in this issue.

CaptainB | February 19, 07:04 CET

CaptainB, I know Colossus is the destroyer of the Breakworld. I just find it awfully convenient that all of a sudden this big stone wall is discovered showing that he is the destroyer, after Ord resurrected him.

All of this is happening in a very, very short period of time. So just hours after SWORD finally figured out who it was, they find an ancient carving of it?!? But, there could be more going on here. Maybe the stone wall isn't so ancient.

FaithFan | February 19, 07:29 CET

Oh, okay, I read the "not knowing for so long" as the readers not knowing, rather than the characters. Sorry.

And it's possibly SWORD didn't know that imagery was inside the temple.

CaptainB | February 19, 08:08 CET

I actually figured the S.W.O.R.D. precogs could finally make out who the destroyer was because that tomb was uncovered. Because the Breakworld people found out, the future became a lot clearer, and thus the precogs got a clue.

Niels | February 19, 15:42 CET

The Hitchhikers to the Galaxy reference was cool.

Simon | February 19, 16:05 CET

Another review on Newsarama which seems to think the issue is both great and not enough.

I'd love to see Joss and John do an original series unconnected to any universe after this. I think what's hurting AXM most is not even the delays themselves, but the fact that the rest of the franchise is thundering ahead, outpacing AXM.

Niels | February 19, 17:43 CET